Kevin Winter, Getty Images Stone Temple Pilots announced that they officially fired singer Scott Weiland yesterday (Feb. 27), which met with a follow-up statement from the frontman in which he revealed that he was surprised by the announcement. “Surprised” is definitely the key word, as Weiland spoke with Rolling Stone earlier this week about the rumors and his future with Stone Temple Pilots and he did not let on that there was trouble on the horizon. In the interview, which took place only a few days ago, Weiland stated, “STP has not broken up. I haven’t quit. I haven’t been fired. We’re talking about when we want to tour next. My personal feeling is that we just need some new blood in the band. It’ll give it new energy, so that we’re not just playing the same greatest hits set we’ve been playing ever since we got back together after I left Velvet Revolver . I’d like to make a new record so it breathes new life into it.” As for hearing that Slash had been the one to make public talk of his firing from STP, the vocalist added, “Slash doesn’t know anything about STP. Those guys wanted to get together to talk about touring, but I don’t think touring right now is the best thing. STP has a legacy, and to protect that is very, very important to me. But to go and do the kind of offers that we were getting would be diminishing the brand, and I don’t want to do that. There are offers right now. There are offers that I passed up on. There’s offers that those guys didn’t want as well. There were some hurt egos, but that’s the way it is. Things are like a family. No one’s ever fired anybody in STP.” Weiland called Stone Temple Pilots “a partnership” and added that it was not uncommon for he or the other members to go off and do their other projects. He concluded, “I’ve always supported them. But no one’s been fired and I haven’t quit, so that’s all hearsay.” Shortly after the interview was conducted, the news of Weiland’s firing became public and he stated that he was unsure of how he could be terminated from the group he founded and fronted and co-wrote some of their biggest hits. He added, “That’s something for the lawyers to figure out.” At present, Weiland is set to head out on tour playing music from STP’s ‘Purple’ and ‘Core’ albums. He adds that he and his solo band cohorts are “halfway finished” with a new disc. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/scott-weiland-working-on-new-material-planning-tour/” title=”Next: Scott Weiland Working on Solo Album” align=”center”]
YouTube It looks as though Corey Taylor ‘s grand plans are all coming together. Shortly after debuting some of the pages and artwork from his ‘House of Gold & Bones’ comics right here at Loudwire, Taylor and his band Stone Sour have offered up a trailer for the video of their new single ‘ Do Me a Favor ‘ and it follows in that same animated path. The 45-second clip opens with a caped figure approaching what appears to be an old time church on a stormy night. There are also quick-hitting shots of darkened zombie-esque creatures, weathered warriors, a solitary man waving the masses in for sanctuary and a man of the cloth with a sinister smile watching as an unseen figure flees from the church. What does it all mean? We’ll have to wait and find out, but all of the imagery will play into the ‘Do Me a Favor,’ which is teased in the trailer as “Coming Soon” at the HouseofGoldandBones.com website. As for Taylor’s ‘House of Gold & Bones’ comics, the frontman recently revealed several of the pages from the first issue in the series, as well as the new cover for the third issue in the series. Further details on the comics, including pre-order links, can be found here . Watch Stone Sour’s ‘Do Me a Favor’ Trailer [button href=”http://loudwire.com/corey-taylor-new-stone-sour-albums-favorite-childhood-swear-words-more/” title=”Next: Corey Taylor Talks Stone Sour, Comics + More” align=”center”]
