All content archive
April 2026
Filter
119 articles
- April 11
-
- "I found out through the Internet that I have AIDS. I learned I was dead." How one final, heartbreaking TV performance marked the end of an era for Alice In Chains - and a swan song for their brilliant but troubled frontman, Layne Staley
- “We weren’t after our version of Iron Maiden’s Eddie, but it needed to be striking.” The story behind Slayer's grim Reign In Blood album artwork
- “It sits between Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and Roxy Music – all viewed through a haze of spectral menace”: Before Crowded House, before their new-wave hits, Split Enz were unabashedly prog
- April 10
-
- The 12 best new metal songs you need to hear right now
- “I didn’t do terribly well with solo work compared to my colleagues in Genesis. But I had a golden period, and I bought the Steinway piano I play on this record”: Anthony Phillips’ fight through pain barrier to make Gemini
- "On our first tour one of the venues burned down, and the cops would shut things down." Police raids, venue fires and murderous rednecks: the story of Converge, the band who defined metalcore for a generation
- The Rolling Stones are releasing a new song tomorrow, but under a fake name
- “Two iconic albums! One unforgettable night!” Thirty Seconds To Mars announce A Beautiful Lie vs This Is War arena tour
- “I’d love it to become a musicians’ platform – curated, high-quality, and fair”: Why Steven Wilson launched Headphone Dust
- "Making this record was joyful." Yes share first music from brand new studio album, Aurora
- "The band's accountants possibly didn't figure in the cost of their eccentric new guitarist insisting upon recording his parts inside a bespoke chicken coop." The 10 most eye-wateringly expensive rock albums ever recorded
- Exclusive Magenta Tarot bundle with limited edition t-shirt on sale now!
- Great new proggy sounds you need to hear from Einar Solberg, Evergrey, MONO, Crippled Black Phoenix and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! Rush have assumed control of the cover of the new issue of Prog, on sale now!
- All hail the Rat Queen! Hotly-tipped fantasy doom metallers Castle Rat launch video for bombastic single Siren
- "What began to change us was success. When your dream comes true, where do you go from there?” Kansas: an everyday story of success, failure, religion, drugs, booze and jealousy
- "Then there was this. I was floored!" Long-lost promo video for Led Zeppelin's Good Times Bad Times found in University of Georgia archive
- April 9
-
- Jack White expands 2026 tour, with UK and Irish headline dates sandwiched between American tours
- "There was an old fella who screamed that we'd been sent by Oliver Cromwell. He jumped on the bonnet of the car and tried to boot the windscreen to pieces." Not everyone was pleased to see The Rolling Stones on their first Irish tour
- How to watch the Coachella 2026 livestream: Iggy Pop, Wet Leg, Turnstile, David Byrne, Die Spitz, Interpol & Nine Inch Nails' set with Boys Noize just some of this weekend's highlights
- Watch Robert Plant and Saving Grace breathe new life into a Led Zeppelin classic on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
- "Its venom did a number on my system." The Pretty Reckless' Taylor Momsen has been bitten by yet another animal on the AC/DC tour
- "I’d have to be careful if I did wear a big, flowing dress onstage… I’d be worried about pyro setting me on fire." Cliff Burton, Wicked and real-life High School Musicals: Five fun minutes with Amaranthe's Elize Ryd
- "We’re here for you, Randy. Might be time for a beer or three." Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan offers support to the US Army's top general ousted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
- "There are a lot of people who don't seem interested or even notice that the world's on fire." Puscifer's Maynard James Keenan and Carina Round discuss soundtracking the end times
- "No-one writes rock ’n’ roll better than this.” The story of the AC/DC album that true AC/DC fans love best
- "They were the inadvertent godfathers of the independent music scene." Power-pop nirvana met emotional baggage and personal tragedy in the story of Big Star, a band destined to fail
- “It was the first keyboard solo I’d heard on the radio for a very long time”: The Marillion song that proves Mark Kelly’s genius, by Adam Wakeman
- "Everybody I know is sending me the clip!" Kansas react to viral Carry On Wayward Son sketch on Saturday Night Live
- April 8
-
- "English people don't really want to feel that much." The curious tale of Robert Smith's least favourite Cure album, despite him telling the world "anyone who doesn't like this just doesn't like the Cure"
- "Slipknot is a big scary monster and we're losing control of it." How Slipknot's angriest and sweariest song helped the metal icons land the heaviest number one album in history
- "People were throwing coins and smashed up cups. It was horrifying!" This is what it's like supporting metal legends Iron Maiden in front of a hostile crowd, according to Atreyu guitarist Dan Jacobs
- "A starting point for new listeners to discover the depth and breadth of their peerless album catalogue." Pink Floyd announce new compilation album including extended version of classic track
- “I’ve often wondered if other people knew what I was talking about!” This is why Roger Chapman sings about his shoe in Family classic Burlesque
- "I’m not the first woman in metal. I just did it a little more my own way." The trailblazing black metal star who worked with Martin Scorsese and Michael Bolton before taking on the mother of all career changes
- "There can be more spices – we have a choir on three songs – but the foundation must be secure." 16 albums into a 44-year career, German thrash veterans Kreator are still doing their own thing
- "Their record label couldn't figure out whether they were the next Poison or the first Guns N' Roses." The story of Jetboy, the band who could have saved glam metal but didn't
- “We’re back to being the opening act – a difficult pill to swallow. But I see a great opportunity”: Textures pioneered djent but never received full credit. Can their comeback album secure their achievements?
- "There are certain signature sounds that come directly from his playing – not from the equipment, but from him." New Rush drummer Anika Nilles reveals her thoughts on Neil Peart's playing
- Twisted Sister announce first show with Sebastian Bach - and it's in Alaska
- Take a tour of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne's Los Angeles home – and if you like what you see, it's yours for $17 million
- April 7
-
- "It was scary when we were getting death threats over social media." After angering the far right by pretending to murder Donald Trump, alien monster metallers Gwar couldn't believe people were trying to censor them
- "I am your Rat Queen! We're on a mission to defend the realm from those who seek to destroy it." Watch one of the most hyped young bands in heavy metal battle on stage as Castle Rat slay a brilliant new live set
- New Hawkwind release unearths the late Huw Lloyd-Langton's final recording with the band
- "I was never a fan of it and I didn't even want it to be on the record." The emotional Linkin Park anthem that Chester Bennington didn't originally like but became one of the biggest rock songs of all time
- "When I wrote that song I was really going through it...I was almost embarrassed by it." From Brazil to the UK, the hardcore punk four-piece channelling Distillers fury via some deeply personal lyrics
- “Someone put toilet paper in my back pocket and set fire to it. I sat in the sink and fell asleep. The soundtrack to that night was Gong!” How Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway got into prog
- The 11 best songs from 1973
- “My partners lived bohemian lives but ran the band like a capitalist corporation. Exploiting other people makes you feel lonely, I guess”: Why Karl Bartos had to leave Kraftwerk
- "I first met Phil Lynott completely by accident during my first ever acid trip." Original Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell on the birth of the band and his relationship with their "gentle and romantic" frontman
- "My role in life was to be a proud, bold lion, to tell the truth, and stick up for what's right." Dave Mustaine on Megadeth's final chapter, his love for Ozzy, finger numbness, and trading mosh pits for a silver-screen future
- April 6
-
- "Like Blondie with Teeth." Shakin' Street mix high-energy rock with post-punk pop sensibility on album starring Ross The Boss and Fabienne Shine
- “The atmosphere was intense. Manson said hello and I froze. There was a feeling of extreme evil in the room”: Jon Keliehor went from an unknown psychedelic group to playing with The Doors, turning down The Byrds and rubbing shoulders with Charles Manson
- "We were invited to a séance by some girls in Italy. It all got a bit out of hand, a bit freaky. That was the first and last time we tried to summon spirits of the dead." How Uriah Heep's Demons And Wizards album turned them into global superstars
- Classic Rock's Tracks Of The Week: April 6, 2026
- "We didn’t always know what we were doing on this record, and I think that’s the beauty of it." Jonathan Davis and Munky share the stories behind every song on Korn's game-changing debut album
- “When you’ve got the helicopter, the yacht, the private jet, what do you do? ‘I’ll go into space and pretend it’s for research!’” Ian Anderson wonders if he should have sent a flute into the cosmos, and regrets William Shatner went there too
- Former King Crimson drummer Michael Giles returns with Shadows/Solo, his first album for 25 years
- “I used to cringe when I heard my voice on those songs, and then it went to Number 1! I remember it blasting out of radios. I was mortified”: The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde wrote a classic late 70s hit. She’s still not sure why it was so popular
- “How dare he revolutionise rock’n’roll then give it all up and just walk away without a word!” Syd Barrett was never lost. He just didn’t want to be found
- April 5
-
- “Whoever listens closely to Hallelujah will discover that it is a song about sex, about love, about life on earth”: How Jeff Buckley turned a Canadian troubadour’s forgotten song into a one-man tour de force – and launched a million bad cover versions
- “When Eric Clapton left, we tried different guitarists. Peter Green told me he was better than everybody else. Once I heard him play, I realised he was”: How the most influential British blues band of the 60s replaced one brand new guitar god with another
- “I cried my eyes out when I heard Maiden’s Brave New World. There was this sense of great loss that hit me really hard”: Blaze Bayley comes clean about leaving Iron Maiden, clashing with Rick Rubin and the heart attack that nearly killed him
- “His legend has only grown since his death. He comes closer than anyone to being the best guitar player that ever lived”: In 1989, this cult rock’n’roll musician was called “the world’s greatest unknown guitar player”. Five years later he was dead
- “There would be no Holiday In Cambodia without Hawkwind”: Jello Biafra discovered the space rockers in a copy of Penthouse – and wound up singing Silver Machine with Nik Turner
- April 4
-
- "I just want her to leave me alone and not hurt anyone else." Woman charged with alleged stalking of Ghost singer Tobias Forge
- “We’d been getting a battering about how polished we sounded. So we started to search for a little more earthiness”: How a hard rock band who made Johnny Rotten “jump around like a lunatic” made a gritty 70s classic – and caused uproar with the cover
- "Good luck with your music, I will continue to not listen to it." Gloves are off in Arch Enemy v Kiko Loureiro copyright beef as former Megadeth man and Michael Amott trade barbs
- “Our peers – Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day – see the honesty and they get it. A lot of people never will, but that’s not important”: Horror-punk icons the Misfits recorded their classic debut album in 1978. It took 18 years for it to be released
- “He asked, ‘Who owns the rights to your albums?’ I was like, ‘We should.’ He said, ‘How about I buy them for you?’” It took nearly 50 years for Happy The Man to hear their music the way they’d intended
- “Gram had this idea of ‘Cosmic American Music’. Music had no rules back then. There was so much freedom”: The trailblazing ’60s country-rock band who pioneered a whole new sound – only for the Eagles to steal their thunder
- “Spielberg requested a meeting. They’d written a movie and decided their hero’s favourite band would have been Huey Lewis & The News”: How a Hollywood legend and a time-travelling teenager turned a veteran rocker into an unlikely 80s superstar
- 5 insanely obscure 1980s rock albums that are a perfect 10/10
- April 3
-
- Crowdfunding campaign launched to support the family of late GosT mastermind James Lollar
- Voyage 35 share their first music with a cover of Porcupine Tree's The Nostalgia Factory
- "I started chemo and got in touch with my Native American roots." How Testament's Chuck Billy survived cancer (and grunge) to become a thrash metal legend
- Cool new proggy sounds you need to hear from Plini, Chimpan A, William Gilmour & John McGuigan, Playgrounded and more in Prog's brand new Tracks Of The Week
- “David Coverdale believed those things were alright to say. Jon Lord and I would see something he’d said and wrinkle our noses”: How a controversial album cover and cheeky T-shirts helped turn two ex-Deep Purple members into stars all over again
- "We don't write songs which shy away from witnessing a world in its trauma, its rage and pain." U2 surprise-release new six-song EP Easter Lily
- "I wanna write lyrics that have real weight in real life experience. I don’t wanna write about still dyeing my hair black!" Members of influential bands Crowbar and Type O Negative unite in dour new supergroup Sun Don't Shine
- If you think Bruce Springsteen should shut up about politics and just play his songs, you obviously have no idea what Bruce Springsteen has been singing about for the past 50 years
- "This record could change your life, if it needs changing. It's a defiant burst of joy for a world in flames." Jim Jones All Stars' Cat Fight is a record for people who wanna have a good time, all the time
- Lost treasures: Ten cult classic albums worth scouring second-hand record stores for
- "It wasn't quite working with the three of us. We were thinking that maybe we should continue with someone else." Alex Lifeson says he initially had doubts about new Rush drummer Anika Nilles
- “Taking up music was a rebellion against order… I realised I was never going to be the most studious guitarist”: Why Steve Howe didn’t join The Nice or Atomic Rooster, and didn’t even go to his Jethro Tull audition
- "I put my hand up and said I'm bringing trouble to them. Here we are." Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova added to Russian federal wanted list
- April 2
-
- "I want to do lots of different things. I'm always on some sort of learning curve." Every album Robert Plant has made since Led Zeppelin broke up, ranked from worst to best
- "When I started playing guitar at 14 I was watching Alice Cooper live shows on YouTube, dreaming of joining one day!" Alice Cooper announces new guitarist Anna Cara
- Harm's Way guitarist Bo Lueders dead at 38
- Former Turnstile guitarist Brady Ebert facing charge of attempted murder of Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates' 79-year-old father
- James Lollar, the mastermind behind dark synthwave trailblazers GosT, dead at 46
- “There’s a man trapped inside my cat!” – genre-smashing star Poppy is on the cover of the new issue of Metal Hammer with an exclusive new interview
- Yes postpone this month's Fragile UK tour as guitarist Steve Howe requires surgery
- “He may be alluding to life, the universe or a balance sheet, for all the listener knows”: The 1980 album that brought George Orwell, Casio calculators and a pop producer into the realm of prog
- "If you’re trying to have followers and make them think like you do, you’re just building a cult." How Maynard James Keenan's Puscifer explore comedy and tragedy
- "We're exploring the similarities between recycling and horror. For example, zombies are recycled flesh and bones." Sweden has a new face in the war against household waste: heavy metal monster band Lordi
- "It takes me back to my schooldays." Peter Gabriel shares his latest single Till Your Mind Is Shining
- "We like going places where it's a challenge." How Queen helped tear down the Iron Curtain
- "Our goal is to be the biggest heavy metal band in the world." Tailgunner want to be the new Iron Maiden. Or the new Metallica. Or the new Judas Priest. And KK Downing is convinced
- “I wake up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘What if we hadn’t gone with him?’ I can’t see how it would have worked”: If Big Big Train hadn’t met Alberto Bravin, they wouldn’t have been on tour to discover the inspiration for Woodcut
- "Bonzo picked George Harrison up and launched him into the swimming pool. He said it was the greatest night of his life!" How Led Zeppelin seized control of the industry and became the biggest rock band on the planet
- April 1
-
- Fleetwood Mac star Lindsey Buckingham attacked in Santa Monica
- "Not just a way to disrupt the status quo, but perhaps to destroy it completely." Sub Pop announces details of what promises to be the best record on the label since its '90s heyday, and you can hear the first single now
- "The America that I've written about for 50 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous administration." Bruce Springsteen launches his fiercest attacks yet against "criminal clown" Donald Trump
- "It was an experiment, and not everyone was ready for that kind of change!" Jethro Tull announce six-disc reissue of 1984 album Under Wraps
- "I could feel his heart through his chest and he passed away right there." Childhood tragedy, unlikely success and emotional reunions: Max Cavalera on how he reshaped metal with Sepultura and Soulfly
- "I lost it. I was just screaming and swinging at people. I’m not proud of it." How Red Hot Chili Peppers made By The Way, in their own words
- "When you live in Mexico there is always this thought in the back of your head that you are not safe. You’re always alert." Meet the band bringing true heavy metal back to Mexico - while trying to escape it
- "Linkin Park helped me survive." Anti-war protests, hidden identities and split personalities: Meet N0trixx, the Russian-born trap metal artist exploring mental health
- An incredible lineup and a unique, intimate European festival experience just round the corner from a beautiful city and Dracula's Castle? Rockstadt is unlike any other metal festival around - and you need to be there
- Masked-up Canadian math rockers Angine de Poitrine announce new EU and UK tour for October
- "We're honouring a legend." Inside King Ultramega, the star-studded tribute to Chris Cornell featuring members of Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Mastodon, Anthrax and more
- "Pete Doherty said that I was a high-kicking acrobat crossed with Nico. I was very pleased with that." Approved by Blondie, Iggy Pop and the Sex Pistols, The Molotovs are a ferocious generational voice
- "I'll definitely take being number one in fourteen countries!" The story of the song that heralded Blondie's comeback – but tanked in the US
- “I freely admit to doing disgraceful things in the past. What I did to certain band members was appalling. I hope that’s all behind me”: When Robert John Godfrey rebooted The Enid
- Why you need to be at Alcatraz 2026
- "I kind of did that on purpose, because there's just so much fake AI stuff going on." Journey's Jonathan Cain admits to deliberately misleading fans over Steve Perry return
- "We exchanged no words. He eyed me up and down, dipped the silver tube he wore on a chain into a bag of white powder, shoved it up my snout, then walked out. I was up for three days." The day The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde met Motorhead's Lemmy
- "I was so terrified to go out I stayed in my room for a week." Rare 1974 talkshow footage starring Ozzy Osborne, Jon Lord and Ian Hunter appears online
