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Chaka Khan said an album of songs she co-wrote with Prince was on the way after red-tape hurdles had been cleared.

The singer reported that the unreleased material featured the pair working with Sly and the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham.

The three funk legends are known to have worked together in 1998. In July of that year Graham’s group Graham Central Station released the Prince-produced album GCS 2000. On the same day Khan released Come 2 My House, which featured Prince as a songwriter, performer and producer.

In 1984 Khan had a worldwide hit with her cover of Prince’s 1979 single “I Feel for You.”

Asked in a new Guardian interview what it was like collaborating with Prince, Khan said: “It was like working with myself, more than anyone else I’ve worked with.”

READ MORE: Prince Estate Afraid of His Humanity, Says Axed Movie Creator

She compared the experience to working with Miles Davis, saying: “He and Prince were very similar – big thinkers. Miles was always looking to grow. Prince was, too.”

She added: “Prince just grabbed ideas out of the air and left you wondering: ‘Where did you get that?’ He was a really deep and beautiful thinker.

“We worked on a lot of songs, and they’re all going to be on a CD I’m soon to release – there’s a lot of red tape that’s been in the way, but we’ve cleared it. It’s him and me and Larry Graham, together.”

Chaka Khan Can’t Remember 4 a.m. Performance with Prince

In the same interview Khan admitted she couldn’t remember performing with Prince and George Benson at a late-night party following Prince’s show at London’s Wembley Arena in 1995.

“Four o’clock in the morning? No one’s doing anything but craziness at four in the morning!” she said. “So I’m sure it was like a wild, wonderful night.”

She added that her attitude to failing memory was: “[D]on’t look for the little details; just remember the big feeling you had. … I don’t remember a lot of what I did. And thank God!

“I’m a ‘next!’ person. Life is about what’s happening now… I’ve done a lot in my life, and over half of it I don’t remember. Did I ever keep a diary? Oh, hell no. That takes a special kind of patience.”

Prince Year by Year: 1977-2016 Photographs

The prolific, genre-blending musician’s fashion sense evolved just as often as his music during his four decades in the public eye.

Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening

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Metallica’s Master Of Puppets has been streamed one billion times on Spotify.

The 1986 track crossed the 10-digit threshold earlier this week. It’s the California metal titans’ third song to reach the landmark, following Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman, both from their blockbuster 1991 self-titled album (AKA The Black Album).

Master Of Puppets, the title track of Metallica’s lauded third album, was released as a radio single on July 2, 1986, almost four months after its namesake record came out via Elektra. It quickly became a fixture of the band’s setlist and was acclaimed by fans and critics for its technicality and neoclassical touches. Its lyrics refer to the control that alcohol and drug addiction can have over people.

The track was co-written by all of Metallica’s then-members: singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Cliff Burton. It would be one of Burton’s last songwriting credits during his lifetime, as the bassist died in a bus crash while the band were touring Sweden in September 1986. He was 24 years old.

In 2022, Master Of Puppets was featured on the soundtrack of Netflix series Stranger Things’ fourth season and became a mainstream hit. It charted in the US and the UK for the first time since its release and reached number four in the Netherlands.

Amidst the attention post-Stranger Things, Metallica released a music video for the song, 36 years after it first came out, and recorded a viral TikTok of them miming along to the Master Of Puppets scene in the series.

According to setlist database setlist.fm, Master Of Puppets has been performed live 1,758 times, making it Metallica’s most-played song. The band will likely add to that tally when they embark on a run of North American shows later this month. See below for all dates and details.

Apr 19: Syracuse MA Wireless Dome, NY*
Apr 24: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON*
Apr 26: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON+
May 01: Nashville Nissan Stadium, TN*
May 03: Nashville Nissan Stadium, TN+
May 07: Blacksburg Lane Stadium, VA*
May 09: Columbus Sonic Temple, OH
May 11: Columbus Sonic Temple, OH
May 23: Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, PA+
May 25: Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field, PA*
May 28: Landover Northwest Stadium, MD*
May 31: Charlotte Bank Of America Stadium, NC*
Jun 3: Atlanta Mercedes-Benz Stadium, GA*
Jun 6: Tampa Raymond James Stadium, FL+
Jun 8: Tampa Raymond James Stadium, FL*
Jun 14: Houston NRG Stadium, TX*
Jun 20: Santa Clara Levi’s Stadium, CA+
Jun 22: Santa Clara Levi’s Stadium, CA*
Jun 27: Denver Empower Field at Mile High, CO+
Jun 29: Denver Empower Field at Mile High, CO*

* Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies support
+ Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills support

Sultry, spectral and draped in darkness, Venamoris are a fascinating enigma. On the one hand you have Dave Lombardo, the legendary drummer who helped propel Reign In Blood to everlasting infamy, and who has since collaborated with everyone from Mike Patton and Ice-T to avant-jazz legend John Zorn. On the other is Paula Lombardo, a talented singer and pianist who, prior to the band’s 2023 debut, had essentially given up on music.

She’d left a successful backing gig with legendary Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton to pursue her own work in Nashville, only to be broken on the music industry’s unforgiving wheel. With their second album, To Cross Or To Burn, the husband-and-wife duo have expanded their sound while making it harder to quantify: like chasing shadows through a hall of mirrors. Lush and cinematic, yet deeply intimate, it conveys a thrilling sense of freedom despite its gloomy themes.

“Venamoris is definitely a rebirth,” says Paula. “The situations I went through were the same facing many musicians, artists, actors or models. A ton of rejection, a ton of people telling you that what you’re doing is wrong. As you get older, that starts to get really scary.”

“I walked away from a very good, strong income to wondering what I was going to do,” she continues. “And you start realising, ‘OK, this is not even fun anymore.’ But ultimately, when you take that one thing that really forms part of your soul and you stop doing it, you suffocate yourself.”

Despite revealing her musical background to Dave early in their relationship, it took Paula the best part of 10 years to learn how to breathe again.

“During the pandemic, Dave and I had a lot of really deep talks about why I left music and why I didn’t want to return,” says Paula. “He helped me break through all of that.”

Paula describes the duo’s 2023 debut, Drown In Emotion, as “a journal coming to life” – a raw, innocent piece of work exploring the singer’s return from murky waters. Recorded in their home studio, the duo had no plans beyond perhaps sharing it with family and close friends. Dave played the music back to bandmate Justin Pearson (The Locust/Swing Kids) during a Dead Cross mastering session, and the latter offered to release it on his hardcore-skewing Three One G imprint rather than see it quietly disseminated online.

“I think Justin liked how punk it was for me to step outside what I am normally known for,” Dave suggests.

If Paula is now in a far better, more confident place when it comes to making music, To Cross Or To Burn – released by another of Dave’s collaborators, Fantômas and Dead Cross crooner Mike Patton – is not without its moments of thematic heaviness.

“I wrote a lot of the lyrics when Dave was on tour, and that can be a very dark time,” she admits. “A lot of the songs come from feeling alone and self-reflective.”

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Dave, on the road with Testament, enjoyed being able to detach from the tour’s madcap thrash and listen to what Paula was working on at home – the gravity of her lyrics only striking him once he returned.

“A lot of the time Dave pays attention to the tone of the song first and the lyrics much later,” Paula smiles. “I remember we were making dinner one night and he said, ‘You know, I listened to that song and I can’t believe you think that way about yourself’ – he was very emotional about it. It’s like, all of a sudden, when everything else is done, he looks at it like, ‘Whoa, that’s my wife saying that! That’s a little dark.’”

In most longstanding relationships, clear divisions of labour form: who puts the bins out, who empties the dishwasher, who cooks dinner on a Monday. Asked how this translates to their creative partnership, the pair laugh before assuring us that their music-making has a similarly natural flow.

