The Day in Rock Digest for 04/01/11: Former Guns N' Roses Steven Adler recently lost his singer and guitarist but he's taking inspiration from TV for ideas on how to replace them. He writes on Twitter: "I think we are going to have a little like American Idol type auditions. Me, Chip, MT and few management people to judge you to be the next Adler's Appetite member! Who is in? Who wants a tryout?" more. On the other hand, this was posted on April 1st. NME had this sad news this morning: A 19 year-old man has died after a fall at a Furthur gig in Pittsburgh. The man reportedly fell through a window at the Peterson Events Center on Wednesday night (March 30). Furthur features Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of Grateful Dead fame. more
Sodom has announced that guitarist Bernd "Bernemann" Kost has been hospitalized for an undiagnosed ailment, forcing the group to cancel an upcoming appearance in Poland. Their booking agent has issued the following:"A few minutes ago I received an upsetting phone call from Tom and Makka as Bernemann has been rushed to hospital." more
The Piano Man is deciding to stay silent: Billy Joel is canceling his planned memoir. "The Book of Joel" was scheduled for publication in June. more
Billboard reports that Diego Gonzalez Boneta has been cast in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of "Rock of Ages," which will also star Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin. more
Guns N' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba revealed in a March 31 Facebook posting that he will have to undergo surgery for a nine-millimeter tear in his knee ligament. more
Arcade Fire played a surprise concert earlier this week in Haiti. The Grammy-winning group performed at Port-Au-Prince, Haiti on Tuesday more
Saving Abel will perform a free concert for the troops on Wednesday, April 6 at the Special Events Center on the Fort Carson, CO military base more
Veil of Maya advise fans: "Our van and trailer was stolen last night in Wicker Park, Chicago, IL. Please keep a look out for our 98 White Ford 15 passenger van with the trailer shown attached to it. Please call Chicago police if you happen to see it." more
Kid Rock has announced a second leg of his "Born Free" tour with the new round of dates kicking off in Cincinnati on July 2 more
INXS are set to headline the very first Southern Sounds festival, due to take place on London’s Clapham Common on June 11th. more
A new musical dreamed up by rocker John Mellencamp and horror writer Stephen King will make its world debut in Atlanta next year more
On this day in 1961, The Beatles began a three-month residency at The Top Ten Club, Hamburg, Germany, playing 92 straight nights. The group played for seven hours a night on weekdays and eight hours at weekends with a 15-minute break every hour. It was during this visit that Astrid Kirchherr cut Stuart Sutcliffe’s hair into the style destined to become known as the “Beatle haircut” which The Beatles later adopted themselves.
On this day in 1966, The Troggs recorded “Wild Thing” at Pye Studios in Marble Arch, London, produced by Larry Page, with Mick Jagger present as an observer. The song went on to be a #1 U.S. and #2 U.K. hit in June.
On this day in 1985, David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his solo version of The Beach Boys’ “California Girls,” which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals. Lee Roth was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here
* Given that this is April 1st we can't be totally sure all of these stories were 100% legit. Most came from late Thursday but a few from the UK like the Grateful Dead story and the Adler story were from early Friday. We'll let you know if any turned out to be April Fools...
