Foo Fighters Announce Birthday Bash for Next Summer

When you’ve been a band for 20 years, how else would you celebrate that monumental moment than to throw a big bash with some of your closest music industry friends?

And that’s exactly what the Foo Fighters are planning to do next summer.

Earlier in the day, the band announced they would be throwing a star-studded event in Washington D.C. on July 4th to celebrate their 20th “birthday.”

Independence Day might be big for the United States, but for fans of the Foo Fighters, it marks the exact day that Dave Grohl and company released a record under the name that would go on to become a household name.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Heart, LL Cool J, Buddy Guy, Clark Grant Jr. and many more have also been announced as performers for the birthday bash. You know, just some of the guys’ friends who happened to appear on their current HBO docu-series Sonic Highways.

Check out the official poster for the event below. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale beginning this Saturday, Nov. 8 at 10 am, so if you have any desire to go to the birthday bash, we’ll advise to be standing in line starting like now.

Drake Cancels Grammy Nomination Special Performance

Those looking forward to seeing Drake take the stage tonight on the Grammy Nominations concert will have to wait indefinitely because the rapper has confirmed that he will not be performing on it tonight.

TMZ was the first to report that the “Hold On, We’re Going Home” rapper was pulling out of the nomination show, which is being held to announce the artists that have been officially nominated for Grammys, due to a “scheduling conflict.”

This isn’t even the first time that he has pulled the cancellation card for something. When his “Would You Like a Tour?” schedule was first announced, he had to reschedule the full thing  due to “an intense rehearsal schedule and technical production requirements that will be part of the show.” Then he went on to cancel the Philadelphia tour stop due to the  “elaborate nature” of the show and an “unexpected technical issue”; that show had been rescheduled for December 18.

A rep from Drake’s team did go on to say that, “unfortunately, due to scheduling complications, Drake will no longer be performing … (he’s) currently in the middle of his nationwide Would You Like A Tour? and sincerely apologizes to his fans that he can’t be there.” No other explanation has been given as to why it was such a last-minute call, especially since there are no events listed for tonight on his website, but he does have a show tomorrow night in Kansas City.

No matter, the Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! will go on without him. The show airs live at 10 PM EST on CBS with a long list of other performers and LL Cool J once again taking over the hosting duties.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced today those lucky nominees for the class of 2014. This year’s list includes Hall and Oates, Nirvana, The Replacements, KISS, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, LL Cool J, N.W.A, Link Wray, the Meters, Linda Ronstadt, Cat Stevens, Yes and the Zombies.

The lucky nominees that get the most votes by the end of the voting period will get the honors of being inducted into the hall of fame. For the second year, the public has been given the chance to also vote alongside artists, historians and music industry insiders of the Rock Hall voting body.

For those that would like to have their voices heard and vote for their favorite nominees, Rolling Stone’s website is currently playing host for the public. According to Rolling Stone, “the top five acts will comprise a “fan’s ballot” that will count as one of the more than 600 ballots that determine the Class of 2014.” Fans have until December 10 to get their vote included in those ballots.

To be eligible for this year’s ballot, those that ended up on the bill had to have released their first single or album in 1988 or earlier than that. If some of the nominees look like they have been nominated once before, many of them have had the honor bestowed on them before.

While some may have seen the ballots once before, some of the nominees such as Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, the Replacements, Linda Ronstadt, Link Wray, Cat Stevens, Yes and the Zombies are getting their names on the ballots for the first time. For those the feel like arguing about Peter Gabriel then yes, he was inducted in 2009 as a member of Genesis.

On a side note, Nirvana is the only act this year to land on the ballot during their first year of eligibility. Their cover of “Love Buzz” by Shocking Blue was their first single, hitting stores in late 1988.

Grammy Nominations Concert to be Held in December

The Grammy’s have announced that they will be holding the Grammy’s Nomination Concert Live on December 6, where all the nominees for the yearly award show will be revealed.

Last year, the concert special had been held in Nashville, but this year, the association have chosen to go back home to Los Angeles for the revealing of the nominees. The hour-long CBS concert special will take place at the Nokia Theatre L.A. live on Friday, December 6 at 10 p.m. EST.

Kind of a bad timing for those that like to actually go out Friday nights, but we guess that’s why TiVo and DVR were created.

Not only will the nominees be announced, but like the titled states, there will be some artists hitting the stage during the broadcast. Now, who will actually be gracing the stage to perform and present is still unknown, but that information should be coming our way sometime soon, at least according to the press released issued by the academy earlier today.

Last year, the concert was held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The show was hosted by Taylor Swift and LL Cool J while performers for the evening included Maroon 5, Ne-Yo, fun. and Hunter Hayes.

As for the actual Grammy Awards, it will be broadcast live on CBS on January 26, 2013 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. EST.

Brad Paisley Defends ‘Accidental Racist’

If you didn’t tune into the ACM Awards this past Sunday, then the only thing you really need to know is that there is a lot of talk about the “Accidental Racist” performance with Brad Paisley and LL Cool J. The song dives deeply into many of the issues that still run rapid in America like racial tension, political unrest and regional rivalry, you know, the  same old same old.

Many outlets such as Gawker and Vulture named the song “worst song ever” while The Hairpin labeled it a “lyrical disgrace”, but that didn’t stop Brad Paisley from defending it.

“So, as you buy this album, I hope it triggers emotions. I hope you feel joy, heartache, triumph, surprise; you laugh, cry, nudge someone beside you,” he wrote on Twitter about the album the song will be featured on. “I hope the album rocks you, soothes you, raises questions, answers, evokes feelings, all the way through until Officially Alive,” Paisley continued, but ended his defense with a simple, “Cause I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The song featured lines such as, “I’m just a white man comin’ to you from the southland/Tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be/I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done/And it ain’t like you and me can re-write history/Our generation didn’t start this nation.”

If you aren’t one to get offended easily, then check out the song right here: