Do the ladies of Destiny’s Child still hang out in real life? Where can you see Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Selena Gomez perform if you missed last night’s MTV Movie Awards? And what exactly IS Kylie Minogue doing at LOGO’s NewNowNext Awards tonight at 10/9 Central?
Well folks, you did it. Just under two weeks ago, VH1 Classic began releasing a series of viewer polls that would ultimately determine what songs would separate themselves from the pack in America’s Hard 100. Over one million (!!!) votes were cast by you, THE FANS, to determine which songs deserved to be at the top of our list of the best hard rock and heavy metal songs of all-time. We’ve sorted through the votes, analyzed the numbers, and now we need your help again in determining the FINAL RANKINGS of America’s Hard 100.
We have come up with a list of 15 songs here, 10 of which won their respective polls — a healthy round of applause for Dream Theater‘s “Pull Me Under,” Type O Negative‘s “Black No. 1,” Bon Jovi‘s “Living On A Prayer,” Cinderella‘s “Gypsy Road,” Dio‘s “Holy Diver,” Rush‘s “Limelight,” Poison‘s “Nothin’ But A Good Time,” Guns N’ Roses‘ “November Rain,” Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads’ “Crazy Train,” and Black Sabbath‘s “Paranoid”! — and 5 of which we’re deeming wildcards. Each of these wildcard songs — AC/DC‘s “Back In Black,” Accept‘s “Balls To The Wall,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City,” Megadeth‘s “Sweating Bullets,” and Poison’s “Talk Dirty To Me” — reaped more votes than all the other non-poll winning songs, and might have won their respective polls had they been placed among a different group of songs.
So, with that said, here are your final 15 songs. The same rules apply this time around; vote early and often for as many of these 15 as you think are deserving, and you can always click Return To Poll to vote again. The polls will close on Tuesday, October 2 at 4 p.m. ET, and you’ll be able to tune in to watch America’s Hard 100 on VH1 Classic in November to see the final results.
Without further ado, let the voting commence!
There are a few important factors that make hard rock and heavy metal music one of THE best genres in music:
1. Musicians who can head bang and hold a chord
2. The fans (that’s a no-brainer)
3. Facial Hair
I know you probably think we are crazy for even saying that, but can you imagine Ozzy Osbourne with a mustache like Tom Selleck? Zakk Wylde with a unibrow? Or maybe even KISS with ZZ Top beards? Strange right? (We can only imagine how long it would take to get the paint out.)
Last week on That Metal Show, we were joined by Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) and John 5 who brought nothing less than amazing riffs for the second week in a row as our guest musician. We also paid homage to the rockers with the best facial hair and counted down our TMS Top 5 Facial Hair in Rock with help from heavy metal rocker Marilyn Manson. Here’s our TMS Top 5 list of artists with the Best Facial Hair in Rock:
Read more…
The VH1 Classic America’s Hard 100 Countdown Poll is nearing its end but we’ve still got more classic hard rock and heavy metal tunes that need sorting and we need your help! We’ve put together a list of 100 essential rockers but we need you to vote on them to let us know where they should fall in the America’s Hard 100 Countdown when it airs this November.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can vote AS MANY TIMES and for AS MANY SONGS as you want, simply click on “Return To Poll” after your initial ballot. If your favorite hard rock jam is missing from today’s list please click on one of the previous days polls which are still open and keep checking back daily as we add new songs to new lists.
Today “The Boys Are Back In Town” by seminal Irish hard rockers Thin Lizzy goes up against Soundgarden’s grunge metal opus “Black Hole Sun,” Ozzy Osbourne’s metal standard “Crazy Train” featuring the late guitarist Randy Rhoads and technical thrash act Megadeth’s “Sweating Bullets” plus more.
The VH1 Classic America’s Hard 100 Countdown Poll is nearing its end but we’ve still got more classic hard rock and heavy metal tunes that need sorting and we need your help! We’ve put together a list of 100 essential rockers but we need you to vote on them to let us know where they should fall in the America’s Hard 100 Countdown when it airs this November.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can vote AS MANY TIMES and for AS MANY SONGS as you want, simply click on “Return To Poll” after your initial ballot. If your favorite hard rock jam is missing from today’s list please click on one of the previous days polls which are still open and keep checking back daily as we add new songs to new lists.
Today shock rocker Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People” faces off against “Motorhead’s speed rock standard “Ace Of Spades,” unstoppable blooze rockers Aerosmith’s poetic power ballad “Dream On” and rabble-rousing rap-metal pioneers Rage Against The Machine’s “Bulls On Parade” among others.
Last week, we reported how former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward was edited out of dozens of photos on Sabbath’s official website. Most people, (including us) jumped to conclusion that Sabbath was retaliating to Bill Ward’s announcement of not involving himself the upcoming reunion shows. BUT, a statement from Sabbath reveals that Ward, through his attorney, asked to be “temporarily removed” from the group’s website “so as to not give the public the wrong impression about his involvement.” Bill will remain cropped and photoshopped out of the shots for the duration of the band’s forthcoming shows.
Over the weekend, the reunited original line-up of Black Sabbath, sans drummer Bill Ward, performed their hometown gig in Birmingham, England despite the drama taking place over the past few weeks. Bill chose not to include himself because he felt as though the contract he was offered was unfair and they couldn’t reach an agreement. Bassist Geezer Butler commented on his decision, releasing a statement that reads, “I feel sad to see the Sabbath reunion becoming a bit of a soap opera on the Internet.” Butler said the band never knew about the drama circling Bill Ward and feels their representatives could have worked it out. Geezer goes on to say that Bill “wanted an amount that was unrealistic.” He ends his statement saying Bill made his decision, and he has to respect that, but hopes to some day play with Ward again.
Wait, there’s more. Read more…
Top: Black Sabbath shot (minus Bill Ward) that currently appears on BlackSabbath.com; Bottom: The original photo, which includes Bill Ward
We must admit, we were pretty excited to hear that the original Black Sabbath line-up was supposed to reunite this year for a tour and a new album. However, due to guitarist Tony Iommi’s cancer treatment, the tour was scrapped and replaced with a few gigs in the U.K. and one in the U.S. The U.S. date was confirmed by the founder of Lollapalooza Perry Farrell, who explained to us that the reunited Black Sabbath would headline at this year’s festival in Chicago. Which of course, excited a lot of fans. (Us too!)
Earlier in the week, though, former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward posted a statement on his official website to announce that he’s definitely not reuniting with Sabbath for the upcoming shows because he feels the contract they offered him was unfair. The rocker explained that after a final effort, he still hasn’t reached an agreement with the band and therefore won’t be playing at the three shows Sabbath has lined up. Bill explained, “It is with a very sad heart that I bring you this news. I am sincerely passionate in my desire to play with the band and I’m very, very sorry that it’s fallen to this.” Ward added that he doesn’t blame his band mates but feels it’s “sad that it’s come to this.” Read more…
Late last night, the lineup for the 2012 Lollapalooza Festival was announced, featuring headlining performances from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who we saw headline the 1992 Lollapalooza Festival!), the Black Keys, Jack White, Avicii, Justice and … wait for it … BLACK SABBATH! As you’ll recall, Sabbath was all set to headline this year’s Coachella Festival, but had to pull out when it was announced that Tony Iommi was undergoing treatment for cancer (which he recently completed). However, it appears that Iommi feels confident that he’ll be healthy enough to perform for fans in Chicago’s Grant Park —the band’s only scheduled North American tour date— somewhere between August 3 and August 5.
VH1 got some exclusive time with Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell this weekend while he was down in Brasil, and we asked him why he decided to book the metal legends, all of whom are over 60 years old, for a festival that’s primarily attended by teens and twentysomethings (most of whom weren’t even born when Sabbath broke up in the late ’70s). In his lovably roundabout fashion, he gives us exactly the answer that we were looking for.
For those of you wondering if Bill Ward will be manning the kit for the reunited Black Sabbath, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that all four of the original members of Black Sabbath —Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler AND Bill Ward— will be performing at this year’s festival. There has been no confirmation of this yet from the Black Sabbath camp, but we will keep you posted if and when we hear something!
Also! We’ve got the complete list of performers for the 2012 Lollapalooza festival for you below:
Read more…
This weekend, the world welcomed baby Blue Ivy Carter, the offspring of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and possibly the most important baby on earth right now (or ever, who knows?) into its open arms. After months of speculation, second guessing, and red herrings, the baby girl is finally here and now we’ve got a whole new set of questions to deal with. For starters: When are we going to see baby Blue Ivy? Do you think she’s made of gold or magic or sparkles? Does she have super powers? Will she grow up to fulfill Mom and Dad’s musical legacy? And if so, how long do we have to wait to hear the chosen one’s voice on a record?
With all these questions in mind, we tracked down some other famous babies with musician parents, found out how long it took them to get from the womb to the recording studio, and employed the law of averages to try and figure out when we can expect Blue Ivy’s first number one song. According to the following cross section, we’re expecting Blue Ivy to lay down her first album by age 11…
It’s safe to say that the genre of music known as metal might not have happened if John Michael Osbourne, Francis Anthony Melby Iommi, Terence Michael Joseph Butler and William Thomas Ward hadn’t met as teenagers in Birmingham, England (not to mention adopting nicknames like Ozzy and Geezer). The foursome, better known as Black Sabbath, formed in the late sixties and forever transformed the landscape of music with their sludgy riffs, foreboding lyrics and totally bad ass attitude. After releasing five platinum albums, the group disbanded in 1978, but the impact they made was undeniable, so much so that VH1 named them the #2 artist on our list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Black Sabbath briefly reformed in the summer of 1997 (sans drummer Bill Ward) for the Ozzfest tour and the 1998 album Reunion, but outside of that, the group has been dormant since the late seventies. However, earlier today at a press conference held in Los Angeles, the band announced that all four of the band’s original members have committed to recording their first album of original material since 1978, and will be embarking on a 2012 World Tour. (The rumors were true!)
Many metalheads and music fans are really excited about this news, because, well, how could you not be? It’s Black Sabbath! (Not to mention, their record is set to be produced by Rick Rubin.) However, some cynics out there might be curious about the band’s motives for deciding to bury the hatchet after 30+ years of acrimony, and here’s what they’re wondering:
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
