Author: Web Rock Radio News Dept

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson says self-belief is one of the most important attributes young musicians need if they are going to make their mark.

The beloved metal icon gives some sage advice to new, up-and-coming artists in an interview with the Musicians Institute.

And while talent is of course key, Dickinson, 66, says all the skill in the world won’t mean a thing if you don’t believe in yourself. And he warns that everyone – even other musicians – will try stand in the way of your success,

He says: “One of the most important things is self-belief. And you can’t teach that. That’s character. Self-belief is so important.

“I’ve played with people who have been astonishing musicians but were forever doomed to be playing in their bedroom because they had no self-belief because they did not go out there and put themselves out there and perform so the people notice them.

“If you’re the greatest guitar player in the world and you sit in the middle of a tent in the Sahara Desert, you are never gonna make it. Sorry.

“The universe is not fair like that. Because you’ll get knocked over, knocked down, and other musicians will try and put you down as well because they’re all trying to step on top of you.”

While encouraging musicians to have confidence, Dickinson stresses that it’s important not to let that turn into arrogance.

He adds: “There’s an irony. Yes, you need the self-belief, but if you make the performance all about yourself, people will walk away, because nobody’s that interesting.

“What you need to do is have the self-belief to use whatever talent it is you have to tell a story, to say something, to have some feeling inside that you can express that’s real and authentic, and then people will listen because it resonates with them.

“So yes, you need the self-belief, but we don’t need to hear all about you.”

Maiden launch their epic 50th anniversary tour this month. The ‘Run For Your Lives’ tour will feature a ‘classic era’ setlist exclusively airing material from the band’s first nine albums, from their 1980 debut to 1992’s Fear Of The Dark.

In 2011, before the split that tore Queensÿrche into two separate bands, singer Geoff Tate told Prog why their 1992 single Silent Lucidity became their only UK Top 20 on its second release.

Even if most people regard the 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime as the apogee of Queensrÿche’s career, it was the follow-up, 1990’s Empire, that was their biggest commercial success. It also gave them their only Top 20 single in the UK when Silent Lucidity made it to Number 18 in August 1992.

Written by guitarist Chris DeGarmo (who left in 1997, returning briefly in 2003 and 2007), the song is assumed to be about lucid dreaming. “Well, that’s one of the sub-themes of it,” says vocalist Geoff Tate.

“It was really about being a parent and waking up in the middle of the night by your kid who’s had a bad dream. It’s trying to explain to a young child that dreams aren’t necessarily a bad thing or a good thing.”

Tate has his own theory about the track’s success. “I think it really connected with people at that time for a number of reasons. The Gulf War was going on and people were separated from their families and loved ones. That tends to put people’s emotional radar a little bit higher than normal. Also, that album came out at the height of popularity for rock music.”

On first release as a single in April 1991, Silent Lucidity only got to Number 34 in the UK charts. It was only when released for a second time that it took off, with EMI’s backing.

“We had a functioning record industry with millions of dollars to put behind the promotion of a record then,” Tate recalls. “People were really exposed to that song. There was a tremendous focus on rock music at that time, and Silent Lucidity had all the right ingredients.”

Still, it didn’t fit what would be regarded as the usual parameters for a hit single; it stood apart from much that was popular at the time, partly because of its inner strength and substance.

“Most singles are about love in one way or another,” Tate says. “But there’s a simple reason why we put it out – it’s a beautiful song.”

UK acoustic guitar whizz Mike Dawes has published the official video for his cover of Sleep Token’s Euclid.

On Wednesday (April 30), the Guildford fingerstyle player released a studio recording of his rendition, live versions of which went viral on TikTok and Instagram last year. Watch the clip below.

With the new video, Dawes has issued a statement about his love for Sleep Token and how he rearranged Euclid for one acoustic guitar.

“I’ve been a fan of Sleep Token for quite a while since my ex-college housemate produced some of their early work,” he explains. “They have such a unique sound with stunning melodies and arrangements that translate perfectly to acoustic guitar.

“After I opened for Periphery in the US, I had the opportunity to jump up at the UK’s Radar festival last year and wanted to take on Euclid just for that show, as a nod to Sleep Token who headlined that same festival the previous year. The live response blew me away. The melodies work so well in this CGDGAD tuning. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this arrangement and hope it strikes a chord with others as well.”