“Sometimes when I’m in the studio for six hours and Paula’s downstairs watching crime shows, she’ll be like, ‘I feel so bad…’ But it’s all good,” says Dave. “It’s a give and take thing. In the end, all that matters is that we release it.”

Creating art for the sheer joy of it, regardless of sales, clicks or likes is something that both musicians mention. From Paula’s perspective, it has helped foster a healthier relationship with her craft, while for her husband it’s simply a matter of experience.

“I’ll never forget when I was younger and Slayer were releasing Seasons In The Abyss,” he chuckles. “The publicists said, ‘It’s not about how many times it’s going to go gold, Dave – it’s how many times it’s going to go platinum.’ So I’m all excited and… it doesn’t even go gold.” [It did eventually! Phew! – certification ed.]

While Paula highlights Dave’s positive attitude as a key strength (“The man can be going through absolute hell, but he’ll stop on the side of the road to take a picture of a rainbow”), she’s also aware how beneficial it is to have pals like Alex Skolnick, Ra Diaz, Trevor Dunn and Gary Holt on hand to guest on the record. One musician she does have trouble with, however? Dave himself.

“I’m always pushing him to drum more,” she laughs. “He’s always a little careful about respecting my voice and my lyrics. I have to be like, ‘Hey! I have Dave Lombardo sitting here! Can I get the drums?!’”

To Cross Or To Burn is out now via Ipecac.

Metal Hammer is celebrating the forthcoming release of Ghost’s new album, Skeletá, with a bundle you can’t buy in the shops.

Only through the Louder webstore, you can get your hands on a package that includes an exclusive vinyl variant of Skeletá. It also comes with the new issue of Metal Hammer, featuring an overhauled cover, plus a numbered art print and a sticker set. Pre-order your bundle now while stocks last!

Ghost are the cover stars of the new Hammer and, inside, mastermind Tobias Forge talks all about Skeletá, as well as the band’s enigmatic new frontman Papa V Perpetua.

“I’ve always felt that it was a scary thing,” Forge says of introducing a new iteration of Ghost’s papal frontman. “On one hand, I’m trying to make the ‘product’ that is Ghost an entertaining thing for our fans. On the other, I try to do that as pleasantly as is possible for myself as well.

“When I decided to introduce Cardinal Copia into the mix [for 2018 album Prequelle], it felt very uncomfortable because he was going to be thrown out there as someone who hadn’t become [a Papa Emeritus] yet: ‘Wow, this is going to be a little different.’ But what I did know was that I didn’t have to go through the process of introducing a new character for the next album. Now, I do!”

In addition, we talk to Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe about his new memoir, Just Beyond The Light. We also share an exclusive excerpt of the book, where Randy reflects on his life before kicking alcohol.

“It’s been over a decade since my last drink,” the singer writes, “and looking back on that period of my life through sober eyes is like watching a horror movie starring my mentally ill doppelgänger as the main character. He stumbles drunkenly through a nonsensical plot, doing all sorts of bizarre and distasteful things as he wreaks havoc on everything and everyone around him. Obviously, I know that person was me, but at times I struggle to understand my old self.”

Elsewhere, Cradle Of Filth’s gremlin-in-chief Dani Filth discusses new album The Screaming Of The Valkyries and the British black metallers’ sordid story so far. We review blockbuster new albums from Ghost, Machine Head, Employed To Serve, Bleed From Within, Deafheaven and more, and report back from gigs by Spiritbox, Opeth and Motionless In White, among others.

With Acid Bath, Rivers Of Nihil, Skunk Anansie and many, many more also inside, order the new Hammer in this stunning Skeletá ensemble now!

If you were worried that Elton John was going to disappear into the sunset after completing his farewell tour in 2023, you’ll be happy to know that his new album finds him as creatively restless as ever.

Who Believes in Angels? finds the rock legend teaming up with singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile and an all-star cast of supporting musicians. Here’s five reasons to fall in love with Elton’s first album of all-new material in nearly a decade.

Elton John and Brandi Carlile Have Assembled an All-Star Team

As if the combination of the two headlining stars wasn’t enough, Who Believes in Angels? finds the duo backed up by a crack band featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, famed studio bassist Pino Palladino and RHCP / Pearl Jam touring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. John’s longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin was also involved. Last but certainly not least Andrew Watt, who recently helped the Rolling Stones earn a Grammy for their most 2023 album Hackney Diamonds, produced the record.

The Elton / Brandi Connection Has Blossomed Into Something Special

After first collaborating together on the song “Caroline” from Carlile’s 2009 album Give Up the Ghost, Elton and Brandi teamed up again on “Simple Things” from John’s 2021 The Lockdown Sessions, and the duo’s pleasure with that track led them to Who Believes in Angels?

“John couldn’t have chosen a better-suited accomplice than Carlile for his first full-length, single-artist collaboration project since 2010’s The Union with Leon Russell,” Michael Gallucci declared while reviewing Who Believes in Angels? for UCR. “Both artists have long championed drama in their music, and more so than any of his past singing partners, Carlile slips effortlessly into John’s personal and performance aesthetic to the point where they become one voice at times.”

Elton John Considers ‘Who Believes in Angels?’ to be a New Start for His Career

At an age when many would be happy to coast on past accomplishments, Elton John remains determined to push forward. “This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,” he declared while announcing the new album. “I’m 76 and I want to do something different. I don’t want to coast. …As far as I’m concerned, this is the start of my career mark two.”

Fans Will Get A First-Ever Look Inside Elton’s Creative Process

For the first time in his storied career, Elton John allowed a film crew to document the creation of Who Believes in Angels?, which was recorded in a highly ambitious 20-day span. The resulting 30-minute short film Who Believes in Angels? Stories From the Edge of Creation, which debuts on YouTube on April 5, captures arguments, breakdowns and creative breakthroughs with an unflinching eye.

“It wasn’t easy,” Carlile says of the process, “which is a place where such great music came from.”

A New TV Special Will Bring the New Songs to Your Home

Elton and Brandi recently shared the stage for a magical evening of music and conversation at the London Palladium, where they debuted several new songs from Who Believes in Angels? in addition to songs from Elton’s storied back catalog. The performance will air as a special on CBS on Sunday, April 6. John and Carlile will also serve as the musical guests on Saturday Night Live on April 5.

The new group Journey appeared at San Francisco’s CBS Studios with a pedigree from Santana and a legacy of rangy musical heroics. So naturally, the label paired the band with Roy Halee, an overly meticulous, pipe-smoking idiosyncratic who was best known for work alongside the acoustic singer-songwriting duo Simon and Garfunkel.

The results were mostly ignored by fans – and eventually, even by the band itself.

“Halee was just nuts,” longtime San Francisco music critic Joel Selvin said in the Journey: Worlds Apart band biography. “I remember him stalling the session for like four hours while he waited for the right microphone to be delivered. He was a really fussbudget old-time engineer, and these guys were raring-to-go young guys that could have ripped a new one in any tape he put up on the console.”

READ MORE: Ranking All 45 Journey Songs from the ’70s

Despite his attention to such subtleties, Halee did not seem to really grasp how to record a full-on rock band. Journey’s self-titled debut would arrive in April 1975 with a sound that sometimes felt too muted. Still, he had an admitted passion for the group – and he helped distinguish Journey from their Latin-spiced roots.

Journey manager Herbie Herbert had served as a roadie for Carlos Santana, who was then working with singing keyboard player Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon. Both had become disillusioned with their band leader’s new musical evolution on 1972’s Caravanserai.

“In Santana, Carlos was trying to play jazz, and quite frankly, I can listen to it, but I’m not a jazz player. Nobody in the band was, including Carlos,” Rolie said in Journey: Worlds Apart. “The stuff we were playing, it was like we were leaving back the audience we built. It’s not what I would have done, so I left and Neal left – everybody left.”