YouTube There are times in rock where the planets just align for a great collaboration and that happened again last week (Feb. 22) at Stockholm, Sweden’s Bandit Rock Awards when Halestorm ‘s Lzzy Hale hopped onstage to join Slash and his touring band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators for a performance of Guns N’ Roses ‘ ‘Out Ta Get Me.’ This isn’t the first time the pair have teamed up on the song, as Hale crossed paths with Slash and his band in The Netherlands last year and also performed the Guns N’ Roses cover. At the time, Hale stated, “It was so cool. When we started the song, out of habit I went into live rock mode and kind of spaced out for a second and then went into the middle section where we were just kind of riffing with the solo and just kind of lost my mind for a second. I was like, ‘What’s going on? Slash is right here! He’s sweating on me!’ It was so cool. It was the best thing ever.” This time around, Hale and her old pal Slash were better acquainted and even shared a warm embrace at the end of the performance. Fan-shot footage from the Bandit Rock Awards performance can be seen below. In addition to playing ‘Out Ta Get Me’ with Slash onstage a couple of times, the Guns N’ Roses song was one of Halestorm’s covers on their 2011 EP, ‘ ReAniMate: The Covers EP .’ Halestorm, who just won the Best Hard Rock / Metal Performance Grammy , will return to the States in April when they begin the HardDrive Live Tour with Bullet for My Valentine . Watch Lzzy Hale Join Slash for ‘Out Ta Get Me’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/halestorm-arejay-hale-reacts-to-grammy-win-hater-backlash/” title=”Next: Arejay Hale Reacts to Grammy Win + Backlash” align=”center”]
30 Seconds to Mars: Facebook It may not quite reach the red planet, but 30 Seconds to Mars are about to make their debut in the realm of outer space. The band’s new single ‘Up in the Air’ will actually be launched into orbit on Friday (March 1) to eventually reach its destination of the International Space Station. ‘Up in the Air’ is the first single from 30 Seconds to Mars’ as-yet-untitled fourth album, which will see a 2013 release. The band has built a reputation for pushing the boundaries of what an act is capable of, setting a Guinness World Record for Most Shows Played During a Single Album Cycle, racking up a total of 311 shows in nearly 60 countries on six continents over a period of two years while supporting their 2009 full-length, ‘This Is War.’ As if the band’s previous accomplishments weren’t epic enough, including over 5 million albums sold worldwide, this next astronomical event will take place on March 1 at 10:10 AM ET as ‘Up in the Air’ is rocketed into outer space. The very first copy of ‘Up in the Air’ will be part of a SpaceX cargo mission carrying over 1,200 pounds of scientific equipment and another miscellaneous gear needed to aid astronauts within the International Space Station. Fans will be able to watch the launch live thanks to NASA, who also offer full details and updates on the mission via their official website. 30 Seconds to Mars will also meet with Tom Marshburn, one of the astronauts currently aboard the space station, on March 18. The chat will also be broadcast online, with specific details soon to be announced on 30 Seconds to Mars’ website . ‘Up in the Air’ will make its Planet Earth debut on March 19. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/30-seconds-to-mars-the-kill-top-21st-century-hard-rock-songs/” title=”30 Seconds to Mars – Top 21st Century Hard Rock Songs” align=”center”]
Epitaph At first it might seem nice that Bring Me the Horizon decided to dedicate a song to a former member, but upon closer inspection of the lyrics of the track, it might not have been a good-natured move. During a recent show in Sydney, the band decided to close their set with ‘Antivist,’ with frontman Oli Sykes proclaiming, “This song is called Antivist.’ It goes out to Jona Weinhofen ,” while flipping the bird The guitarist’s exit from the band was revealed earlier this year , though a prior posting from Weinhofen revealed the acrimony between himself and unnamed members. He stated, “Things in the band have been very tense with a lot of disagreements between myself and certain members who I won’t name. I’m thankful for my time with BMTH and I have met many good friends and been able to travel the world.” As for dedicating the track to Weinhofen, it should be noted that the song features such lyrics as, “ United, we’ll fail, divided we’ll fall. We’re f—ed, but you’re makin’ it worse. United, we’ll fail, divided we’ll fall. Give up, cause you’re makin’ it so much worse .” Bring Me the Horizon are gearing up to release their new ‘Sempiternal’ album, with the single ‘Shadow Moses’ already making big waves. They’ve also announced plans to play the Vans Warped Tour this summer. Watch Bring Me the Horizon Perform ‘Antivist’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/bring-me-the-horizon-shadow-moses-best-2013-metal-songs/” title=”Next: Bring Me the Horizon – 2013’s Best Metal Songs” align=”center”]
Swedish death metal masters Hypocrisy have announced that they will return to North American soil once again for a May tour. Along with Hypocrisy, fellow peddlers of brutality Krisiun , Aborted , Arsis and others will be appearing as opening acts throughout the string of shows. Additional acts Starkill and Autumn’s End will also appear for select dates of Hypocrisy’s 2013 North American tour, listed show by show in the full tour schedule seen below. Fans of Hypocrisy will be excited to learn of these future dates, as visa issues prevented various North American Hypocrisy shows from taking place in late 2009. Hypocrisy frontman Peter Tägtgren shared his excitement for the May tour: Hi freaks! I’m proud we can finally announce the North American part of the End of Disclosure World Tour. It’s going to be great to come back again! Don’t worry it won’t be any visa problems this time either as I stayed in NYC this summer. We’re looking forward to bringing our stage set from Europe, plus playing a lot of new songs and old songs that we’ve either never played, or haven’t played for years. Enjoy the new video for now and see you soon! Hypocrisy’s 2013 full-length, ‘End of Disclosure,’ will be unleashed via Nuclear Blast on March 22 in Europe and April 2 in North America. Check out Hypocrisy’s full list of North American tour dates below! Hypocrisy 2013 North American Tour Dates with Krisiun, Aborted, Arsis + More: 05/01 – Gramercy – New York, N.Y. * 05/02 – Palace – Stafford, Conn. * 05/03 – Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, Quebec * 05/04 – WreckRoom – Toronto, Ontario * 05/06 – Reggie’s – Chicago, Ill. * 05/07 – Station 4 – St. Paul, Minn. * 05/08 – The Zoo – Winnipeg, Manitoba * 05/09 – The Exchange – Regina, Saskatchewan * 05/10 – Pawn Shop – Edmonton, Alberta * 05/11 – Republik – Calgary, Alberta * 05/13 – Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, British Columbia * 05/14 – Studio Seven – Seattle, Wash. ** 05/17 – The Vex – Los Angeles, Calif. ** 05/18 – 910 Live – Tempe, Ariz. ** 05/20 – Trees – Dallas, Texas ** 05/21 – Korova – San Antonio, Texas ** * with Starkill ** with Autumn’s End
Michael Buckner, Getty Images There were a lot of Nine Inch Nails fans losing their minds earlier this week when it was revealed that the Trent Reznor -led band was being resurrected this year. Now we’ve got the first two confirmed performances from the reactivated and reconfigured Nine Inch Nails lineup. Consequence of Sound reports that the band will play the Fuji Rock Festival at Niigata Prefecture, Japan the weekend of July 26-28. While the festival lineup has yet to be revealed, Bjork is also expected to take part. Fans can stay updated on the Fuji Rock Festival’s lineup additions and ticketing details by checking here . The other festival appearance on Nine Inch Nails’ schedule is the Rock ‘n’ Heim festival in Hockenheim, Germany. The music weekend will take place Aug. 16-18, with the band playing alongside System of a Down , Volbeat , Deftones , Tenacious D , Biffy Clyro and Enter Shikari among others. Festival updates on Rock ‘n’ Heim can be found here . As revealed earlier this week, the reconfigured Nine Inch Nails lineup will feature Reznor and returning instrumentalist Alessandro Cortini and drummer Ilan Rubin alongside former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery, King Crimson’s Adrian Belew and Puscifer ‘s Josh Eustis. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/trent-reznor-new-nine-inch-nails-songs-hits-collection-prior-to-next-album/” title=”Next: Trent Reznor Expects New Songs on Hits Collection” align=”center”]