Fact: Elton John, Drake, Van Halen and Sam Smith will headline the 2015 Midtown Festival in Atlanta, Georgia's Piedmont Park in September (15). The line-up also features sets by Lenny Kravitz, Hozier, Billy Idol, Panic! At The Disco, Run The Jewels and Icona Pop
Quote: "I remember Dave hearing Jump and he did not want to do it. He told Eddie (Van Halen), 'You're a guitar hero. You're not a keyboard player. You need to play guitar'." Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony reveals frontman David Lee Roth was not a fan of the group's mega-hit Jump when he first heard it.
Fact: Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar has signed on to host Classic Rock magazine's annual awards show, the Classic Rock Roll Of Honour. The 2014 prizegiving will be held in the U.S. for the first time and will take place at the Avalon theatre in Hollywood.
Fact: Rockers Van Halen have rescheduled the tour of Japan which was cancelled to allow EDDIE VAN HALEN to undergo emergency surgery for a digestive disease. The shows in Osaka and Tokyo were originally slated for November (12), but they will now take place in June (13).
Tweet: "Congrats to @eddievanhalen for winning Guitar World's Greatest Guitarist of all Time poll. Much deserved w/out a doubt." Slash praises the Van Halen legend after he was named the greatest guitarist of all time in the magazine's new poll. The Guns N' Roses star was also ranked high in the survey.
Tweet: "Get well @eddievanhalen and back to shredding guitar soon." Motley Crue star Nikki Sixx wishes the Van Halen frontman well after the ageing rocker underwent emergency surgery for a digestive disease.
Fact: Reunited rockers Van Halen completed their comeback by kicking off their North American tour on Saturday night (18Feb12) with a show in Louisville, Kentucky.
Fact: Rocker Duff Mckagan and Alice In Chains leader Jerry Cantrell were among the "family and friends" spotted checking out Van Halen's pre-tour, invited-guests-only show at the Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (08Feb12).
Fact: Van Halen's long-awaited new album will be titled A Different Kind Of Truth, according to Internet reports. The band will be playing new tracks from the February (12) release during its first live show since 2008 at New York's Cafe Wha? on Thursday night (05Jan12).
Quote: "There's only two singers for that band and if they really wanna play music for the rest of their lives, they're basically gonna have to come back and say, 'Sammy, do you want to do it again?' And, if it's cool, I would do it in a second. I love that band." Rocker Sammy Hagar is keen to reteam with Van Halen.
Quote: "I love my facials. My wife turned me on (to them)... I always said to my wife, 'That's for sissies. Girls get facials.' The first time I tried it I said, 'Oh man, what the hell have I been missing all these years?'" Former Van Halen bassist MICHAEL ANTHONY enjoys visits to the beauty salon.
Fact: Former Van Halen rocker Sammy Hagar is taking his Cabo Wabo Radio off air temporarily. The station, which was launched in December 2007, will be "on hiatus" for an unknown period of time from 10 January (09).
Fact: The Kinks have topped a new U.S. online poll to find the Best Sibling Band in music history. The British group, fronted by feuding brothers RAY and DAVE DAVIES, beat Van Halen, Heart and Radiohead to top the new Rolling Stone list.
Fact: Members of Van Halen and The Cult have teamed up to record a new rock anthem for Sammy Hagar's upcoming album. Former Van Halen rockers Hagar and bass player MICHAEL ANTHONY have recruited onetime THE CULT bandmates BILLY DUFFY and Matt Sorum for the studio session.
Fact: Van Halen's reunion tour grossed a whopping $93 million (GBP46.5 million) and played to almost a million rock fans. The group's handlers claim it was the top-grossing tour in the band's history.
Fact: Golfing icon Tiger Woods introduced Van Halen to the stage as the rockers resumed their reunion tour in Las Vegas on Saturday night (19Apr08).
Fact: Van Halen's upcoming reunion tour will have a reggae vibe - Bob Marley's son KY-MANI has been selected to open for the rock supergroup for the entirety of their North American road trip.
Fact: Former Extreme and Van Halen frontman GARY CHERONE has formed a new group, called HURTSMILE, with his brother MARKUS.
Fact: Natural Born Killers star-turned-punk princess Juliette Lewis paid tribute to new Rock + Roll Hall of Fame inductees Van Halen last night (26MAR07) when she performed the group's AIN'T TALKIN' 'BOUT LOVE with 80s rock covers band METAL SKOOL at Los Angeles' Key Club.
Quote: "Thank God the kid is great... I guess it's either in the blood or not." Rocker David Lee Roth is relieved Van Halen bandmate EDDIE VAN HALEN's 15-year-old son WOLFGANG - the reunited group's new bassist - is a terrific musician.
Quote: "The music is a common language that only we can really speak... We got more hits than Tony Soprano." Van Halen star David Lee Roth insists the group's reunion tour will take place, despite a delay.
Quote: "I got nothing against GARY, but I would've voted against him getting in. I think he was really just a moment in Van Halen. DAVE and I were in the band for so long, and we sold so many records and I don't think you can deny that." Rocker Sammy Hagar can understand why the man who replaced him in Van Halen, GARY CHERONE, wasn't included in the band's upcoming Hall of Fame induction honour. Instead, he and his predecessor, David Lee Roth, will be credited as the group's frontmen at the 12 March (07) ceremony.