News

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

Green Day made their long-awaited Coachella debut this past weekend, reminding the world just how many hits they’ve pumped out — and how well they can still perform them, decades later.

Whether you just became a Green Day fan in Indio, or you’re a bona fide Idiot who’s waited years to see them on Main Stage, here’s more good news: The band has plenty of...

When Jesse Colin Young’s death was announced on Monday, it was inevitable that “Get Together” — the peace-and-brotherhood anthem that he and the Youngbloods turned into a decades-long radio staple —would be mentioned first. Young neither wrote it nor was the first to record it. But even after it’s been covered by everyone from Joni Mitchell and Jefferson Airplane to Kelly Clarkson, the Youngbloods’ version, with its snuggly harmonies and spiraling guitar, remains definitive, the most reassuring of them all.

That said, Young had more to offer than that song.

The first album in 53 years from legendary proto-punk band MC5 will arrive in October, sadly after classic members Wayne Kramer and Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson both passed away earlier this year.

The LP, titled Heavy Lifting, was originally announced back in 2022. It will finally see the light of day on October 18th, one day before MC5 get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame via the Musical Excellence Award.

Kramer co-wrote 12 of the album’s 13 songs with Brad Brooks, who served as the band’s singer during their final years before Kramer’s passing. First single “Boys Who Play With Matches” can be streamed below.

The album features a number of prominent guests, including Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Alice in Chains’ William DuVall, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath, and Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, among others.

Thompson, the band’s classic drummer,...

The 1989 action classic Road House (watch it Here) recently got a decent enough Prime Video remake that’s set to receive a sequel – which is something the original movie should have gotten around 1991 or so. But no matter what other movies use the Road House title, nothing will ever compare to that ’89 movie… which I have vivid memories of watching at a drive-in during its initial release. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Road House, the estate of musician Jeff Healey has announced that they’re teaming up with Sony Music and Mondo Music to bring us Road House: The Lost Soundtrack, the complete, previously unreleased soundtrack that Healey recorded for the film.

Road House: The Lost Soundtrack is available to pre-order from the Jeff Healey Estate’s official website and will also be available on all major streaming platforms on June 7th, courtesy of Sony Music. This release features...

MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson, the last surviving original member of the influential group, died Thursday morning at MediLodge of Taylor, where he had been rehabilitating following a heart attack in April. He was 75.

His death comes a little over three months since fellow MC5 cofounder Wayne Kramer died. Other key figures in the band’s history, all deceased, included singer Rob Tyner, guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, bassist Michael Davis and guitarist Kramer. The group’s former manager, John Sinclair, died April 2.

The group was just voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. The induction ceremony will be held in October in Cleveland.

After leaving the MC5, Thompson continued to perform locally with various Detroit bands, and went on to participate in a series of reunion projects with Kramer during the 2000s.

The MC5 formed in 1965. Thompson credited the band’s rise to its blue-collar work ethic and hard work.

MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson has died after complications from a heart attack. He was 75 years old.

As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Thompson passed away at a nursing home in Taylor, Michigan on Wednesday (May 8th), where he had been rehabilitating from a heart attack he suffered in April.

Nicknamed “Machine Gun” due to his fast, hard-hitting style of drumming, Thompson was the last surviving member of MC5, which will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category this fall.

Born in the Detroit area, Thompson picked up the drums when he was just nine years old. While still in high school, he joined a garage band called the Bounty Hunters alongside his friend and future MC5 bandmate Wayne Kramer on guitar.

Kramer co-founded MC5 with fellow guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith in 1963, with Thompson joining the group a few years later to fill...

Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, the founding MC5 drummer and the last surviving original member of the pioneering proto-punk group, died Wednesday, The Detroit Free Press reported. He was 75.

An exact cause of death was not given, though Thompson had reportedly suffered a series of medical issues in recent months, including a heart attack in April.

Thompson’s death comes just a few months after the February death of his MC5 bandmate, guitarist Wayne Kramer, and the April death of John Sinclair, the group’s manager. A few months after Sinclair’s death,...

Wayne Kramer, founding member of the legendary Detroit proto-punk outfit MC5 and one of rock’s greatest guitarists, has died at the age of 75.

The singer-songwriter-political activist’s death was announced Friday via his official social media accounts. Kramer died at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles from pancreatic cancer, Jason Heath, an executive director of the artist’s nonprofit Jail Guitar Doors, told Billboard.

On Rolling Stone’s 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list — with Kramer sharing placement alongside Fred “Sonic” Smith — we wrote, “Forged in Detroit during the 1960s,...

Wayne Kramer, the cofounder and guitarist-vocalist of the iconic Detroit punk band MC5, has died at age 75. The news was shared on Kramer and MC5’s official social media pages today, but a cause of death was not disclosed.

Born Wayne Kambes on April 30, 1948, the guitarist formed the MC5 (for Motor City 5) as a teenager with his friend, Fred “Sonic” Smith. They played locally, eventually becoming the house band at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.

John Sinclair, a left-wing activist, became the band’s manager, and they soon were a staple of the late-’60s political movements, aligning with the White Panther Party, the anti-racist group that Sinclair cofounded.

The group’s sound was hard to define, but it was defiant, and was widely credited with sparking what was to come in punk. The group performed at the protests outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention and at other rallies before signing...

Wayne Kramer, co-founder, guitarist, and singer of the influential Detroit rock band MC5, has died at the age of 75. Kramer’s passing was announced on Friday (February 2nd) in a post shared to Instagram, revealing that the legendary musician died of pancreatic cancer.

“Wayne Kramer passed away today peacefully from pancreatic cancer. He will be remembered for starting a revolution in music, culture, and kindness,” read the statement on his official Instagram account.

MC5’s history dates back to 1963, when Kramer started a band with fellow guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith. After a couple years, the classic lineup of Kramer, Smith, singer Rob Tyner, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson was in place.

While MC5 never reached mainstream success and only released two studio albums — 1970’s Back in the USA and 1971’s High Time — they remain one of the most influential rock bands of all time, paving the way for...

While they may not necessarily be the villains and get all the glory, there's something to be said for the douchebag characters of the horror genre- they often add to the drama of any given situation, they generally complicate things and they make it oh, so fun to hate them.

That being said, I thought it might be kind of fun to look back at some of my favorite douchebag characters of the horror genre- past and present. The only rule? They aren't the film's "big bad." Be forewarned, though: If you haven't seen some of these films, this countdown may get a little spoiler-y for you.

So, in the immortal words of Kanye West, "Let's have a toast for the douchebags" and check out some of this writer's favorite unsavory characters in the horror genre of all time.

Bennett (Kim Coates) in Resident Evil: Afterlife: It's no shocker...