Dawes is known for his reimaginings of famed rock, pop and metal tracks as mind-boggling feats of finger athleticism, and he regularly plays in Europe and America. People in the US will be able to see him this summer, as he treks across the country from July to August. See dates and get tickets via Dawes’ website.

Euclid is the final song on Sleep Token’s 2023 album, Take Me Back To Eden. It ends with a motif introduced at the start of The Night Does Not Belong To God – the first song on their debut album, 2019’s Sundowning – intended to mark the end of one ‘era’ of the band and the start of the next.

Sleep Token’s current ‘era’ kicked off last year, when the masked band signed to major label RCA. They’ll release their first album through their new home, Even In Arcadia, on Friday, May 9. The singles Emergence, Caramel and Damocles are streaming.

The band will play the European festival circuit, including a headline slot at Download festival in the UK on June 14, this summer. They’ll then play arenas in the United States in the autumn. Dates on the headline run sold out within hours of going on sale in March.

Prog legends Jethro Tull have announced a lengthy UK tour for April and May 2026.

The Curiosity Tour will celebrate the band’s most recent album, the acclaimed Curious Ruminant as well as the band’s celebrated 24-album career, stretching back to 1968’s debut album This Was.

“It was January of 1968 when we began regularly playing at the famous Marquee Club in London,” Tull mainman Ian Aderson recall. “Late in the following year, with growing success, we were able to perform in theatres and concert halls up and down the country much as we do today.

“For me, one advantage of a UK tour is that I can often travel by train much of the time and get to see both countryside and cityscapes alike from the tranquil vantage point of a railway carriage. Michael Portillo with a flute, you might say… Albeit less colourful, since my wardrobe is limited to various shades of grey in order to blend in perfectly with a dank and dreary rainy Monday afternoon at a railway station near you.

“Our audiences may have become senior citizens in some cases but, being young at heart, they still venture out to see a bunch of old guys having fun. Which, indeed, we are with our young, nimble and lightning-fast fingers, skittering up and down fretboards and keys with apparent ease and facility. Just don’t ask us to put out the recycling or programme the TV controller.”

Anderson will be accompanied by long-standing Tull band musicians David Goodier (bass), John O’Hara (keyboards), Scott Hammond (drums) and new boy Jack Clark (guitar), while the show will be enhanced by full-scale video throughout.

At the same time, Anderson will also perform his now customary Christmas shows, Ian Anderson Presents Christmas With Jethro Tull throughout December, appearing at Bath Abbey Dec 18, Peterborough Cathedral 19 and Southwark Cathedral 20.

Tickets for The Curiosity Tour 2026 go on pre-sale from 9am on May 8, and on general sale directly from the venues at 9am on May 9. Ian Anderson presents Christmas With Jethro Tull tickets go on sale at 9am on May 2.

You can see the full list of dates and ticket details below.

Jethro Tull’s The Curiosity Tour 2026

Apr 19: Perth, Concert Hall
Apr 20: Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
Apr 22: Edinburgh, Usher Hall
Apr 23: Newcastle, O2 City Hall Newcastle
Apr 25: Blackburn , King George’s Hall
Apr 26: Salford Quays, The Lowry
Apr 28: Liverpool, Philharmonic
Apr 29:Sheffield, City Hal
May 2: Stoke-on-Trent, Victoria Hall
May 3: Birmingham, Symphony Hall
May 5: Leicester, De Montfort Hall
May 6: London, The London Palladium
May 8: Basingstoke, The Anvil
May 9: Swansea, Brangwyn Hall
May 10: Bristol, Beacon Theatre
May 12: Truro, Hall for Cornwall
May 13: Bournemouth, Pavilion Theatre
May 15: Southampton, Guildhall
May 16: Eastbourne, Congress Theatre

Get tickets.

Dec 18: Bath Abbey (Get tickets)
Dec 19: Peterborough Cathedral (Get tickets)
Dec 20: Southwark Cathedral (Get tickets)

Ozzy Osbourne will apparently sing five solo songs at his farewell show in July.

The report comes from ex-Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar, who’s set to be one of the many, many, many support acts playing before Osbourne and the original lineup of Black Sabbath at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5.

In a new interview with Loudwire Nights, Hagar, who now fronts hard rock supergroup The Circle, claims he was given the number by Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who’s the musical director for the upcoming event.

He also lets slip that one of the songs Ozzy wants to play is his 1991 ballad No More Tears.

“I chose to do No More Tears [during my set that day] and Tom goes, ‘Oh, that would be great,’” Hagar says (via The PRP). “And then he comes back and says, ‘Guess what? Ozzy’s going to try and sing five songs and he wants to sing No More Tears.’”

He continues, revealing that his new song of choice is Flying High Again from Osbourne’s 1981 album Diary Of A Madman: “I said, ‘OK, Flying High Again,’ and he goes, ‘You got it.’ So right now, I’m singing Flying High Again. If Ozzy changes his mind, I’ll sing Flying High Again and No More Tears.”

The report of Osbourne’s seemingly short solo set follows the news that, with Sabbath (who will also be playing their final gig), he’s only set to do “bits and pieces”.

The singer said on his Ozzy Speaks radio show earlier this year: “I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath but I am doing little bits and pieces with them. I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable.”

He added: “I am trying to get back on my feet. When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things.”

Osbourne retired from touring in 2023, a result of his Parkinson’s disease and the physical effects of multiple surgeries. However, the following year, his wife/manager Sharon said the Prince Of Darkness was hoping to host a farewell extravaganza in his hometown. The show was confirmed in February.

As well as Hagar, the Birmingham gig will feature such legendary support bands as Metallica, Slayer, Gojira, Guns N’ Roses and Mastodon. Famed actor Jason Momoa (Game Of Thrones, Aquaman, A Minecraft Movie) will compere and all proceeds will go to various local charities.

Sammy Hagar is moving on from the long-standing discourse with his former Van Halen bandmate, Alex Van Halen.

During a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the Red Rocker seemed resigned to the fact that he and the drummer will remain estranged.

“Al, you’re fine. Just leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone. Everything’s good,” Hagar remarked. “I’m making you money, by the way, Al. I’m out there selling Van Halen records and keeping the name alive, keeping the music alive.”

‘Al’s Angry Because I’m Out Doing It’

At several points in the interview, Hagar expressed confusion as to why Alex holds a grudge towards him. The singer theorized that it stems from jealously regarding the state of their current careers.

READ MORE: Sammy Hagar on Alex Van Halen Schism: ‘I Want to Be Friends’

“I think Al’s angry because I’m out doing it, and Mike [Anthony] and I are out doing it, and he can’t,” Hagar explained. “He’s not a singer. He’s not a guitar player. He is not really a band leader. And he seems like he doesn’t want to play drums or can’t play drums anymore, and he can’t go write a new record. Alex wasn’t the songwriter in the band. He was the drummer. Eddie and I wrote the songs. Dave [Lee Roth] and Eddie wrote the songs, and so we can go out and do them. And I think that really bothers him that Mike and I are still out there doing it. I would feel bad. If I put myself in his shoes, I would feel terrible if I couldn’t do it anymore.”

The Red Rocker went on to describe himself as “the happiest guy out of all of them. That pisses people off in itself. Being too happy, people don’t like that.”

Sammy Hagar Dreams About Eddie Van Halen… And Alex, Too

Even at 77 years old, Hagar remains very active. The singer’s Best of All Worlds Las Vegas residency – which will largely focus on Van Halen material – kicks off April 30. He also recently released a new song titled “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight,” inspired by a dream he had of Eddie Van Halen. Interestingly, Hagar admitted he had a recent dream about Alex, too.

READ MORE: All 48 Sammy Hagar-Era Van Halen Songs Ranked Worst to Best

“It was crazy. And it was so friggin’ real,” the singer recalled. “I was saying, ‘What are you pissed off at me about, man? What the fuck? Now just tell me what your problem is. What did I do? Just tell me.’”

Dream Alex laughed. “And he goes, ‘You really don’t know, do you?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ And so then it became this game, and he was saying, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what, let’s flip a coin, and heads, I’ll tell you, tails, suffer.’ Now that’s a fucking pretty realistic dream.”

In a recent interview, Bruce Kulick remembered the Kiss album that made Gene Simmons nervous.

Speaking to Chaoszine in an interview embedded below, the former Kiss guitarist recalled that Simmons wasn’t convinced the highly polished, keyboard-heavy sound of 1987’s Crazy Nights was the right move for the group to make.

“It was interesting to get [producer] Ron Nevison involved, who was very successful then, he had hits with some big bands,” Kulick recalled. “I know that Paul [Stanley] was very excited to work with him, Gene maybe not as much.”

Prior to working on Crazy Nights, Nevison had helped Heart launch their massive mid-’80s comeback with slick, modern-sounding hits such as “What About Love” and “These Dreams.”

Although the album kept Kiss’ ’80s commercial winning streak intact it didn’t break through to the desired mainstream audience. The also received some blowback from longtime fans accusing them of once again hopping on the latest trends – as they did in the late ’70s with disco and would do in the ’90s with grunge – in an effort to replicate the success of pop-metal superstars such as Bon Jovi.

Read More: When Kiss Tried to be Everybody Else on ‘Crazy Nights’

“Ron had a vision for the album,” Kulick continues. “But I know that even though he added some elements that people argued with – maybe keyboards or some samples on the snare drum, but he always wanted the lead guitar on front, which was important to me. So I was happy about that. I think he did a good job, though I remember watching Gene be so nervous about it.”

Simmons’ concerns about the album’s creative direction may have magnified another problem the group had been facing for a few years. By his own admission, Simmons’ focus was split between the band and his other pursuits – including running his own record label and trying to launch an acting career.

Instead of their usual roughly even split, Simmons wound up singing on only four of Crazy Night‘s 11 songs, most of which are much more guitar-oriented than the rest of the album. In his 2014 memoir Face the Music, Stanley recalls the moment he finally confronted Simmons about the unfair work balance. “This isn’t okay anymore. I’m done with this. You can’t expect to be my partner if you’re not going to hold up your end.”

A few days later, a repentant Simmons offered to buy Stanley a Jaguar, to thank him for the extra responsibilities he taken on in recent years.

“It was a nice move on his part,” Stanley recalled. “But I had my eye on a Porsche. When we shot the video for the second single from Crazy Nights, ‘Reason to Live,” the story line involved a beautiful woman blowing up a car. It was a black Porsche 928. And I drove it home from the video shoot, compliments of Gene.”

Watch Bruce Kulick Break Down His Kiss Discography

The fans of perennially-shunned Rock and Roll Hall of Fame candidates such as Warren Zevon and Bad Company got great news last night, as their favorite artists were finally inducted into the class of 2025.

Phish fans weren’t so lucky. The jam-rock kings were the most surprising snub from this year’s field of contenders.

The Vermont band, founded in 1983, is known for its unique sound influenced by prog rock, jazz, and funk. It is characterized by twenty-minute, mind-bending improvisational cuts and their maniacal following and counter culture. The group consists of Trey Anastasio (guitar and lead vocals), Page McConnell (keyboards and vocals), Mike Gordon (bass and vocals), and Jon Fishman (drums and vocals). Phish certainly meets the criteria for induction, with their high-demand tours year after year and a sound that is a niche of its own. Phish never plays the same set twice, including thirteen consecutive sellouts at Madison Square Garden with no songs repeated, known as “The Baker’s Dozen.”

Watch Phish Perform ‘Blaze On’

As the Rock Hall states, “There is nothing like the pure freedom and joy of a Phish concert—a powerful communal moment often likened to a religious experience, a transcendent moment.”

Phish topped the fan votes for this year’s nominees by more than 50,000 votes but was left out of the party. How could that be?

Surprisingly, Billy Idol, who ranked #3 in total fan voting, was also snubbed, receiving more than 260,000 votes yet not making the cut. As you can see from the list below, bands like the White Stripes made the list despite being near the bottom for fan votes, yet The Black Crowes also missed the mark:

Phish: 329,281 votes
Bad Company: 280,725 votes
Billy Idol: 260,416 votes
Cyndi Lauper: 236,960 votes
Joe Cocker: 233,495 votes
Soundgarden: 233,205 votes
Chubby Checker: 203,092 votes
The Black Crowes: 165,249 votes
Mariah Carey: 137,993 votes
Joy Division + New Order: 120,346 votes
The White Stripes: 110,511 votes
Outkast: 108,073 votes
Oasis: 99,381 votes
Maná: 34,506 votes

Read More: When Phish Staged ‘The Great Went’

How are the fan votes measured? Rather than having a ballot for each fan vote, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame places the top five on one ballot, thus representing only one of 1200 ballots, amid a field of artists, writers and industry executives. This has a minimal impact on the overall results, hence why Billy Idol, The Black Crowes, and Phish missed the mark.

Similarly, in 2020, despite winning the fan vote, The Dave Matthews Band was not inducted into the Rock Hall. However, DMB would later be crowned four years later, in 2024. This is not the end of the road for Phish, who, despite being snubbed, are carving a path of their own. Maybe it’s time to consider new metrics for voting.