--Josh Homme: Dave Grohl To Play Drums On New QOTSA Album

Dave Grohl recently suggested he'll be taking a break from the Foo Fighters for a while, but it turns out that doesn't mean he'll be taking a break from rock.  Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme told Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show Tuesday night that Grohl will be filling in on drums on the band's forthcoming album.  Homme explained that the substitute was necessary because the Queens' previous drummer, Joey Castillo, has left the group.  Ironically, Castillo first joined the band when he took over for Grohl on drums during the "Songs for the Deaf" tour in 2002.  Grohl also helped Homme and company record the "Songs for the Deaf" album, and the two men teamed up with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones in 2009 to form the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures.

In the meantime, the Queens of the Stone Age announced this week that they'll be playing the 2013 Download Festival in England this coming summer.  So far there's no word about whether Grohl will still be part of the band for that gig.


--Green Day Streams New Album Online Ahead Of Release Date

Green Day is offering fans a sneak peek at part two of the band's album trilogy this week.  "¡Dos!" started streaming for free at RollingStone.com on Tuesday, a week ahead of its official November 13th release date.  "Rolling Stone" says the follow-up to September's "¡Uno!" is a "short but sweet platter" of songs that "rock hard and fast."  Included on that platter is Green Day's latest single, "Stray Heart."  The punk rockers will complete their triad next month when "¡Tré!" hits stores on December 11th.  The final piece was originally due out in January, but Green Day moved up the release date after they were forced to cancel their upcoming tour when frontman Billie Joe Armstrong checked himself into a rehab facility.


--Tony Iommi Updating Year-Old Autobiography

Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi just released his autobiography a year ago, in November 2011.  But "Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath" is already out of date. The rocker is remedying the situation.  The book is now coming out in paperback, and it's also being updated.  Less than two weeks after "Iron Man" hit stores, Iommi and the other three original members of Black Sabbath announced their reunion.  A couple of months later, Iommi was diagnosed with cancer.  Tony says in a website post that the paperback edition will have "new chapters bringing everything up to date," including his battle with lymphoma.  The revised "Iron Man" will hit stores in the UK on Thursday.  The U.S. release date is set for December 11th.


--Jimi Hendrix Clothing Line Coming To Bloomingdale's

The late Jimi Hendrix is being honored through a new clothing line.  Lyric Culture and Experience Hendrix have teamed up on the project, which is being unveiled at Bloomingdale's this week.  The line includes men's dress shirts, graphic tees, hoodies, and scarves as well as cuff links.  The clothes and accessories are adorned with images of Hendrix along with lyrics to his songs.  In addition to the clothes, Bloomingdale's will also have a number of Hendrix albums for sale.  Jimi's friend and bandmate Billy Cox and the guitar legend's half-sister Janie Hendrix will be on hand to launch the line at the Bloomingdale's 59th Street store in Manhattan on Thursday.  For a limited time the Manhattan store will also have an interactive kiosk that gives background to some of Hendrix's songs.  The kiosk is from the Hendrix Experience Project in Seattle.

The Hendrix clothing line is serving as a tribute to Jimi, and is being unveiled in conjunction with his birthday.  Hendrix would have turned 70 on November 27th.  He died on September 18th, 1970, at the age of 27.


--Roger Waters Ready, Determined To Make Another Album

Roger Waters says he just might be ready to move forward on a new album he's been mulling over since the 1990s.  The rocker tells "Rolling Stone" the project has the tentative title of "Heartland," adding that it stems from a song he penned for the movie "Michael."  Roger says he just recently finished writing a new tune that "provides a cornerstone and a core idea" for "Heartland."  He explains that the song opens with the line "If I had been God" and addresses "religious extremism," a concept Waters admits he's "sort of obsessed with."  The project is something Roger really wants to complete.  He says he's "absolutely determined to make another album." If "Heartland" comes to pass, it will be Waters' first solo studio rock album in more than 20 years.


--Journey Announces UK Tour With Whitesnake

Journey continues to make new tour plans and find new tour partners.  The group has announced that they'll be hitting the road in the UK next spring on a co-headlining trek with Whitesnake.  The eight-date trek will also feature Thunder as the opening act.  Journey guitarist Neal Schon says his band is looking forward to returning to Britain to perform for their UK fans.  He also promises their shows "will be rocking."  The Journey-Whitesnake UK tour will begin in Glasgow, Scotland on May 18th.

Just last week Journey announced that the band would be heading to Australia for shows in February and March with Deep Purple.  Journey is currently in the middle of an extensive, six-month trek with Loverboy and Pat Benatar.  They'll be performing in Columbus, Ohio Wednesday night.


--Corey Taylor Defends Dave Mustaine's Political Comments

Dave Mustaine is getting some left-handed support for his political commentary.  Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor tells MetalSucks.net that whenever Mustaine "says something" it makes him "cringe."  But he's defending Mustaine's right to express his views.  Taylor recalls a stir on Twitter over some of Mustaine's comments, in which people were tweeting that the Megadeth frontman was making them "ashamed to be a metalhead."  But Corey says his response was to just let Dave have his beliefs, and to not let his opinions affect their love of the music.

Mustaine himself is expressing some regrets over things he's said.  The rocker admits he "learned a valuable lesson" from the response to the controversy he sparked when he accused President Obama of having "staged" the mass shootings at a Colorado movie theater and at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.  He tells "Rolling Stone" he "probably should've said things differently," or said nothing at all.  He adds that his goal as a public figure is to be a role model, and to set "a really good example" for people.


--Civil Wars Cite "Internal Discord," "Irreconcilable Differences," In Cancelling Tour

There appears to be a civil war brewing in The Civil Wars.  The duo, featuring Joy Williams and John Paul White, has cancelled all upcoming tour dates.  They explain in a Facebook post that "due to internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition" they are "unable to continue as a touring entity at this time."  They're also mindful that the cancellations are costing some fans money.  The duo is inviting fans to e-mail them receipts for service charges, travel expenses and other money they've lost as a result of the cancelled shows, and they're promising to "do our best to reimburse you for non-refundable charges."

The Civil Wars also don't appear to be ready to call it quits just yet.  Williams and White don't give any indication that they're ending their musical partnership, and add that they "hope to have new music for you in 2013."  Williams just recently became a mother.  She and husband Nate Yetton celebrated the birth of their first child over the summer.


--Today's Birthdays

Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer is 52.
Hothouse Flowers singer-pianist Liam Ó Maonlaí is 48.
Mudvayne and Hellyeah guitarist Greg Tribbett is 44.
Guitarist Robin Finck is 41.  He's worked with Nine Inch Nails, Guns N' Roses, and Marilyn Manson.


--Today In Rock History

In 1968
The Doors were barred from playing any more gigs in Phoenix after Jim Morrison encouraged the crowd to get on its feet.

In 1974
Ted Nugent reportedly won the National Squirrel-Shooting Archery Contest.  He hit a squirrel at 150 yards.

In 1989
Whitesnake released the album "Slip of the Tongue."

In 1991
Frank Zappa's children confirmed reports that Zappa had prostate cancer.

In 2002
Guns N' Roses fans in Vancouver, British Columbia, rioted when the band's concert was cancelled, reportedly because Axl Rose's plane was delayed and he couldn't make it to the show on time.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the Class of 2003, which included AC/DC, along with The Clash, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, and The Police.

In 2006
While performing in Brisbane, Australia, U2 singer used the band's anthem "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to call for alleged Taliban fighter David Hicks to be returned for a trial in his Australian homeland.  Thirty-one-year-old Hicks has been held for five years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba without trial.

In 2008
Kiss' Gene Simmons raised 500-thousand-dollars for the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatrics AIDS Foundation on the TV game show "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader."

In 2009
Alice In Chains' Jerry Cantrell and Anthrax's Scott Ian hosted their first event at their new Las Vegas club Dead Man's Hand.

In 2010
Bon Jovi was the inaugural Global Icon winner at the 2010 MTV Europe Awards.