News

Devastating updates continue to unfold about the California Wildfires. Nearly 40,000 acres in Los Angeles County have been destroyed, 27 lives have been lost, and evacuation orders are now in effect for hundreds of thousands of residents.

Many members of the music industry, including Larry Lalonde and Adrian Smith, have shared news about their homes being consumed by the flames, marking this as one of the worst natural disasters experienced by those living in the Palisades and Altadena. If you are watching this coverage from a distance and are wondering how you can help,...

Could you be Primus’ next drummer? The rock band have shared an open call on social media, inviting people to audition as Tim Alexander’s replacement after his sudden departure.

“We are currently taking submissions from all points in the universe for the position of Primus drummer/percussionist,” the band wrote on Instagram. “Seeking a well-mannered, affable individual with original sensibility and aesthetic, possessing a desire to open new doors in the creative world. Flashy chops are wonderful, but groove, pocket, and the ability to listen, react, and contribute to...

A few days after Primus announced the abrupt departure of Tim Alexander, the drummer has explained his exit in a new interview with Rolling Stone.

In the interview, Alexander expanded on a statement from Primus’ Les Claypool and Larry Lalonde that the drummer had told them he had lost his passion for playing.

Get Primus Tickets Here

“A lot of times, you do something you love for a long time, and sometimes the passion turns into a job, and sometimes that job doesn’t feel like it’s your being anymore,” he told Rolling Stone.

He added, “Over time, I started realizing that it was affecting my physical life, it was affecting my mental life, and it was affecting my family life, and my heart just wasn’t in it. When I discovered that I’m struggling with all these things, I had to sit and think about exactly what am I doing.

Tim “Herb” Alexander wants everyone to know he’s okay. Days earlier, Primus — the drummer’s now-former band — announced in a statement that Alexander had “abruptly” quit the band, leading fans to speculate about his health.

“I’m feeling really good,” Alexander — who suffered two heart attacks nearly a decade ago, in addition to the wear of drumming for almost a half-century — tells Rolling Stone in an exclusive interview days after his Primus exit was revealed. “I’m dealing with all the aches and pains, but I’m doing things...

Primus announced Tuesday that the funk metal band’s longtime drummer, Tim “Herb” Alexander, has abruptly left the group, saying he “lost his passion for playing.”

Founding members Les Claypool and guitarist Larry Lalonde revealed on social media that — ahead of upcoming concerts — they received an email from Alexander “expressing that effective immediately he would no longer be involved with Primus,” the pair wrote in a statement. “It came as a complete shock to all of us here in the Primus camp.”

pic.twitter.com/bYYVn6dEWl

— Les, Ler and Tim (@primus) October 29, 2024

Primus continued,...

Primus’ Les Claypool and Larry Lalonde have announced the abrupt departure of the band’s longtime drummer, Tim “Herb” Alexander.

In a statement posted on Tuesday, October 29th, Claypool and Lalonde explained that Alexander resigned “effective immediately” from the band via an email sent on Thursday, October 17th. “It came as a complete shock to all of us here in the Primus camp,” the statement explains.

Get Primus Tickets Here

“On the heels of a wonderful spring & summer of touring and some fabulous plans ahead, it has been a bit bewildering for us that Herb would so abruptly opt out,” Claypool and Lalonde continue. “After several attempts to communicate with Herb, his only response was another email stating that he has ‘lost his passion for playing.’ As disappointing as that is, we respect his choice.”

The statement then goes on to explain how Claypool and Lalonde will handle Primus’ upcoming bookings.

On November 16th, 1978, Rush came through the Bay Area on their Hemispheres tour. In the audience at the band’s Cow Palace show that night was a young Les Claypool, and 40-some years later, the Primus bassist still seems awed by what he witnessed.

“Hemispheres was my first concert,” Claypool says. “Little 14-year-old guy who just threw up in the parking lot from drinking three Löwenbräus, having my mind blown by watching these guys do their thing.”

This spring and summer, he’ll have the chance to relive that adolescent thrill over and over,...

It's not often you get to talk to an actual rock god, but Melinda and I got that chance this week when we sat down with Joe Satriani, who has been called one of the best rock guitarists ever -- and Mick Jagger might agree. In addition to being a part of the multi-platinum supergroup Chickenfoot, Satriani has toured with Jagger, scored 15 Grammy nominations, taught a fleet of other famous guitar players (including Kirk Hammett of Metalica and Larry Lalonde of Primus) and had a massive influence on the industry with his lines of guitars and amplifiers. He's now an author, too. His memoir, "Strange Beautiful Music" is out now -- as is a 15-cd set of his collected works. Yeah, he's a busy guy.  Anyone interested in pursuing a career in music -- especially as a guitar player -- will want to listen to this interview. Satriani explains the...

Sept. 6: Comedian JoAnne Worley is 72. Country singer David Allan Coe is 70. Country singer Mel McDaniel is 67. Singer-bassist Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 66. Actress Swoosie Kurtz is 65. Comedian-actress Jane Curtin is 62. Country singer Buddy Miller is 57. Country drummer Joe Smyth of Sawyer Brown is 52. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 51. Actor-comedian Michael Winslow ("Police Academy") is 51. Guitarist Pal Waaktaar of A-ha is 48. Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 46. Actress Rosie Perez is 45. Singer Macy Gray is 42. Singer CeCe Peniston is 40. Singer Darryl Anthony (Az Yet) is 40. Singer Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries) is 38. Actor Dylan Bruno ("Numb3ers") is 37. Actress Anika Noni Rose ("Dreamgirls") is 37. Actor Justin Whalin ("Lois and Clark") is 35. Singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans) is 35. Actress Naomie Harris ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest") is 33. Rapper Noreaga is 32. Rapper Foxy Brown is 31.Sept. 7: Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is 79. Singer...

Not to be outdone by the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Olympic Games on rival CTV, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is set to roll out winter sports-themed TV programming.

The Canadian pubcaster has ordered a sitcom pilot from E1 Television and Serendipity Point Films based on the popular Canadian curling movie "Men With Brooms," the directorial debut for actor Paul Gross ("Due South").

The 2002 homegrown comedy starred Gross, Leslie Nielsen and Molly Parker as part of a curling team reuniting to capture the national trophy. Gross will share executive producer credits on the CBC pilot and co-star, while Paul Mather ("Corner Gas") will pen the script about four regular joes hanging out at the local curling rink.

"Curling is something everyone in Canada is familiar with, a strange sport in quirky rinks where people can come and go and tell different stories," Mather said of the sitcom's premise.

Kirstine Stewart, general manager of CBC Television,...