According to People.com, Eddie Van Halen and son Wolfgang, 19, attended the wedding of Eddie‘s ex-wife (and Wolfgang‘s mother) Valerie Bertinelli, who married her boyfriend of seven years, financial planner Tom Vitale, on Saturday (January 1) at the couple’s Malibu, California home.

Bertinelli was in attendance when Eddie Van Halen married Janie Liszewski, his girlfriend of three years, on June 27, 2009. According to People.com, that ceremony took place in the garden of his seven-acre estate in the hills above Studio City, California when Liszewski walked down the aisle to VAN HALEN‘s “When It’s Love”, performed by the Sonus Quartet. Wolfgang served as best man, while brother Alex Van Halen, an ordained minister, officiated at the 20-minute, nondenominational service.

Professionally filmed video footage of OZZY OSBOURNE‘s September 18 performance at London’s O2 Arena as part of the U.K. edition of Osbourne‘s travelling festival, Ozzfest, can be viewed below.

Ozzy‘s setlist was as follows:

01. Bark At The Moon
02. Let Me Hear You Scream
03. Mr. Crowley
04. I Don’t Know
05. Fairies Wear Boots (BLACK SABBATH cover)
06. Suicide Solution
07. War Pigs (BLACK SABBATH cover)
08. Road To Nowhere
09. Shot in the Dark
10. Rat Salad (BLACK SABBATH cover)
11. Iron Man (BLACK SABBATH cover)
12. Killer Of Giants
13. Into The Void (BLACK SABBATH cover)
14. I Don’t Want To Change The World
15. Crazy Train

Encore:

16. Mama, I’m Coming Home
17. Paranoid (BLACK SABBATH cover)

Ozzy Osbourne will publish a new book called “Ask Dr. Ozzy” next year. The book will be co-written with Chris Ayres, who collaborated with Ozzy on his memoir “I Am Ozzy”, and is a spin-off of the singer’s column in Sunday Times.

According to the publisher, the book will “tell incredible survival stories not found in his memoir, offer advice that no human should follow, and shed light on his seemingly superhuman ability to keep breathing.” An October 2011 release is expected.

Osbourne‘s 2011 dates get underway January 12 in Minneapolis. The six-week 2011 trek will include a pair of intimate shows: January 26 at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix and February 1 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Ozzy‘s longtime friend and musical collaborator Slash will open all the concerts on the second leg.

BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION — the Anglo/American rock supergroup featuring vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, TRAPEZE), drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN), Derek Sherinian (DREAM THEATER) and blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa — performed two long-awaited U.K. concerts in December.

Fittingly, the first concert took place right in the heart of the Black Country at the legendary Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Wednesday, December 29, followed by a concert at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Thursday, December 30.

Fan-filmed video footage from both shows can be viewed below.

Mike Portnoy reaches out to Dream Theater to come back

Former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy has issued the following message via his official Forum:

“Just for the record, this is indeed true.

Fairly recently, I reached out to the guys to try and make amends and offered to reconcile for the sake of having peace back in our lives… (plus I know how much it meant to a lot of the fans…).

I figured it was still possible to try and save us because they hadn’t made any announcements yet or begun any public activity with another drummer… but sadly, they declined my offer (well, actually their lawyer did…t hey didn’t even tell me themselves….).

Sorry gang, I honestly gave it my all.

So now the fans on my Twitter and Facebook can please stop asking me to go back to DT… I tried, and the door is now shut… the ball is now in their court, not mine.

PS – I’m not crying or looking for mercy by posting this… I am merely trying to set the record straight as that is always the most important thing about my relationship with you guys… no BS, no spins, nothing to hide… and for better or for worse, I tell it like it is.

I’ve also recently seen some people accuse my online activity of “looking for attention or media coverage” or “looking for sympathy”, but it’s honestly none of the above… I merely value having an open and active communication with my fans… always have, always will… it is the cornerstone of everything I’ve done since day #1 with DT.

This was posted here FOR YOU GUYS to know about… here on MY message board on MY website…. if it ends up on (on music news sites), that is THEIR choice to spread, I did not request it or send out a “press release”.

Anyways, onward and upward… I’ve got a lot of great music and ideas waiting to come out of me and a lot of exciting collaborations in the works… so goodbye 2010… bring on 2011!”



Fear Factory postpone tour

Fear factory has just announced via facebook that the U.S. fear Campaign tour has been postponed. “Unfortunately U.S Tour Dates are postponed new dates TBA. Happy New year.” No reason was given for the postponement less than a week before the tour was to begin.

Released on December 30 was a list of the best-selling hard rock albums for 2010, and what a way to start the year for rock band Nickelback than by knowing that they ranked number one on top of legendary bands like AC/DC, Foo Fighters, and Stone Temple pilots. With their album “Dark Horse,” which was not even released in 2010 but rather 2008, Nickelback will remain in the books forever as the top selling album of 2010.

On the other hand, Linkin Park, who are getting ready to perform in Atlanta in January 23, did not come up empty handed because they took second place with their album “A Thousand Suns,” while AC/DC, the legend of all legends ended up 3rd with their “Iron Maiden 2” soundtrack.

As previously reported, TOOL will be headlining Big Day Out in Australia next year – but will not be showcasing any new songs. TOOL has since confirmed two headlining shows outside of Big Day Out. One show in Brisbane, the other in Melbourne. No word on if new music will be leaked at either of these gigs. TOOL will be touring Down Under for the first time in four years.

Tool Headlining Shows in Australia

January 24 – Brisbane, Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
February 2 – Melbourne, Australia @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman