Professionally filmed video footage of VOLBEAT's entire June 8 performance at the Rock Am Ring festival in Nürburgring, Germany can be seen below.

VOLBEAT will take part in this summer's Monster Energy's Rock Allegiance Tour alongside HIM, ALL THAT REMAINS and AIRBOURNE.

"The fans have made our North American visits thus far this year great fun and truly memorable," VOLBEAT guitarist/vocalist Michael Poulsen said in a statement. "We are looking forward to headlining Monster Energy's Rock Allegiance festival tour this summer, and sharing the stage with HIM, ALL THAT REMAINS and AIRBOURNE."

VOLBEAT's fifth studio album, "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies", sold 39,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 9 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record arrived in stores on April 9 via Universal Republic

Former ANTHRAX axeman Caggiano, who was a producer on the new disc, recently joined VOLBEAT as its new guitarist. He replaces guitarist Thomas Bredahl, who was given his walking papers in November 2011.

The new disc follows up 2010's "Beyond Hell/Above Heaven", which featured three No. 1 rock radio hits, "A Warrior's Call", "Still Counting" and "Heaven Nor Hell".

Swedish hard rockers EUROPE will be joined by special guests Scott Gorham (BLACK STONE RIDERS, THIN LIZZY) and Michael Schenker (ex-SCORPIONS, UFO) at their 30th-anniversary show at the Sweden Rock Festival, set to take place June 5-8 in Sölvesborg, Sweden. This will be EUROPE's only Swedish performance of the anniversary year and it will be a grandiose event indeed, promises singer Joey Tempest. The stage show will be one of the greatest, if not the greatest of the band's entire career. The setlist will be specially composed from EUROPE's entire nine-album discography, including their cult debut "Europe" (1983), multi-million-seller "The Final Countdown" (1986) and their most recent outing, "Bag Of Bones" (2012), which has now reached gold status in Sweden. The performance will also be filmed for a DVD release, so make sure you'll be present when a piece of Swedish rock history will be both created and preserved for posterity.

For the record: today's version of EUROPE is identical to the classic "The Final Countdown" lineup: Joey Tempest (vocals), John Norum (guitar), John Levén (bass), Mic Michaeli (keyboards) and Ian Haugland (drums).

EUROPE celebrated the 30th anniversary of its appearance at the Swedish rock talent contest Rock-SM on December 13, 2012 by performing the song "In The Future To Come" at Hovet in Stockholm during the Scandianvian leg of their "Bag Of Bones" tour.

In 1982, EUROPE singer Joey Tempest's then-girlfriend entered FORCE (as EUROPE was originally known prior to changing its name) in the Rock-SM contest. Competing against 4000 bands, they performed two songs, "In The Future To Come" and "The King Will Return", and won the contest which resulted in a record deal with Hot Records. Tempest also won the individual award for "Best Lead Singer" while EUROPE guitarist John Norum was honored in the "Best Guitarist" category.

"Bag Of Bones" was released in Europe on April 27, 2012 via earMusic/Edel. The CD, which features a guest appearance by blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION), was produced by Kevin Shirley, who has previously worked with IRON MAIDEN, JOE BONAMASSA, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, BLACK STONE CHERRY and JOURNEY, among others.

Quality fan-filmed video footage of SOUNDGARDEN's June 7 performance at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden can be seen below.

"Live To Rise", the first SOUNDGARDEN song in almost 16 years, was made available as a free download on iTunes beginning April 17 as part of the promotion of "Marvel's The Avengers". The seven-day promotion included an exclusive clip, "The Face Off", from the superhero team-up movie, which came out on May 4.

"Live To Rise" was written specifically for "Marvel's The Avengers" after SOUNDGARDEN was approached about contributing a song to the film.

"The hard part of writing a song for a film is it has to act as a SOUNDGARDEN song, first and foremost, then obviously, it has to coexist with the film," Cornell told Billboard.com.

Cornell told Seattle radio station KISW that fans should not think of "Live To Rise" as an indication of what the rest of the group's new record will sound like. Chris explained, "Some of the songs on our new album are pretty far left of center, and sort of zero in on more of a hardcore SOUNDGARDEN fan and not necessarily a family that goes to see a film like that. Although ['Live To Rise' is] not really what I think of as a necessarily family-friendly song, but it's as close as we've ever come."

The singer added that the tune wasn't specifically based on the movie, saying, "I think a film like this appeals to little kids all the way to old people because it's an action film, it's comic book characters, but it's also pretty witty dialog and accomplished actors doing it. So it had to be somewhat open to all of that. But also first and foremost it has to be a SOUNDGARDEN song."

