Music, Rock And Roll | featured news

The Songwriters Hall of Fame is saluting 1970s and `80s rock `n' roll with its 2013 induction class....

You can't always get what you want - but if your desire is to attend a Rolling Stones concert this might be your lucky day. The legendary band said Monday it would return to the stage this year with four concerts in Britain and the United States. The shows will take place on Nov. 25 and 29 at London's O2 Arena, followed by gigs on Dec. 13 and 15 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, just outside of New York.

When the members of No Doubt got together again to make new music, something unexpected came with them: a bit of doubt. It had been 11 years since they'd put out "Rock Steady" and their priorities had changed. Each of the four had gotten married and had kids, producing eight babies between them. Music was no longer the most important thing in their lives.

Classic rockers Van Halen on Thursday abruptly postponed more than 30 tour dates, following their June 26 concert in New Orleans, representative Anna Loynes said.

Mick Jagger will test his comic chops later this month as host of the "Saturday Night Live" season finale. The Rolling Stones frontman has been a musical guest twice before on the long-running NBC show, and the network said Thursday he will perform musically on the May 19 finale. But he has never been host before, a job that usually requires participation in several comic skits.

The rocker and noted gun enthusiast is stirring up attention after comments he made about President Obama and his administration at a National Rifle Association conference in St. Louis over the weekend.

On their way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N' Roses got together for one more gig. Axl Rose missed it. The hedonistic hard rockers, who became the world's top music act amid endless dysfunction, members of Guns N' Roses reunited for three songs on Saturday night before 6,000 fans, many of whom were thrilled to see at least most of the band's original lineup jam on classic hits like "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City."

There'll be no Guns N' Roses reunion at this weekend's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Axl Rose says he won't attend and is declining his induction into the hall.

Axl Rose, who turned 50 on Monday, clung to his bombastic, outmoded brand of rock and felt no need to modernize it on Friday night at the Roseland Ballroom.

As press briefings go, it rocked. On Thursday night, Van Halen took to the stage of the venerable Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, capacity 250. “Last time I stood on a stage this low, we had to have the car back by midnight,” said the singer David Lee Roth. The objective was to prove Van Halen is alive and amicable for an arena tour that starts Feb. 18 in Louisville, Ky.,after the Feb. 7 release of a new album, “A Different Kind of Truth.” It’s to be Van Halen’s first full album with Mr. Roth as lead singer since the band fired him in 1985, although they have done previous reunion tours.