They took the opportunity to stretch out – way out. Most of the songs on Journey stretched past the five-minute mark, including the explorative instrumentals “Kohoutek” and “Topaz.” (A notable exception was the upbeat, far more accessible “To Play Some Music,” which came in at a trim single-length time of 3:19.) Herbert later complained about Journey’s initial reliance on “a lot of long solo excursions created specifically to set up Neal Schon for his guitar statements.”

Listen to Journey’s ‘Of a Lifetime’

What Happened to the Original Lineup?

Journey would soon begin moving toward more compact, radio-ready songs with new frontman Steve Perry. This shift heralded a period of stunning chart dominance, but also a revolving door of lineup changes that remade the group.

Guitarist Neal Schon is the only remaining member from the Journey era, having appeared on every subsequent album and tour. He played a key role as their commercial fortunes turned, later co-writing pop hits like “Lights,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Don’t Stop Believin,'” and “Be Good to Yourself,” among others. He co-produced 2022’s Freedom, Journey’s most recent album, and has released almost a dozen solo LPs.

Bassist Ross Valory was the second-longest tenured group member, with stints from 1973 to 1985 and again from 1995 to 2020. He co-wrote more than a dozen Journey songs, including ’70s-era radio favorites “Anytime” and “Just the Same Way.” His long-awaited solo debut, 2024’s All of the Above, connected directly back to Journey’s initial jam-band vibe.

Late rhythm guitarist George Tickner split after their debut, though he co-wrote songs on Journey’s next two albums: “You’re on Your Own” and “I’m Gonna Leave You” from 1976’s Look Into the Future and “Nickel and Dime” from 1977’s Next. Drummer Aynsley Dunbar departed before 1979’s Evolution and then co-founder Gregg Rolie left after Journey’s huge 1980 tour.

Rolie would reunite with Schon in Santana (2016’s Santana IV), in a Santana offshoot group (1997’s underrated Abraxas Pool), a Journey offshoot group (2023’s Journey Through Time) and on a number of their own solo projects (most recently on 2019’s Sonic Ranch, where Schon joined Rolie for lead turns on “Breaking My Heart” and “Lift Me Up”).

Watch Journey’s ‘Mystery Mountain’ In Concert

The ‘Journey’ Album’s Best-Known Song

Journey has also reunited on stage with Rolie, most memorably in 2023 as the group’s 50th-anniversary tour got underway. Together again, they resurrected “Of a Lifetime,” the nearly seven-minute-long album-opener that became this era’s most durable song. No other track from Journey’s debut has been played since 2005.

The Rolie reunion marked the 55th appearance for “Of a Lifetime” over that same span. Journey Through Time, the splinter group which included current Journey member Deen Castronovo, also performed “Of a Lifetime” – as well as “Kohoutek” and “Mystery Mountain.” On stage, then as now, these songs stretched out even further.

“‘Of a Lifetime,’ man. They would bring the house down,” long-time tour manager Pat Morrow said in Journey: Worlds Apart. “No singer, no single, no bubblegum – but the playing, Neal’s playing. I mean, he would do solos on ‘Of a Lifetime’ that are still some of the most memorable shit I ever heard – and I heard a lot. I heard a lot of acts.”

READ MORE: Ranking Every Journey Album

Try as they might, however, none of these performances could quite replicate the original studio recording – because the groups only had one Neal Schon. Halee made a smart choice when he recommended that Schon double his first-take solo. Schon immediately nailed the repeat performance to complete “Of a Lifetime,” stunning Halee. “His jaw was on the floor,” Schon told Selvin for the Time3 box set liner notes.

While “Of a Lifetime” blended fusion with these spacey Pink Floyd-ish flights of fancy, “Topaz” made the clearest musical references to Rolie and Schon’s time with Santana. Schon and the soon-to-exit Tickner worked themselves into an interlocking frenzy to “In My Feeling / Conversations,” before “Mystery Mountain” brought Journey to a suitably towering conclusion.

Schon was very much in his element. “Those are my roots, where I came from — blues fusion, and a bit of jazz,” he said in Journey: Worlds Apart. But change was already in the air: Ross Valory’s poet wife Diane added a lyrical assist to the Journey finale, three years before playing a key role in the Perry-era breakout single “Wheel in the Sky.”

Listen to Journey Through Time’s ‘Kohoutek’

Journey Largely Ignores Their Debut Now

As their musical approach shifted, the material that drove their first album and early tours quickly began fading into the past. These days, they’re ignored entirely: Journey didn’t play any songs from their self-titled debut in 2024; none have appeared so far in 2025, either.

In fact, other than “Of a Lifetime,” the most recent call back to Journey dates to 2007, when they performed “Mystery Mountain.” The album-closing song had appeared on 35 set lists over two years before disappearing again. Journey’s 2005 tour marked the most recent appearance of “Kohoutek.”

By then, the group’s more wide-open early approach had been widely mimicked by throwback jam bands – but Journey had moved on. “It was based on jams, real eclectic – very different,” Role said in Journey: Worlds Apart. “That’s still really valid today. It’s almost like, ‘What, are we ahead of our time?’ You know, in a way – yeah. And that’s kind of what was going on: It just didn’t catch at that time.”

“In the Morning Day,” “To Play Some Music” and “In My Lonely Feeling / Conversations” haven’t been performed since Perry debuted on 1978’s Infinity. After that, “Topaz” was only dusted off once, back in 1979. Journey disappeared from the charts, and then almost entirely on stage.

“The first album was this distillation of all the hip and cool music shit that they’d been listening to, and that they were impressed by,” Selvin said in Journey: Worlds Apart. “Plus, they also were under the impression that the Santana thing that was going on before Caravanserai was something to be comped on, right? They were still thinking that that was kind of hip.”

Journey remained at the bottom half of the Billboard 200 in its first month of release, before getting a very minor boost when Rolling Stone gave the band a positive review in early June. Still, the LP peaked at a paltry No. 138 on the Billboard chart. Cashbox and Record World, the other two publications tracking album sales, reported highs of No. 124 and No. 177, respectively. Journey’s best showing, in fact, was No. 72 in Japan.

“The thinking was, it would be instantly successful,” Selvin added. “Honestly, you had Roy Halee producing the fucking thing — and it just went thud.”

Think You Know Journey?

Ritchie Blackmore’s wife Candice Night revealed that the former Deep Purple guitarist suffered a heart attack in 2023, and that his career has been on hold as a result.

Doctors have advised the 79-year-old not to fly, and he’s also suffering additional health issues, she added. She also admitted that the situation had led to the couple having arguments about the future.

“Ritchie has actually been told by his cardiologist not to get in a plane,” Night explained in a recent interview with Total Rock (video below). “He had a heart attack about a year and a half ago. He’s got six stents.”

READ MORE: Top 10 Deep Purple Songs

She continued: “I can’t believe he’s gonna be 80 on Apr. 14th – which is crazy…he doesn’t look it, still doesn’t act it. But eventually medical things wind up catching up with you.”

Night said Blackmore was also dealing with gout, arthritis and a problem with his back that had been hounding him for years. “So it’s getting harder for him — it’s tricky,” she reflected.

Candice Night Wants Ritchie Blackmore Back on Stage

“I’ve seen people younger than him in wheelchairs on stage doing what they do… [but] I think he probably doesn’t want people to see him that way.

“From a fan’s perspective, I would think people would just be happy to be under the same roof with him and listen to him play whatever he comes up with.”

She laughed: “So we kind of have this discussion, or argument – I’ll say ‘discussion’ – all the time! But he was just recently at his cardiologist and they said, ‘Let’s put traveling by plane on hold.’ … Hopefully we’ll get that all straightened out and that’ll change.”

Watch Candice Night’s Total Rock Interview

Deep Purple Lineup Changes: A Complete Guide

Charting more than 50 years of changing faces in Deep Purple.

Gallery Credit: UCR Staff

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