SOUNDGARDEN officially reunited in early 2010 after disbanding in 1997. Since then, the group has played one full-length North American tour, a batch of festival and club gigs, and some overseas shows.

The group also released a career retrospective called "Telephantasm" as well as a concert album titled "Live On I5", which was recorded on its last tour before breaking up.

A release date and title for the new SOUNDGARDEN album have yet to be announced.

During a brand new interview with RollingStone.com, legendary guitarist Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES) spoke about what it felt like to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame without singer Axl Rose, who refused to attend the ceremony and be inducted with his former bandmates.

When asked if he ever considered just not going to the induction ceremony, Slash said, "My whole thing was that I really, in my heart of hearts, wanted to have the whole original band get together and actually perform, which I sort of knew was wishful thinking. When the whole thing first came up, that's basically what I wanted to do. It became apparent that that wasn't going to happen. I was like, 'Oh fuck,' and I was sort of disillusioned with the whole thing, but there was that commitment that was sort of made that I was going to go, and I thought Axl was still going to go, and it wasn't until the last minute that I heard that he wasn't coming, and that's when we all decided we were just going to go ahead and play anyway. Early on, when it was probably more confusing than necessary, I have to admit, I was like, 'Oh fuck, I don't really want to go to this if we're not going to play,' though I never said, 'No, I'm not going to go.' But it was sort of a black cloud for a few months there. Before that I thought we were just going to show up and not play, which is what I was resigned to."

In addition to Axl Rose, who announced earlier in the month that he would not attend and was not accepting his induction, other missing members included original guitarist Izzy Stradlin and longtime keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who still plays in the current version of the band.

For the Rock Hall induction performance, Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler were joined by drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Gilby Clarke for three songs — "Mr. Brownstone", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City" — from the band's classic 1987 debut, "Appetite For Destruction".

When asked at which what point they decided to play at the ceremony, Slash told RollingStone.com, "It was literally two days before the actual ceremony. The day that the press release came out and Axl said he wasn't coming, we had the [Revolver] Golden Gods awards, and it was in the dressing room there that Duff and I talked. We said, 'OK, we're just going to fucking get together and play,' and Duff goes, 'We should get Myles [Kennedy from ALTER BRIDGE and Slash's solo band].' I was talking to Duff about who was going to sing, I thought Duff would sing, him and Gilby, but Duff said, 'What about Myles?' It hadn't occurred to me, really. I talked to Myles about it, he was apprehensive about getting put in that position, so at first, he turned it down, but finally he said, 'OK, I'll do it.' We got it all together and we put together a little rehearsal the night before and did our thing."

In a separate interview with RollingStone.com, Adler said that he'd finally given up hopes for a GN'R reunion and wanted to move on with his life. He also said was is the last interview he would ever give about Axl. "He showed his true colors to the world," the drummer said. "I'm done with him, I'm never mentioning him or talking about him again. . . I feel blessed and thankful that he was a part of my life for that chapter of my life, but that's it. That's it. I have no desire to know him or work with him or do anything with him again. Letting go of that was like a huge weight was lifted off my body. I feel fucking free."

Regarding the prospect of a classic GUNS N' ROSES reunion at the Rock Hall induction, Slash said, "I didn't have any illusions or delusions of GN'R getting back together for anything. I maybe tried to see it happen for this one particular event, I didn't have high hopes for that, I didn't feel confident it was going to happen, but having done this one gig, and for the event itself, when it was all said and done, it really felt like closing the book on the whole thing."

Rock 'N' Roll Allstars, an 11-piece supergroup comprised of Gene Simmons of KISS, three former members of GUNS N' ROSES, Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW) and many other big names in rock history, has released the following statement:

"Rock 'N' Roll Allstars regret to inform our fans that the shows we had scheduled in Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala and Venezuela have been cancelled. An incredible effort was made to work with local promoters to bring our show to the fans but they made it impossible for us to do so. We are saddened that we will not be coming to Central America and will do everything possible to ensure that our fans receive refunds for all tickets purchased. We are in South America and just had amazing shows in Paraguay and Argentina where thousands of fans came to hear the hits of GUNS N' ROSES, KISS, DEF LEPPARD and more. The show in Lima, Peru [on April 27 at Jockey Club] is still on sale and the band is still playing this show. Thank you for your support and we hope to see each and every one of you soon."

Rock 'N' Roll Allstars played a special club show this past Sunday night (April 22) at Teatro Vorterix in Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of its tour of South and Central America. The band blazed through an abbreviated ten-song set that featured the biggest hits from all the musicians involved, including DEF LEPPARD's "Pure Some Sugar on Me", KISS' "Rock and Roll All Nite", SKID ROW's "Youth Gone Wild", along with GUNS N' ROSES' "Welcome To The Jungle", with Sebastian Bach singing.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Welcome To The Jungle (GUNS N' ROSES cover)
02. Youth Gone Wild (SKID ROW cover)
03. Highway Star (DEEP PURPLE cover)
04. Wildflower (THE CULT cover)
05. Rebel Yell (BILLY IDOL cover)
06. Shine (COLLECTIVE SOUL cover)
07. Tie Your Mother Down (QUEEN cover)
08. Pour Some Sugar On Me (DEF LEPPARD cover)
09. I Love It Loud (KISS cover)
10. Rock And Roll All Nite (KISS cover)

Comprised of musicians from some of the biggest bands in recent rock history, the Rock 'N' Roll Allstars is a live show unlike any before. Bandmembers include:

* Gene Simmons (KISS)
* Joe Elliott (DEF LEPPARD)
* Matt Sorum (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES)
* Duff McKagan (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES)
* Gilby Clarke (GUNS N' ROSES, ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA)
* Glenn Hughes (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH)
* Ed Roland (COLLECTIVE SOUL)
* Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW)
* Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL)
* Mike Inez (ALICE IN CHAINS)
* Billy Duffy (THE CULT)

Promoter Gabe Reed hosted a press conference on March 1 at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California to officially announce the Rock 'N' Roll Allstars tour. Also attending the press conference were Simmons, Sorum, McKagan, Clarke, Bach and Hughes, among others.

"This is going to be a great time, a time for us to pay tribute to the fans," Simmons said. "This is an important honor to step on sacred holy ground with a project like this, and all of it is for the fans. It harkens back to the old days of rock and roll, the 'Legends Of Rock' when Chuck Berry, Little Richard, all of them got together to put on the best show possible for the fans. . . We're trying to follow a great trend in rock and roll, and we're going to have a great time. So stay tuned."

Commented Bach: "For me to be the singer in Gene Simmons' first-EVER side project is amazing to me! Dreams come true, indeed. If you would have told me when I was a boy that some day Gene Simmons, Glenn Hughes and myself would be in a band together, my reply would have been, No, we will not,' and I would have been wrong, haha!! We are gonna rock the best of KISS, DEEP PURPLE, GUNS N' ROSES, SKID ROW and DEF LEPPARD!"

Added Hughes: "It's going to be quite a spectacle. For me, this collective of rockers is a fan's dream come true. It's a great lineup with players from a lot of great bands."

"We'll play all the biggest hits from each band," Sorum, who is one of the tour's organizers, said. "It's going to be a good time. The hits will keep coming."

"If you look at who's been doing something a long time, if you look at who is still around, they're usually the best guys to hang with," McKagan said. "I wasn't the easiest one to get into the camp, but this is going to be great."

For more information, visit www.rnrallstars.com.

Paul Shaffer, the Canadian-American musician who has served as musical director and producer for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986, has shot down the possibility of a performance by the reunited classic lineup of GUNS N' ROSES when the group is inducted into the Rock Hall in Cleveland on April 14.

When asked by the Future Rock Legends web site via Twitter if he had any idea how long the Rock Hall ceremony was going to be this year with so many inductees, Shaffer replied, "GUNS N' ROSES will not be performing, so not as long as you would think."

GUNS N' ROSES keyboardist Dizzy Reed recently told Billboard that all five original members of the band will be present at the induction ceremony. Reed revealed, "I know that all the original band is going to be there. I don't know exactly what's going to go down. It's one of those things I'm sure will all come together and be really cool. I'm just going to go in with a good attitude and a clear head and a grateful heart."

Singer Axl Rose, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler will all be inducted into the Hall, along with later members Reed and drummer Matt Sorum.

With more than 20 years of service, Reed is the longest-standing member of the current GUNS lineup after sole original holdout Axl Rose. He told The Pulse Of Radio that whatever happens at the Hall, he's already honored by the whole thing, "There's a lot of great, great people that I respect and grew up admiring and idolizing that are in that, as part of that institution, and obviously just to be mentioned in the same breath as them, you know, for this band and everything, I take it as an honor."

As for whether any combination of the eight musicians will get together for a jam or full-blown reunion at the induction ceremony, Reed said, "Honestly, we haven't spoken about it. I don't know when or why or how to bring it up. It's not an everyday sort of thing. So we haven't really talked about it — but I'm sure we'll have to at some point."

Although Rose has made his peace with various members of the group over the years, including McKagan, Stradlin and Adler, there doesn't seem to be any change in his non-friendly stance toward Slash.

Slash, McKagan, Sorum and Adler have all expressed uncertainty about the possibility of a reunion at the ceremony.

The current GUNS N' ROSES lineup played a string of small theatre and club shows. The last of three New York City gigs happened on February 15 at Webster Hall, where GUNS played a legendary show in 1988 (when the venue was known as the Ritz) which was broadcast on MTV.

{plusone}Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Foundation, was interviewed by "That Metal Show" co-host Eddie Trunk on yesterday's (Monday, December 19) edition of "Eddie Trunk Live" on SiriusXM satellite radio.

After Trunk tweeted that Peresman indicated during the interview that "all [members of GUNS N' ROSES] have RSVP'd that they will show" at their upcoming Rock Hall induction in April, former GN'R guitarist Slash responded with the following message: "For the record, I didn't RSVP, or in any way commit to attending the RRHF. I don't appreciate people putting words in my mouth."

GUNS N' ROSES will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next April in Cleveland, prompting speculation about whether the event could lead to a reunion of the band's original lineup.

Former GN'R bassist Duff McKagan admitted last month in an interview that he had a hard time imaging such a possibility, saying, "I can't. I can't picture it. Your guess is as good as mine. There is no picture."

In his latest SeattleWeekly.com column, McKagan addressed the upcoming induction, writing, "Music to me has never been a competitive sport. We do what we do, and if you connect with an audience and write the songs that feel good to you in the process, that is reward enough. Getting a Grammy or an American Music Award seems a little bit weird in this whole context. I mean, are you BETTER than all those other bands? No. You are just doing YOUR thing, and they theirs. It's not a competition.

"But it became very apparent to me that fans of GN'R felt very motivated for our band to 'get into the Hall.' All of those fans ARE very important to me, and thus getting this Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nod was a victory for them. And so I am deeply honored and feel very good about this whole deal. Thank you all.

"I spent a lot of time revisiting my past in the book I just wrote. Living in the past, or just revisiting it, is something I hadn't done until I was in the process of writing that book. The process became personally poignant in how much I appreciated and loved most of the characters in my past, especially the guys in that little band from Hollywood that we formed just after I moved there in 1984.

"I've done my best to avoid doing any interviews that pertain to our induction, and maybe this column will serve as all I really need to say for now. I am a grown-up now, and hope that we can achieve some grace and class when that ceremony comes. But in the end, I am only responsible for myself."

Singer Al Rose was ambivalent in a recent interview about the Hall Of Fame, and told Billboard.com in 2009 that he could never see himself playing with original GUNS guitarist Slash again, saying, "One of the two of us will die before a reunion. However sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is."

GUNS N' ROSES frontman Axl Rose was presented with a key to the city about one hour into the band's concert Wednesday night (December 14) at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. Right before the group launched into its cover version of Paul McCartney's "Live And Let Die", Mayor Mike Winder walked onstage and greeted Rose, congratulating the singer on this past week's announcement that the Los Angeles-based act will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

"How long do you stay open?" Rose asked the mayor after being presented with the key.

"All night for GUNS N' ROSES," the mayor replied.

GUNS N' ROSES reportedly played a three-hour set last night consisting of more than 30 songs, ending just after 2 a.m. with the band's classic track "Paradise City".

As previously reported, it has been confirmed that ex-GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan's band LOADED will open two shows for the latest version of GUNS on that band's current North American tour. LOADED will warm up for GUNS N' ROSES on December 16 at the Key Arena in Seattle and December 17 at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia.

McKagan made worldwide headlines in October 2010 when he joined GUNS onstage for four songs at a concert in London, England, marking the first time he had set foot on a stage with GUNS N' ROSES in 17 years.

GUNS N' ROSES will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next April in Cleveland, prompting speculation about whether the event could lead to a reunion of the band's original lineup.

McKagan admitted last month in an interview that he had a hard time imaging such a possibility, saying, "I can't. I can't picture it. Your guess is as good as mine. There is no picture."

Rose was ambivalent in a recent interview about the Hall Of Fame, and told Billboard.com in 2009 that he could never see himself playing with original GUNS guitarist Slash again, saying, "One of the two of us will die before a reunion. However sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is."

Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.) Is it a bill collector? Or Kid Rock? That was the question on Ty Stone's mind.