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While The Beatles’ White Album is often regarded as a pivotal rock record, Piano Man Billy Joel thinks its merely the “half-assed” work of a group of “stoned” lads.

In a recent appearance on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, Maher and Joel were picking out classic double albums. When the host namedropped The Beatles’ 1968 self-titled record, Joel was quick to criticise it. “I’m not a big fan of the White Album, but some people love it,” he says.

• READ MORE: A petition has launched to rename Birmingham Airport after Ozzy Osbourne – and it’s gaining momentum

Despite many deeming the record to be a key point in rock history, with the band shifting gear to focus on uber-cool country and blues, a sharp change from the technicolour psychedelia of 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. However, Joel doesn’t seem to think the tonal shift was intentional.

“I hear it as a collection of half-assed songs they didn’t finish writing because they were too stoned, or they didn’t care anymore”, he explains. “I think they had fragments and they put them on the album.”

He goes so far as to admit that he thinks “John [Lennon] was disassociating at that point,” with “Paul [McCartney] carrying the weight”.

That being said, Joel doesn’t believe that the White Album detracts from The Beatles’ legacy. While they “had their ups and downs” in quality, that happens with all bands. “Sometimes they were more prolific and sometimes they weren’t,” he notes. “I hear that in some of those [songs]”.

Joel’s opinion is sure to shock some people. Notably, in 2023 Kiss’ Gene Simmons told Goldmine magazine that the White Album is one of the 10 records that changed his life. “It’s one of my favourites because you’re seeing turmoil within perhaps the greatest band that ever existed that recorded its own music, where each member was a star,” he explained.

While Joel considers the record to be an assortment of “half-assed” and incomplete “fragments”, Simmons appreciates the “disjointed” nature of the record.

“You could hear and feel the disjointed sense of that album, although clearly the songs shined and the playing and the production was terrific,” he said. “It’s interesting that Abbey Road perhaps was the greatest Beatles album, and they were breaking up at that point, but somehow that had a more unified thing. But just for crazy out there music, it’s gotta be the White Album.”

Elsewhere in Joel’s interview with Club Random, he also gives an update on his health. The singer cancelled his entire tour after being diagnosed with a brain disorder, normal pressure hydrocephalus, back in May.

While Joel admits that the diagnosis sounds “a lot worse than what [he’s] feeling”, he does note that it is impacting his balance. “It’s like being on a boat…” he explains.

While he says that the disorder hasn’t quite been “fixed” and is “still being worked on”, he also explains that there’s no clear answer as to how he got it. “They don’t know,” he says. “I thought it must be from drinking… I don’t anymore, but I used to like a fish!”

Earlier this week, Joel released the first half of a two-part documentary, Billy Joel: And So It Goes, which is described as exploring “the love, loss, and struggles that fuel [Joel’s] songwriting”.

The first part of Billy Joel: And So It Goes can be streamed now on HBO Max.

The post “I hear it as a collection of half-assed songs they didn’t finish writing because they were too stoned”: Billy Joel snubs The Beatles’ White Album appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

King Crimson’s 1980s catalogue has long been revered for its rhythmic complexity, and as Adrian Belew now reveals, it can be physically punishing too.

So much so that after performing the band’s material night after night on tour with BEAT – the all-star tribute to Crimson’s ‘80s era – the guitarist needed surgery on his left hand.

The tour, which saw Belew reunite with bassist Tony Levin and join forces with Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey, paid homage to the prog legends’ trio of wildly intricate albums: Discipline (1981), Beat (1982), and Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). Between the interlocking guitar lines, polyrhythms and relentless odd time signatures, the setlist was far from a stroll in the park.

• READ MORE: Steve Vai calls one of his BEAT tour bandmates a “marvel”, explains why he’s “underrated in the echelons of guitar”

“It would get numb,” Belew tells Guitar World. “And during part of the tour, it would stay numb from the moment that I woke up, all the way until sometime during soundcheck.”

“It was a little scary,” he adds. “I’d be like, ‘Oh, boy, you better wake up soon!’”

As the musician explains, the culprit was carpal tunnel syndrome, which plagued his left hand as the group toured its way across the US. The injury also happened to be one Belew’s guitar partner on tour knew a thing or two about.

“Steve Vai was able to walk me through the process since he’s had it done twice,” he says. “He reassured me that it was a simple operation and that it was not something that was going to go wrong. And on top of that, he introduced me to one of the best surgeons in the United States, who had done this work.”

The procedure went smoothly as Vai assured. “It’s perfect,” Belew says of his hand now. “This was an easy recovery and an easy operation.”

He continues: “I’m back to full use of my left hand. While recovering, you can’t do much with it, and it’s a little tender. And then, you finally work back up to tempo. Now, I’m playing as I always did, except that there’s no more pain.”

Elsewhere, Vai himself has also spoken about the difficulties of playing King Crimson music, saying: “If you come to see Steve Vai in BEAT, you get to see Steve Vai working! You come to my solo shows, it’s another thing entirely.”

“Robert [Fripp] wrote beautiful parts, but the techniques didn’t come naturally [to me]. It’s different [from] what I do,” he admitted. “Some of this BEAT stuff took months to get under my fingers.”

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System Of A Down’s 2006 hiatus marked a major turning point for the band. In the years since, various members have shared their take on what went down, and what never quite came back together.

Most recently, guitarist Daron Malakian has opened up about the break, admitting it wasn’t a decision he ever fully stood behind. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, the guitarist reflects on how the break impacted him personally and how Scars On Broadway became both an outlet and a lifeline for his creative energy at the time.

• READ MORE: “What the f**k is an Armenian to someone who lives in Kentucky?! We looked like aliens to people”: Daron Malakian on how System Of A Down cracked America to become “the biggest band on the sunset strip” in the mid ’90s

“When System took the hiatus, I’m not gonna lie, it was difficult for me at first because that’s not really what I wanted,” Malakian admits. “But I can’t force other people to do something just because I wanted it. But my first thing was, ‘OK, if I release music, I need an outlet for that’, and Scars became that outlet.”

“I’ll be honest with you, man, I’m just as proud of the Scars stuff as anything I’ve done. I think some of my best shit is on Scars.”

Asked how much unreleased material he’s sitting on, Malakian jokes, “I don’t know about thousands, but I’ve got a few.” Writing music, he explains, is an “itch” he simply has to scratch.

“If I had a nine to five job, I would probably still come back home and write music for myself,” Malakian continues. “But even though we’re not making records with System after all these years, I still do write because it’s an itch and I just got to itch it. It’s like a child plays with his toys. You don’t play with your toys because you’re playing for somebody else, right? You’re playing for your own amusement.”

The guitarist adds that much as he’s well aware of fans’ demands for new SOAD music – the band released just two singles in the last two decades and their last full length album dropped in 2005 – he’s also “kind of lazy” when it comes to actually making a new record.

“Look, I’m very aware that there’s an audience out there and there’s people that want to hear from me and that’s amazing. Honestly, I’m very blessed, my life is fucking like… I got to pinch myself. But I’m also kind of lazy too when it comes to making an album,” says Malakian.

“I tell myself, ‘Dude, you really need to start releasing more music’. I even tell my guitar player in Scars On Broadway, ‘Remind me that I need to start recording, man!’ I just wish that was my motivation, because if that was my motivation, then I would. I get caught up in my own head, in my own world, and it’s not a priority to me. So, I got to make it a priority and start recording my shit. I just need to motivate myself to do it.”

Meanwhile, Scars On Broadway’s new album Addicted to the Violence is now out. Check out the single Killing Spree below.

The post “When System took the hiatus, it was difficult for me at first because that’s not really what I wanted”: Daron Malakian on System Of A Down’s 2006 hiatus appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you’ve ever tried to copy Frank Zappa’s playing and ended up looking like a confused poultry wrangler, you’re not alone. According to his son Dweezil Zappa, the late icon’s technique was as eccentric as his compositions, and just as tough to replicate.

In a recent conversation with Marshall, the guitarist shares what made Frank’s playing style so unique and why despite growing up around it, he still struggles to nail it.

• READ MORE: “He had very specific-looking hands – they looked different to other people’s”: Dweezil Zappa recalls the time Eddie Van Halen visited his family home and taught him guitar

“I always described it as the battle between the chicken and the spider,” Dweezil begins [via Ultimate Guitar]. “Because he had this real plucky way of playing, which I still can’t emulate, because it’s not a comfortable way to play. And he would play up close to the neck a lot, and then it would look like this: real plucky stuff happening. But this always looked like the chicken, that was like, trying to get some seeds or whatever.”

“So I would look at that stuff, and I would somehow make a mental note of what was going on. And then I would think, ‘One day I’ll learn to play this stuff. But not yet.’”

While one might assume growing up with Frank Zappa meant being force-fed experimental guitar licks at the dinner table, Dweezil reveals that on the contrary, his father didn’t think his own playing would be helpful for a young guitarist.

“When it was my own guitar playing, and he saw that I was interested in sticking with it, he played in such an idiosyncratic way, he didn’t really think that his playing style or technique was necessarily going to be helpful,” Dweezil says. “Because he played in such a quirky way.”

“So he thought, ‘Well, with the stuff that you’re interested in, maybe you should have Steve show you some stuff. And so Steve Vai [who was a member of Frank’s band at the time] showed me some stuff. Wrote down some pentatonic scales and some stuff like that, which – I still have that notebook. It has, like, four or five exercises and stuff. But he was only 21 or 22 at the time.”

Watch the full interview below.

The post “I always described it as the battle between the chicken and the spider. It’s not a comfortable way to play”: Dweezil Zappa on his father’s strange guitar playing style appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

The K’s frontman Jamie Boyle believes guitar music is having a moment again, and it’s all thanks to the long-awaited Oasis reunion.

Speaking to the Daily Star’s Wired column, Boyle says the return of the Britpop legends has reignited the live music scene, sparking a new wave of excitement and momentum for guitar-driven bands.

• READ MORE: “Get back together. Stop f**king around,” Matty Healy told Oasis in 2023 – now he’s been spotted in the crowd at their Heaton Park gig

“The resurgence of bands is really, really strong and prominent at the minute,” Boyle explains. “We see it ourselves, in ticket sales, the support at gigs, and the buzz whenever we announce something to our ever-growing fan base. People are genuinely chomping at the bit to get into venues and watch bands again.”

The K’s recently caught Oasis live on their reunion tour in Cardiff and will soon be heading to Wembley to catch them again.

“We went to Cardiff and were like, ‘This is amazing’. Then Heaton Park was even better and we’re heading to Wembley too,” he says.

“It’s impossible to ignore the buzz that’s been created for guitar music and it’s no secret that they’re one of the best to ever do it, but the buzz that Oasis has created not just for themselves but for everybody is real.”

“All the excitement, all the press, all everything is back on guitar for the first time in a long time,” Boyle adds.

The frontman also shares how much he’s learned just by watching the Gallagher brothers perform.

“There’s 80,000 people there and every single one of them is just stood not being able to take their eyes off them on stage,” he says. “To get to that level is what everybody dreams about.”

Elsewhere, Liam Gallagher’s son, Gene, has also commented on how the Oasis reunion has accelerated the resurgence of guitar music.

“People have been deprived of guitar music,” the 23-year-old, who fronts his own indie band Villanelle, told W Magazine. “But now it’s coming back, and everyone’s getting excited about it.”

You can view the full list of Oasis Live ‘25 tour dates via their official website.

The post “Everything is back on guitar for the first time in a long time”: The K’s frontman credits Oasis reunion for rescuing guitar music appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Editor’s note: Heritage Guitars and Guitar.com are both part of the Caldecott Music Group.

$699/£599, heritageguitars.com

If you read my review of the stunning H-150 last month, you’ll be aware the Heritage’s new Ascent+ collection is an attempt by the Kalamazoo-based guitar brand to offer a more modern proposition for the brand’s Asian-made affordable models.

• READ MORE: Heritage Ascent+ H-150 review: “if you’re looking for your first serious Les Paul-style guitar, you need to try this”

The regular Ascent electric guitars – and indeed the bulk of Heritage’s excellent USA-made instruments – are generally evoking the vibe of the guitars made at 225 Parson’s St when Gibson’s name was still above the door, but the Ascent+ is a little different.

With interesting colours and a whole lot of heavily figured wood tops, the Ascent+ in some ways sits closer to the traditional PRS vibe in terms of visuals – for good or for ill. It’s something that’s even more evident on the full-size semi-hollow H-535 we have here.

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – what is it?

No prizes will be given for working out the lineage of this particular guitar, but beyond the visual similarities to Gibson’s most famous semi-hollow design, a close examination of the spec sheet is worthwhile.

So for starters we have a good-looking laminated curly maple top, sides and back – here accentuated by a classic golden sunburst that looks right at home. If burst ain’t your bag however, you’re outta luck as the only other finish options are the rather garish Scarlet Red and Royal Blue bursts. It fits in with the ‘modern’ stipulation of the Ascent+ range, perhaps, but I wonder how much more of these guitars Heritage would shift if they borrowed the black and cherry options from the vanilla Ascent range?

The neck is mahogany and comes with a two-way truss rod, a genuine rosewood fingerboard that’s nicely bound and a 12-16” compound radius. It’s also nice to see a more traditional heel design than the H-150’s contoured go-faster take, and the premium feel is further enhanced by pearloid dot inlays, a Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut and jumbo frets.

The pickups are a pair of the same Heritage own-brand units found in the H-150, and again they’re paired with Alpha Split Shaft 500K push-pull pots for coil-splitting purposes. It’s also nice to see a side-access jack input, which should help protect the guitar from the oft-seen mishaps on guitars of this type where a cable gets trodden on and pulled sideways, often damaging the valuable and delicate top of the instrument.

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – feel and sounds

Unboxing the H-535 I once again find myself double-checking the price, as this is one unquestionably good-looking guitar. Removing it from the box I’m struck by the lightweight and nimble feel. Many budget-conscious guitars of this type can feel a bit bulky and unrefined, particularly if they are quite heavy, combined with the design’s considerable dimensions. This H-535 features a correct full-length internal centre block, yet still feels light and resonates well with my first unplugged strum.

The setup is great out of the box and the jumbo frets and Graph Tech TUSQ XL nut combine with that compound radius to create a very inviting playing experience, let’s plug in…

You often hear ES-lovers refer to semis as solidbody killers – and with good cause. In my experience, a good 335 or similar is more than capable of out-punching and out-sustaining its airless brethren – and with a broader range of tones on tap.

This H-535 is no exception, exhibiting many of the virtues that make this type of guitar such a versatile instrument. The unplugged tone is wider and richer than a solidbody, the air inside working in tandem with the solid centre section to give a slightly softer attack to notes and a rounder low end. The H-535 also exhibits none of the boxy midrange you can sometimes get with an all-solid guitar, making it more versatile across a range of genres as a result.

Plugged in to my Deluxe Reverb, the bridge pickup exhibits a sweeter, more rounded tone than found on the solid-body H-150, still with plenty of snap for lead lines, and turning up your treble on a good valve amp really will get you into Freddie King territory if biting blues is your thing.

With the pickup selector set in the middle for both pickups together, careful balancing of the volume pots gives the widest tonal smorgasbords. With both pots set about halfway I’m treated to a warm, sweet tone with hints of hollow midrange that is perfect for rhythmic funk or chordal comping or when hit with a bit of overdrive and winding up the bridge pickup along with neck set to about seven, a rich full rock voice perfect for anything from Foos-esque rock to Cream riffs.

The neck humbucker on its own is warmer and jazzier, and with some of the tone rolled down excels at the classic ‘Woman’ tone – a flutey vocal sound, perfect for blues soloing.

As with the H-150, the coil splits prove to again be the stars of the show, offering a slimline version of the above tones and adding to the myriad of sonic options by combining with the humbucker modes. A standout is both pickups together set to single coil mode, which treats you to a beautiful airy sound with not a hint of mud. It’s an almost-perfect 60s jangle, combined with better sustain than many guitars that are typically blessed with that voice.

This really would be a very versatile guitar in the studio or at a covers gig.

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – should I buy one?

Great looks, decent build quality and superb specs combined with a broad range of tones make the H-535 a superb all-rounder in anyone’s arsenal of guitars – whether it’s as a main guitar or a rock-solid gigging backup.

The presence of a genuine rosewood fingerboard, and mahogany/maple construction is time-honoured for this type of design, and it’s not always seen on similar instruments at this price point from other brands.

Sonically, its semi-acoustic nature delivers a balanced, polished voice that belies its price. It would make a superb studio or live tool with easy access to a huge range of tones.

The only drawbacks are the limited finish options, and the lack of a supplied case – which is always an annoyance when you’re dealing with an instrument that doesn’t conform to the standard electric guitar dimensions, but it’s in line with most Asian-made electrics at this price point.

With many players from Noel Gallagher to Dave Grohl favouring classic semi-acoustic guitars live, there’s no reason why you couldn’t rock up with this at the latest blues jam or covers gig down your local and handle anything thrown at you with ease. It punches far above its weight and offers truly exceptional value for money.

Heritage Ascent+ H-535 – alternatives

You can’t escape the spectre of Epiphone in this argument, and the Inspired By Gibson Custom 1962 ES-335 ($1,149/£1,099) reissue certainly ticks all the boxes that you’d want from an ES-335 – this one even has the correct shaped headstock, but you’ll pay a hefty premium for all that. The standard Epi ES-335 ($599/£599) is a well-sorted alternative but it’s a laurel fretboard not rosewood. Threading the needle is the new Marty Schwartz signature Epiphone ES-335 ($899/£899), which offers a similarly upgraded feel to the Ascent+ including rosewood board and even Grover tuners. Away from the Gibson stable, Gretsch also knows a thing or two about making quality vintage-inspired budget semi-hollows, and you should definitely check out the G2622T Streamliner Center block DC ($629/£499) – it’s even got a Bigsby.

The post Heritage Ascent+ H-535 review: “this could easily become your new main guitar” appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While Canadian singer Shawn Mendes is known for his chart-topping pop tunes, he also knocks out a guitar every now and then. In fact, he was seen grabbing a new guitar strap to spruce up his collection just last week.

Pop culture outlet Just Jared papped the 26-year-old pop star leaving a Los Angeles Guitar Center on 15 July. In his hand, he’s holding what appears to be a Perri’s Floral Burst Jacquard guitar strap. The red and yellow strap will surely serve as a nice pop of colour, considering Mendes’ go-to strap is usually an all-black Ernie Ball.

• READ MORE: “It’s a funny feeling to feel like you’re being written about, and maybe the whole picture’s not being expressed”: John Mayer and Shawn Mendes discuss having songs written about them by famous exes

Though Mendes doesn’t wield a guitar throughout an entire live set, he regularly whips out an acoustic and electric guitar onstage. In fact, he often uses his very own Martin signature, the 000JR-10E Shawn Mendes Custom Signature Edition.

Speaking to Guitar.com in 2023, Mendes explained that his custom acoustic Martin “fits like a glove”, thanks to its scaled down body. Medes also opted for the smaller body to encourage younger fans to pick up the instrument. “Getting my first guitar was a big deal, so I wanted the guitar to be as affordable as possible so that young musicians could have something to start their own journeys with,” Mendes said. “ I love the idea that this could be a ton of fans’ first guitar.”

The design was also inspired by one of Mendes’ most prized guitars. “It was partially inspired by a guitar I was gifted for my 21st birthday by John Mayer,” Mendes explained. “That had a custom inlay in the first few frets. I loved the look and just thought it would be a fun and unconventional way to make my signature guitar more unique.”

“I’ve been a fan of Martin guitars for as long as I can remember,” he said. “So having the opportunity to start working with such an iconic and respected brand, and to be able to play and help design my own guitar is truly special.”

Mendes’ choice to get down to his local Guitar Center is also a great way of supporting brick-and-mortar music stores. It’s no secret that physical stores are struggling nowadays, and Guitar Center in particular has recently announced that it has a new three-year plan to extend its loan repayments.

Mendes is set to embark on a European and North American tour this August, kicking things off in Pristina. He’ll be swinging by the UK to perform at London’s O2 Arena on 16 August.

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The post Shawn Mendes spotted buying a guitar strap at an LA Guitar Center – as he proves even A-list musicians do their own gear shopping appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Terry Marshall, the co-founder of Marshall Amplification, is supporting an initiative to secure the future of grassroots music venues in the UK.

Along with his wife Lesley, the pair have made a generous personal donation of £100,000 to the Own Our Venues funding initiative, launched by Music Venue Properties (MVP). The initiative first kicked off in 2023, and has already raised £2.88 million to secure five grassroots music venues by placing them into community ownership.

• READ MORE: Marshall amps up its home audio output with its first soundbar, the Heston 120

Grassroots venues are essential to the livelihoods of growing bands and artists, but they are closing down at an alarming rate across the country. Music Venue Properties recently announced a new £3 million fundraising Own Our Venues campaign, with the aim of protecting a further seven venues.

This funding round, now backed by Marshall and his partner, is hoping to protect The Joiners (Southampton), Bedford Esquires, The Croft (Bristol), The Sugarmill (Stoke), Peggy’s Skylight (Nottingham), The Pipeline (Brighton), and The Lubber Fiend (Newcastle).

Marshall, who worked on the first ever Marshall amp – the famed JTM45 – states, “Small venues have played a vital role over the years in my long career as a professional sax player, and, of course, created the path to success for countless other musicians too. But so many have closed their doors since I first started out at the age of 14.

“My wife Lesley and I get to grassroots venues whenever we can, as we both appreciate live music close up and personal (I still do the occasional guest appearance at 81). We hope that future generations of musicians and music lovers will be able to have these amazing experiences too. That’s why we’re supporting Own Our Venues with a substantial contribution. With enough support from others in the music industry and fellow artists, Own Our Venues can make that hope a reality. It’s up to you.”

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Matt Otridge, COO of Music Venue Properties, also comments: “Grassroots venues are where careers begin and ensure communities have access to local, live music. They’re rehearsal spaces, testing grounds, and second homes for countless artists. That’s why Terry and Lesley’s incredible £100,000 donation is more than generous, it’s leadership.”

Otridge continues, “It shows the deeply personal impact these spaces have on everyone and reminds the music industry that we all have a role to play. Their contribution builds on the belief already shown by over 1500 community investors, and we’re proud to welcome them into the Music Venue Properties family.”

You can support Own Our Venues by investing via its Crowdfunder page. Investments start from just £50 for under 25s.

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In light of Ozzy Osbourne passing away on Tuesday, a campaign has been launched to rename Birmingham International Airport in honour of the Prince of Darkness.

Started up by Dan Hudson, one half of the A Gay And A Nongay podcast, the Change.org petition proposes Birmingham’s airport should be rebranded as Ozzy Osbourne International. The campaign currently has over 3,500 signatures, a figure that is steadily rising.

• READ MORE: “We’ve lost our brother”: Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

“Ozzy Osbourne was the most important musician ever to hail from Birmingham,” Hudson writes. “He rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the pioneering rock band Black Sabbath, who invented the genre of heavy metal.”

“Ozzy’s influence on music and culture is undeniable,” he explains. “Naming our international airport after him would be a fitting tribute to his extraordinary career and contributions to the arts.”

His argument goes on to note other airports in the UK that honour famous local exports. With Belfast honouring one of its finest footballers with George Best International Airport, and Liverpool having the Beatles-inspired John Lennon Airport in Liverpool, Hudson believes Ozzy deserves to be honoured in the same way.

“Together, we can celebrate the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne and the incredible influence our city has had on the world stage, thanks to him,” he concludes.

Many supporters have left comments, further supporting the legacy Ozzy leaves in his wake. “Ozzy Osbourne’s music saved my life when I was in middle school and suicidal,” one supporter explains. “He was truly a living legend and if not for him, I wouldn’t be here right now. Naming Birmingham Airport after him would be HUGE, and the best nod to him possible.”

“When I was a teen I was guitar player in a band, and I was in horrible explosion,” another backer writes. “As a result I lost 2 finger tips, and believed I could no longer play guitar, and was very depressed. My uncle threw Black Sabbath’s Paranoid album at me and said listen to that, so I did. Later, my uncle said ‘Tony Iommi is the guitar player for that band, he is missing his fingers as well – so get you ass up and start playing!’”

“This was my introduction to Ozzy, who I also had many common grounds with,” he continues. “Ozzy had a way of making you feel understood and less alone in the world. Through his music, he’s the only celebrity I ever shed a tear for. Thank you so much for everything Ozzy, you are loved and will be missed by the world. He will always be with us, just press play.”

“Ozzy and the band felt Birmingham was important enough to them that they finished both Black Sabbath’s final tour there in 2017 and then finished their careers there a few weeks ago,” another person notes. “They loved Birmingham and carried it with them everywhere they went. Now Birmingham can welcome the world through Ozzy, by naming the airport for him.”

A handful of other petitions are also making the rounds on Change.org in honour of Ozzy. One petition is hoping to have a statue of the Prince of Darkness erected near Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital – a reminder of the nearly $200 million raised through the Black Sabbath’s Back To The Beginning benefit gig, with a portion going to the hospital.

Another petition hopes to rename Download Festival’s main stage, changing the name from the Apex Stage to the Ozzy Stage. Considering Black Sabbath quite literally invented heavy metal, it sounds like an absolutely fantastic way of honouring Ozzy’s musical legacy.

You can head to Change.org to sign the Ozzy Osbourne International petition.

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System Of A Down’s Daron Malakian has taken a trip down memory lane, recalling how the band felt like “aliens” when trying to make it in the US.

Known these days for their structurally-playful and extravagant brand of metal, the Armenian-American band found it pretty tricky in their early years to get signed to a label, as they didn’t fit the typical mould of the nu-metal bands that were gaining popularity at the time.

• READ MORE: “People think, ‘Oh, you’re a rich rock star.’ No. I sell shirts outta my f**king closet”: Gary Holt on the reality of being a metal guitarist in 2025

Despite feeling like outcasts, Malakian feels things worked out for the band due to their sheer resilience. After forming in California in the mid ’90s, they dedicated themselves to turning West Hollywood’s famed Sunset Strip venues upside down.

Speaking to Metal Hammer for its new print edition, Malakian explains, “At first nobody wanted to sign us, because we didn’t sound like Korn or Limp Bizkit, and we were four Armenian guys! I mean, what the fuck is an Armenian to somebody that lives in Kentucky?! They don’t even know what Armenians are!

“We looked like we were just fucking aliens to people, the way our stage presence was and the way our look was at the time. Serj [Tankian, SOAD singer] is a very different, unique kind of frontman, I’m the guitar player who sings and screams and does all the crazy stuff. People didn’t get it at first, but we got it.”

Asked what changed as time went on, Malakian replies, “We just went out and did what we did. We were young and hungry, we believed in what we were doing. You’ve got to understand, we were an army before we were signed, we were fucking tearing down the Sunset Strip.

“Our shows were packed when we weren’t signed,” he adds. “It started with our group of friends, but that shit grew and grew and grew, and we became the biggest band on the Sunset Strip.”

Daron Malakian has just released a new record, Addicted To The Violence, under his Scars On Broadway moniker. It is available to stream or buy now.

The post “What the f**k is an Armenian to someone who lives in Kentucky?! We looked like aliens to people”: Daron Malakian on how System Of A Down cracked America to become “the biggest band on the sunset strip” in the mid ’90s appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn guitar, Guitar Tricks could be the platform for you. With nearly 30 years of experience, Guitar Tricks’ online library of video lessons and tabs is a comprehensive approach to learning guitar – and a full access subscription is currently 65% off.

Guitar Tricks’ Summer Black Friday sale has been extended up until 29 July, offering budding guitarists the chance to secure a subscription for $29.95 per month, as well as the Ultimate Beginner Bundle and Song Builder’s Toolbox.

• READ MORE: Guitar Tricks review: still a great video-based learning platform in 2025?

The deal will allow users access to a brand new Power Drills video lessons, as well as Guitar Tricks’ classic 100 Essential Licks video series. Users will also be able to access a set of educational e-books, including the Ultimate Beginner Guide, Guitar Setup Guide and Guitar Soloing Guide.

Users will also be able to utilise AmpliTube 5 guitar modeling software, as well as gaining access to the Tape It Pro app to record your new guitar skills for potential tracks.

At the start of this year, we awarded Guitar Tricks 8/10. While the company has been operating since 1998, its old-school design allows you to focus squarely on your guitar skills. Once you’re set up, the site isn’t bloated by a flashy interface – it allows you to grow, with basic tools like online tuners, backing tracks, metronomes and simple fretboards to visualise chords or work through your scales.

The site also boasts a wide range of guitar styles, with its Core Learning System offering you the chance to work through foundational styles like the Blues or Rock, before delving further into more niche flavours. The site has lessons on Jazz, Funk & Soul, Metal, Surf, and more.

There are over 800 song-specific lessons offered across Guitar Tricks, so you’re sure to find something that takes your fancy. And whether you’re still learning the ropes, or hoping to learn a new track, there’s even an app to catch up on lessons on the go.

Guitar Tricks’ 65% off sale is running until 29 July. The 65% discount also applies to gift subscriptions and certificates.

The post Guitar Tricks is currently offering 65% off full access subscriptions – but not for long appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Tony Iommi has opened up about the death of his longtime friend and Black Sabbath brother, Ozzy Osbourne, and the “shock” he still feels in the wake of the metal legend’s passing.

Osbourne’s death earlier this week left a massive hole in the music world. And few feel that loss more deeply than Iommi, who performed alongside Ozzy just weeks ago at Back to the Beginning, Sabbath’s farewell concert in their hometown of Birmingham.

• READ MORE: “We’ve lost our brother”: Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne

In a new interview with ITV News, the guitarist admits [via Blabbermouth]: “Yeah, it was a shock for us [to find out that Ozzy had died]. I mean, when I heard yesterday, it couldn’t sink in. I thought, ‘It can’t be.’ I only had a text from him the day before. It just seemed unreal, surreal. And it really didn’t sink in. And in the night I started thinking about it: ‘God, am I dreaming all this?’ But as I said before, he’s not looked well through the rehearsals.”

Looking back on it all, Iommi says he believes the final performance at Back To The Beginning might have been Ozzy’s last mission.

“I think he really just held out to do that show. I really feel, and me and Geezer [Butler] were talking about it last night, that we think he held out to do it, and just after that, he’s done it and said goodbye to the fans. And that was the end of it, really.”

He adds that the show meant the world to Ozzy, even if he was physically struggling.

“He’s built up for it for a while now,” says Iommi. “He’s been sort of training and trying to do what he can, so he could do this gig, so he could do it. And that’s really what he wanted to do. I think he must have had something in his head that said, ‘Well, this is gonna be it, the last thing I’m ever gonna do.’ Whether he thought he was gonna die or what, I don’t know. But he really wanted to do it and he was determined to do it. And fair dues, he’d done it.”

Asked whether Ozzy seemed to enjoy being on stage again, Iommi recalls: “I think he was moved and frustrated as well, ‘cause he wanted to stand up. You could see he was trying to get up. But yeah, it meant everything to him. This is what we built up for, for that big ending where he could see all the people and we could all see all the people, and close it in that way. But we didn’t expect to close it so quick with Ozz; we didn’t expect him to go that quick, really. Well, we didn’t expect him to go. So it’s been a shock.”

Still, Iommi says he’s grateful Sabbath had that final moment together: “I’m really glad we did it, ‘cause it was a final thing for everybody. And I think if we hadn’t done it, people couldn’t have seen the band and Ozzy. It would’ve been a shame. But they’ve got a chance to see us all and see Ozz for the last time in that situation.”

Reflecting on Ozzy’s legacy and their decades-long friendship, Iommi says, “There’s never gonna be another Ozzy. He’s the only one – one Ozzy and that’s it. [And he’s] just a special person, just the way he is. He says what he thinks. Many times we said to him, ‘Now, don’t get saying anything.’ And, of course, he does… And we did have a laugh on stage.”

“As much as we were serious about the music, we’d always have this thing, and Ozz would always come over to me and pull faces,” Iommi continues. “Of course, the audience couldn’t see that, and he’d be pulling all these funny faces, and I’d just crack up. Then he’d go over to Geezer and do the same. He was just that sort of person. He was a showman.”

Tributes have flooded in for the Prince of Darkness following the news of his death.

“Goodbye dear friend. Thanks for all those years – we had some great fun,” wrote Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, while longtime Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde thanked the legend for “blessing the world with your kindness and greatness”.

The post “I think he really just held out to do that show”: Tony Iommi speaks on Ozzy Osbourne’s death just weeks after Black Sabbath’s final farewell appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Fender has announced the 2025 Fender Next class, a global artist development program spotlighting the next generation of guitar players “making waves in music and culture.”

Now in its seventh year, Fender Next has supported 175 artists across various genres and geographies since 2019, offering them the tools, visibility, and platform to shape the future of guitar. Past inductees include Sam Fender, Phoebe Bridgers, Wet Leg and more.

• READ MORE: “He was almost offended that I said that”: Eddie Van Halen’s friend reveals how the guitarist would react to praise
  

This year also marks a first, with alumni Omar Apollo and IDLES invited to help handpick the new class.

Curated by Fender’s Artist Marketing team, the 2025 roster spans the US, UK, Mexico, France, Germany, China, Japan and New Zealand. Artists were selected based on guitar ability, artistic influence, fan engagement, and alignment with Fender’s brand, along with industry referrals and data-driven insights from managers, labels, agents, and tastemakers.

“Fender Next has always been about championing the artists who are redefining the role of guitar in music and culture,” says Jason Klein, Fender’s Artist Marketing Lead. “What makes this year especially meaningful is that some of our past Fender Next alumni helped identify and recommend artists of the new class – proof of both Fender and the creative community’s belief in this artist development program and its ability to inspire next generation guitarists.”

This year’s Fender Next artists features 20 artists, which include:

• Aziya (UK)
• Lambrini Girls (UK)
• Balu Brigada (New Zealand)
• Leon Thomas (USA)
• Brandy Senki (Japan)
• Maggie Baugh (USA)
• Chinese Football (China)
• Malcolm Todd (USA)
• Cruza (USA)
• Man/Woman/Chainsaw (UK)
• Darumas (USA)
• Marc Scibilia (USA)
• Flawed Mangoes (USA)
• Oracle Sisters (France)
• Fleshwater (USA)
• otoha (Japan)
• Friko (USA)
• Renee (Mexico)
• Horsegirl (USA)
• wavvyboi (Germany)

Each artist will receive increased visibility via Fender’s global channels and social media, which reach over 17 million followers, plus access to editorial support, brand partnerships and performance opportunities via Lagunitas Brewing Company.

This year’s class will also receive a curated welcome pack with tools for the road and studio, including a Player II Modified Stratocaster with gig bag, Hammertone effects pedal, Mustang Micro Plus headphone amp, PreSonus HD9 headphones, Fender strap, cable, mug and a one-year PreSonus Studio One subscription.

“We are super excited to be part of Fender Next,” says UK punk duo Lambrini Girls. “Time to blast riffs and throw a tv out a hotel window. Thank you to all involved, may the gods of rock smile down on you amen.”

Malcolm Todd also comments, “I’m so excited to be on Fender Next, this is like a dream come true for me. I grew up watching some of my idols do this series so it’s definitely a full circle moment. I hope to inspire more people to pick up the guitar and hopefully fulfill their dreams of being in Fender Next too.”

The post Fender Next Class of 2025 is here: From punk duo Lambrini Girls to TikTok sensation Malcolm Todd, meet the rising stars of guitar appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Rock journalist Steven Rosen isn’t just another writer who interviewed Eddie Van Halen – he was one of the few who could call him a friend.

Over years of conversations, hangouts and studio visits, Rosen gained rare insight into the man behind the guitar. Their connection eventually became the foundation for Tonechaser, Rosen’s intimate book chronicling his friendship with one of rock’s most legendary players.

• READ MORE: “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen”: The surprising opinion Wolfgang Van Halen holds about guitar solos

In a recent interview with Igor Paspalj, Rosen opens up about the challenges of balancing admiration with friendship and what Eddie really thought about being praised.

“It was that fine line between being his friend, hanging out with him, being a journalist,” says Rosen [via Ultimate Guitar]. “And it was also recognising, even as a friend, that you’re sitting across the table from Edward Van Halen. You know, this guy is changing the world of guitar. He goes out and plays in front of 50,000 people, and he sells millions of records, and he’s married to this [famous] actress, and he’s all those things. It was hard to not go overboard and just be a psychopath and go, ‘My God, Edward, the solo was amazing!’, and just try to be a normal friend around him.”

Still, there were moments Rosen couldn’t help himself, and Eddie didn’t always appreciate it.

“And there were a couple times that I write about in the book where I kind of did go overboard,” he says. “It was one solo that he did on the Fair Warning record. And I forget what it was. Just one of those amazing solos. I go, ‘My God. Edward, it was incredible.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, it was okay.’ But he was almost offended that I said that.”

Eddie’s humility, Rosen explains, ran deep, even if he was fully aware of his own genius: “He was incredibly sure of who he was as a musician. He knew he was a very good guitar player. But he would never, he would never tell you. ‘Oh man, did you hear my solo on that record? It was fucking great, man. I kick ass.’ He never talked like that.”

“So, when I said that, it was almost like I was demeaning his playing, because I was sort of bringing it down to a level by saying, ‘Oh man, it was fucking great.’ It’s like, he didn’t need to hear it, and it couldn’t be defined in just a couple words.”

But even that dynamic could flip on its head. At times, when Rosen tried to dial back the praise and stay composed, the Van Halen guitarist would unexpectedly look for more.

“I remember one time, it was a song that he was really happy with the way it turned out,” Rosen recalls, “and he played it for me, or he was playing the solo on maybe my guitar not plugged in, which he would do a lot, which you can hear in the audiobook, and that stuff is amazing.”

“He plays like a bunch of stuff on the second record. Oh, my God, that’s amazing, incredible. And I’m thinking, ‘Don’t go crazy. Don’t say, ‘That’s the most amazing thing I ever heard.’ Be cool about it.’ Eventually, I said, ‘Hey man, that’s good.’ And then he says, ‘You didn’t think it was really good yet? I thought it was neat.’ Which was Edward’s way of saying, ‘It’s the best I can do.’”

The post “He was almost offended that I said that”: Eddie Van Halen’s friend reveals how the guitarist would react to praise appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Do a quick search for #guitars on TikTok or Instagram and you’ll soon find yourself witnessing the technical wizardry of Emma Harner. Bringing a splash of math-rock intricate polyphony to her predominately nylon and steel-string acoustic output, the Nebraska-born Boston-based singer-songwriter’s captivating videos have catapulted her to 1.7million likes on TikTok and 225,000 followers on Instagram. She can also count John Mayer, Plini, Mateus Asato and Tosin Abasi among her fans. Even more impressive is that she only properly picked up the guitar at the start of lockdown.

• READ MORE: Meet Orla Gartland, the independent singer-songwriter embracing her instincts

Nonetheless, the 21-year-old’s growing notoriety in the music scene has always felt like a foregone conclusion. Her parents enrolled her in classical violin lessons from the age of two, and she started penning her first songs – with the help of a ukulele and keyboard – during middle school. She would hear a lot of Paul Simon and The Beatles (two of her dad’s favourites), but it was discovering Radiohead while in a high school symphony that proved most “explosive; they made so many really cool melodies happen at the same time… that band really scratched an itch for me.”

Lockdown Lessons

Despite her lifelong love for writing and performing, her interest in guitars didn’t come until the global pandemic hit. “I suddenly found myself with a lot of time to do whatever I wanted,” Harner recalls, adding that dad gave her a 1980 Fender Classical he had bought with his first tax return. “I very quickly became obsessed with that guitar,” she says. “I was playing all the time – under the desk, during Zoom school…”

Unlike most aspiring songwriters who would watch other guitarists and then attempt to recreate what they saw, Harner took a different approach when it came to teaching herself how to play. “I wanted to see how far songwriting with the guitar could take me,” she reflects. “I already knew that I really liked to explore instruments and tonality that way,” she says, “and I was just addicted to how the guitar felt to hold and play; the vibration under my fingers was really nice.”

Working at Guitar Center in Omaha during her first year of studying music at university was a learning curve too. “It gave me more of a handle on some really basic things about gear, like the difference between a Strat and a Tele,” she says. “I’m still not a big expert on all the different guitars, but I’m really interested in it and I think that time working there really jump-started my knowledge of all that stuff.”

While she calls her initial technique “iffy at best”, transferring to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston led to an “overhaul”. Her “really cool” teacher Abigail Aronson Zocher (who also taught Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker) pushed this. After buying a classical guitar, she would learn classical pieces and the pair discussed right hand technique and left hand technique. Harner describes this journey as “a really cool marriage” of what she had learned on violin, especially phrasing and lightness of fingers; “‘how can we take this one phrase and play it 200 different ways?’”

The Reel Thing

Having landed on a sonic that fuses the intimacy of folk with the complexity of math rock, she started posting videos of her playing her own songs on TikTok. “Just one or two that didn’t do very well,” she says humbly. Undeterred, her fortunes changed when several clips reached 10,000 views each. “I was like ‘Whoa, that’s such a big number. It’s all happening!’”

At the same time, her friends were enjoying similar success – but on Instagram Reels. “To me, Instagram is really public,” she considers. “It’s like my resume, so I was scared to be cringe.” Nonetheless, Harner decided to go for it and started cross-posting: “I thought ‘it wouldn’t be the worst thing to have a couple more followers’.” Greater numbers on TikTok followed: “it was really motivating, and addicting, to write something and get almost instant feedback on it.”

She advises new artists to follow suit: “there’s no harm, especially if you have a TikTok account where no one knows you,” she considers, though struggles to nail down exactly why her videos amassed a large audience. “My most concrete advice is to always have the lyrics on screen… it’s an attention span game; you’ve got to think ‘if I was on a dopamine-seeking phone scroll, would I watch this past one second?’”

Of course, her intricate guitar playing has played a huge part. “The community of people who play guitar really fast on Instagram and TikTok is close-knit,” she says. “We all know each other; I get added in other people’s videos all the time, but everybody is musically different in certain ways”. Her own obsession? Alternate tunings and melody. “And I’m a little more Midwest emo or math-rock in a folk-y way.”

Notes Taking

Describing herself as “the kind of person who really likes to sit with myself and think in my own head”, Harner’s songwriting method is primarily guitar-first. “I’ll come up with a riff that I think is fun to repeat, play and interesting enough for me,” she shares. “Then I’ll go into my Notes app, see what lyric ideas could fit with it and expand on it all in ways that hopefully make sense.”

Despite being in the early stages of her career, Harner has already received support from some big names in the scene, including YouTube-famous guitarist Joshua Lee Turner, whose band – The Bygones – she joined on tour last year. Animals as Leaders guitarist Tosin Abasi and Australian prog-rock guitarist Plini have reached out too. But the biggest – “especially for my mother” – has been John Mayer; “I’ve had a couple of comments from him, which was a big deal.”

Touring with one of her personal guitar heroes, Orla Gartland, was “awesome” too, especially as “some of her songs were really important to me when I was a teenager”. Being so new to the industry, Harner took mental notes and asked lots of questions; “how she makes everything click and all the ends meet is… terrifying actually. I don’t know if I could ever hustle like her.”

An equally special part of her journey has been the messages she’s received, especially from older people who have been inspired to pick up their guitar again after hearing her music or seeing her videos. “It’s so awesome,” Harner says, adding that this feeds into the legacy she hopes to leave: “more people making music and more people playing guitar because I believe, really passionately, in self-expression on guitar.”

Side Hustle

True to her words, flawless debut EP Taking My Side brings her story so far to life. A softly-stunning coming-of-age collection, the oldest of its five songs was written three years ago. “It’s really cool and gratifying to have it out,” she enthuses, “because it has taken such a long time from writing it to the finished product. It took a while but I did it.”

Her patience and persistence paid off. Lead single False Alarm pairs beautiful strummed chords with vulnerable songwriting, while her ethereal vocals on the Bond-soundtrack-manifesting Do It are paired with cinematic strings; the latter doesn’t sound a million miles away from Billie Eilish’s early releases. As if keen to showcase a heavier side of her artistry, midway outlier Yes Man – which starts as a break-up lament – veers closer to Olivia Rodrigo territory with its loud riffs, before simmering down again. A thrilling indication of her potential next direction, it’s followed by the brilliantly-written Lifetimes: ‘You’re the chopping block, I’m the mouldy spot, and we are waiting for the knife’.

In just 14 minutes, Emma Harner has made her mark as not only a compelling songwriter but one of America’s most impressive new guitarists.

‘Taking My Side’ is out now

The post Meet Emma Harner the guitarist thrilling TikTok with math-rock inspired acoustic guitar wizardry appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs have wreaked havoc on markets around the world, and the musical instrument industry has been heavily affected.

We’ve seen US amp and pedal companies stretched to breaking point already, with some industry commentators predicting “mass layoffs” as a result of price hikes and consequential low sales of goods.

• READ MORE: “The electric guitar is an American cultural export” NAMM CEO John Mlynczak on why Fender, Gibson, PRS and others joined forces to lobby congress over wood tariffs

Now, in a new conversation with Reuters, John D’Addario III – CEO of family-run instrument accessories company D’Addario – explains the impact tariffs, both potential and already enforced, have had on the business, and what he predicts for the landscape for the rest of the year.

“We estimate that we have incurred anywhere between $500,000 to $750,000 in additional costs that we didn’t plan for, already this year,” says CEO John D’Addario III.

According to the video’s description, D’Addario expects to accumulate more than $2 million in tariff costs this year alone.

“We’re not alone,” he continues. “I’m sure other businesses are dealing with that. But it did force us to react quickly in terms of price changes.”

D’Addario is one of the world’s leading makers of musical accessories, with a strong presence in markets around the world.

“What did we do in the onset of the tariff war? Lots of things,” he goes on. “First, we filed an application for a foreign trade zone that we could designate for portions of our facilities, which would allow us to import either finished goods or parts of finished goods. And avoid tariffs, presumably, if you re-exported that product to our export customers.

“And that’s very important because our business is roughly 50/50 US and international in terms of volume.”

D’Addario explains that in response to Trump’s tariffs, the company has developed the agility to reroute shipments of its goods on the fly.

“We can literally, if we need to, divert shipments that are on their way to the states to other markets where we have our own entities,” he says. “So literally stuff that’s on the water intended to go to the US, we can divert if we need to to different parts of the world, to avoid the tariffs.”

The big question though: are the price of D’Addario strings and other accessories set to rise?

“We implemented a price change in early May, and if necessary we may need to consider additional price increases if tariffs continue to escalate,” D’Addario says.

“At the end of the day, I think what we have to concentrate on is things that we can control. Things like onshoring, things like creating a foreign trade zone. Those are the things that we can control and we’ll continue to do those things so we can preserve our company’s presence and strength in the market.”

View D’Addario’s full product lineup via its official website.

The post Are your favourite guitar strings about to get more expensive? D’Addario expects to incur more than $2 million in tariffs this year as a result of US trade policy appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Yesterday, Ozzy Osbourne sadly passed away, just weeks after putting on the show of a lifetime and raising nearly $200 million through Black Sabbath’s grand farewell gig. As the metal world mourns this monumental loss, artists are honouring the Prince of Darkness’s career, with Ghost even dedicating last night’s Madison Square Garden show to Ozzy.

Before performing The Future Is A Foreign Land, frontman Tobias Forge addressed the sold-out crowd. “We’re going to dedicate tonight’s show to the memory of the life and laughter of Ozzy Osbourne,” he said [via NME]. “For being the Prince of Darkness, he sure gave us a lot of light, so we’re gonna tap into that tonight and carry it forward through a time of darkness.”

• READ MORE: “There would be no metal without you”: Jack White, Tom Morello and the guitar world react to the passing of Ozzy Osbourne

In a since-deleted Instagram post, the Swedish metal band shared the clip, re-iterating the fact that the evening was entirely dedicated to Ozzy. “We wish to inform you that Ghost dedicated their sold out New York ritual at Madison Square Garden to the Prince Of Darkness himself: Ozzy Osbourne,” the caption read.

While Ghost were unable to play Black Sabbath’s final show on 5 July, frontman Forge dropped everything to jet overseas on his own, performing solo at Ozzy’s groundbreaking Back To The Beginning farewell concert. Appearing as his Ghost persona, Papa V Perpetua, Forge was part of the ever-shifting roster, temporarily fronting the Ozzy/Sabbath supergroup to cover Ozzy’s 1983 solo track, Bark At The Moon.

Back in March, Forge told NME that Ozzy’s work has always been a major inspiration. “Ozzy as a frontman and Ozzy as a solo artist is something I put a divide between, because I grew up in the ‘80s where he was much more of a rockstar than Black Sabbath were,” he explained. “I gravitated towards that, but I also grew up listening to the old Black Sabbath records.”

“Nowadays, I love most Black Sabbath releases… Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage have been absolute milestones for me for as long as I’ve been writing music. They’ve been very influential, even though it might not be super evident. I’ve always listened to them, and I’ve always been inspired by them.”

News of Ozzy’s passing was shared yesterday (22 July) by his family. “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning,” an Instagram post said. “He was with his family and surrounded by love.”

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A post shared by Ozzy Osbourne (@ozzyosbourne)

The post “For the Prince of Darkness, he sure gave us a lot of light”: Tobias Forge pays tribute to Ozzy Osbourne at Ghost’s sold-out Madison Square Garden show appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

When James Blunt released his mainstream hit You’re Beautiful back in 2005, we’re sure he didn’t think it would earn him the title of “the most hated man in pop”. Nowadays, Mr. Blunt has become the industry’s unofficial punching bag, with artists like Oasis‘s Noel Gallagher even firing criticism his way.

Back in 2013, the Gallagher brother told Time Out Dubai that he sold his Ibiza villa to avoid being neighbours with the soft rock singer. He explained that Blunt didn’t necessarily do anything to “wind him up”, but “he just moved there… and I can’t have that.”

However, Blunt isn’t one to take negative comments lying down. In an episode of the High Performance podcast in October, Blunt fires back at the Oasis man, calling him a “sad human being”.

• READ MORE: These are Dave Grohl’s four biggest guitar-playing influences

“[Noel was] saying he can’t live in Ibiza because I live down the road,” he said. “Well, what a sad human being he is – because it’s a big enough island, you know? I’m not asking [him] to come and see me!”

Amid the comments, Blunt implied that Noel was being two-faced. “Noel Gallagher’s never said anything unkind to my face,” Blunt explained. “He just always does it to your back when he’s trying to flog music.”

He even managed to sneak in his own jab at Noel: “Weirdly, house prices went through the roof the moment he left! I don’t know whether the house prices went up because he’d left or because I’d arrived… But there’s gotta be some connection.”

While Noel has been making headlines recently in light of the Oasis reunion, Blunt has generated plenty of headlines about the guitarists’ two-faced behaviour over the years. On a 2023 episode of podcast Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake, he also explained: “I do actually bump into Noel at various places… to your face he’s a coward. [But in the papers] he said he couldn’t have me writing my shitty songs just down the road from him.”

Other musicians have also been quick to fire criticism in Blunt’s direction over the years. Elsewhere in his chat with High Performance, the singer even recalled being snubbed by Blur and Gorillaz star Damon Albarn during the Jools Holland Show.

“At the end of the show, they take a picture of all the musicians, and Damon Albarn refused to be in that photo because I was on the episode with him,’ Blunt said.

When asked if Albarn had said that directly to Blunt, the singer explained: “No, his management went and spoke to the producers of the show, and he’s a big deal, so they went along with that… which is bizarre, because they should’ve just told him not to be such a prick.”

“So I was then held back in my dressing room while all the musicians were lined up around Jools Holland for the photo with Damon,” he continued. “Then he was led out to his car and off he went home. I was brought out for the second photo, and only one of those makes the Wall of Fame… but it’s very petty stuff.”

When considering why musicians feel so comfortable criticising him, Blunt seems to be quite understanding. “It’s very easy… to fall for the trap when we’re trying to flog our own music, when someone says, ‘Which album don’t you like?’ or ‘Which musician don’t you like?’,” he explained. “We just fall for that.”

“It’s too easy for us to start saying, ‘I don’t like this person, I don’t like that person’ and we say whoever’s the easiest whipping boy or girl at the time… and I happen to be that person.”

The post James Blunt savages Noel Gallagher as a “sad human” for saying unkind things about him behind his back appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

While some rockers opt to show off their chops through excessive guitar solos, Wolfgang Van Halen is with many who believe they’re not always a necessary ingredient when crafting killer track.

Despite Wolfgang’s father, Eddie Van Halen, being renowned as a solo master, Mammoth’s upcoming record, The End, features a few tracks without solos. “Whenever there is a song that doesn’t have a guitar solo people are like ‘Dude? What?’,” he tells SiriusXM. “[But] it’s more about the song and how it is crafted altogether. Not everything needs a guitar solo.”

• READ MORE: The Gear Used on Are You Experienced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience

Rather than compromising on his vision to force in a meaty, shred-heavy solo, Wolfgang is more satisfied when a track feels correct. He labels himself as a songwriter first and foremost. “The ‘songwriter’ leads more than anything,” he notes. “I think that what makes me happy. What brings me purpose with Mammoth is writing the songs.”

He’s aware some people might find his stance surprising. “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen to say,” he notes. “But, for me, I get [the] most joy from crafting the song, piece by piece.”

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A post shared by Mike Coppola (@mlcoppola)

Of course, that’s not to say Wolfgang’s forthcoming third release is totally solo-free. “There are definitely more guitar solos,” he confirms. “But, again, that is not what it is about for me. But [they are] there, and I am going to give my A-game!”

Wolfgang’s band, Mammoth (formerly known as Mammoth WVH), recently dropped the first taste of The End. The Spell highlights the Wolfgang’s multi-instrumental talents – and it’s one of the new tracks that does feature a guitar solo.

While some may raise an eyebrow upon hearing Wolfgang’s views on soloing, Wolfgang is actually following in his father’s footsteps. His father voiced similar views in his later years, telling Guitar Player’s Jas Obrecht that he was well beyond his years of shredding in 1991.

“A lot of people just do all kinds of crazy shit,” he said. “Sure, that’s fine and dandy when you’re young… playing as fast as you can doesn’t really hold much water for me… To me, a solo is to highlight song. It’s not to show off.”

“What’s important to me now isn’t how fast I can solo,” he continued. “It’s the whole picture… the whole band thing, the songs… that’s what’s important.”“

The End will be released on 24 October.

The post “That might be stupid coming from the son of Eddie Van Halen”: The surprising opinion Wolfgang Van Halen holds about guitar solos appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.

Fender Play! You’ve likely heard of it – it’s one of the most popular learning platforms out there. It was launched in 2017, but thanks to some savvy promotions by Fender it hit the big times across the pandemic. As people collectively realised that 2020 might be the time to dust off that charity-shop guitar and learn some Nirvana songs, Fender offered three months of free lessons via the platform.

• READ MORE: Simply Guitar review: simple isn’t always better

The strategy was astute – it drove a huge spike in the size of Fender Play’s userbase, quickly making it one of the most talked-about learning platforms out there. But what is Fender Play like in the post-lockdown world of 2025? Has time been kind to the platform? Is it still a good option for a beginner player? What about someone with a little more experience? I spent several weeks with Fender Play to find out.

Getting started with Fender Play

Fender Play offers a mobile app alongside the browser-based platform. UI-wise, it’s all a pretty unified experience, but for my testing I stick mostly to the browser experience – mainly for screen size reasons. But hey, it’s good to see the flexibility on offer in both directions – apps that offer no desktop version can be just as frustrating as those that are desktop-exclusive.

When I first sign up, I’m given the classic questionnaire – what kind of instrument do I have, what genre am I interested in learning (a choice between rock, pop, blues, country, folk and R&B/soul), and how good am I already. When it comes to my skill level, I do tell Fender Play that I’m able to play across the fretboard (thank you, thank you),  but despite this I’m placed at the very start of the Rock Path, and given lessons on how to tune and pluck strings. This makes me think that at least some of the initial questionnaire is not for my sake, but is instead (shock horror) market research.

In any case, I can easily pick a more advanced course – but this is a good opportunity to see what the average beginner will be faced with when they sign up. These early lessons are particularly crucial to the value of a learning tool, as they’re laying down the foundations on which you will build everything else.

Down the path

The bulk of the lessons are housed in Paths, the main superstructures of Fender Play’s library. Each Path consists of different levels (except the ‘essentials’ Path, which is just one level), and each level consists of different courses, and each course consists of different activities. A course will teach either a specific technique, or apply what you’ve learnt so far to a song, and an activity will either be a video lesson or a dynamic tab to hone your skills.

The Path you’re on varies by instrument – acoustic, electric, bass or ukulele, as well as genre. You can change your Path at any time, and select any lesson at any level – although to keep you chugging along a single Path, Fender Play will track your progress and let you easily choose your next lesson when you log in.

What’s immediately clear is that Fender Play’s roster of video presenters is one of its strongest points. For the earlier lessons, the basics are explained patiently and clearly, and the teachers strike a good balance between being comprehensive without overwhelming you with terminology. There’s a lot of presenters, and they’re all skilled players and good instructors.

The tone of the videos is also nice and encouraging, for the most part. Presenters generally seem keen and approachable, without any exhausting and cringey over-enthusiasm – good for diving into an extended learning session without going insane. Things can swing a little too hard in the other direction, though, as every once in a while a presenter will deliver a lesson with the sort of subdued corporate dryness that says “I am just trying to get through what it says on the autocue” more than it does “hey, let’s learn the guitar”. But this is luckily pretty rare, and not too shocking given Fender’s overall video playbook – you rarely see much joking about in its product demos.

Fender Play is also good at establishing a tight loop of ‘learn, play, then reinforce’. While some guitar learning platforms can feel like the sort of video game that only lets you actually play it in 10 minute segments between 45 minute cutscenes (enjoying Death Stranding 2?), Fender Play is instead keen to keep you active and playing along to the teacher as much as possible.

The bulk of the video lessons are followed by smart tab exercises that you can do at your own pace to cement what you’ve learnt. There is also a feedback mode, which works similarly but lets you record your playing for analysis. Whilst the insight gained from automated analysis like this is always going to be limited, I find the idea of playing and then analysing pretty handy. Apps that offer Guitar Hero-style real-time feedback can lead you to concentrate a bit too hard on the app itself while you play – here, you are given the space to do the best performance you can, and then find where you can improve.

Theory will only take you so far

What is also very good to see is the focus on theory essentials as well as guitar essentials, particularly in the early stages. Time signatures and rhythm subdivisions are explained early on, and as mentioned the tabs include traditional rhythm notation as well as a metronome.

While the efficacy of modern, alternative approaches (Yousician’s bouncing ball and so on) is, er, debatable, a mix of traditional rhythm notation and guitar tab is generally agreed to be the best compromise between keeping things legible from a guitar perspective, while remaining musically unambiguous.

And regardless of whether or not those alternative approaches work, what’s true is this: if you stick with the guitar and start playing in bands with other people, tabs and traditional rhythm notation are both going to be understood pretty generally. But if you join a band and need to have your parts notated exclusively in ‘Yousician Bouncing Ball’ format, you might be in trouble.

Simple, but accurate

Given its beginner focus, Fender Play features a good deal of songs that have been simplified for the earlier stages of the Paths. When this has happened, the instructor tells you that the arrangement has been changed, and there’s often a good balance between keeping things recognisable while still communicating the relevant ideas. Simplified riffs are used to draw outlines of concepts, before Fender Play gives you the chance to add detail and colour as you progress throughout the courses.

Take John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom, which appears very early in the Blues Path – it’s literally the first thing you learn after learning how to fret notes. The version taught gets you playing the second (simpler) part of the song’s call and response, using it to establish how you go about playing a sequence of notes in time, within the framework of a bar of 4/4. And, thanks to the rhythmic tabs ever-present below the video lessons, you’re immediately exposed to how to read quarter notes and rests.

This approach is, I think, a good one – all learning platforms understand that most people pick up the guitar in order to actually play songs, and the sooner that happens the better. However, there is a balance you need to maintain as you do this. Calling these simplified arrangements done and dusted could be more confusing than satisfying, but luckily Fender Play’s teachers explain how a track has been adjusted for learning purposes, and the accurate notation is helpful in seeing how the more basic parts fit together.

As you progress through a Path towards the more intermediate lessons, the arrangements reflect your progress. In the case of rock, metal and other riff-driven music, the transcriptions are accurate to the real thing. In the case of tracks where the original is a more abstract pop arrangement with less of a guitar focus, there are some pretty creative fingerstyle interpretations of the tracks – it’s not always a campfire acoustic version with solely cowboy chords!

More advanced techniques

Fender Play has historically been a pretty beginner-focused platform, and it’s clear that since the lockdown-induced surge of users it’s the early phases of guitar where Fender has put the bulk of its attention. But it’s been half a decade since then – that’s five years of learning for all of those absolute beginners that signed up. So has Fender expanded the ceiling of its learning platform upwards to follow?

In short – it has. Fender Play started out as a platform for just the very basics – however now, there are a good deal of much harder riffs and techniques taught in levels six and seven of each path. The rock path, for example, will eventually have you doing things like the fiddly verse riff of Led Zeppelin’s Bring It On Home and the speedy punk strumming of Green Day.

Beyond the Paths, there are also a few lessons that absolutely transcend the intermediate label, being bonafide ‘advanced’. Not as many as there are beginner lessons, for sure, but for example the solo for Crazy Train is taught, note for note – that’s some serious shredding, and you’ll likely need a good few years of learning under your belt to tackle it. In short, the amount of teaching on offer here is far more than a year’s progress unless you’re taking ten hours of lessons a day – so even if you get an annual subscription, it’s hard to argue that you’re not getting value for money.

Paths and songs aren’t the only way that Fender Play presents its video lessons, either. There are also Skills and Collections, which drill down into specific techniques, or specific sets of songs – things like artist spotlights and collections of famous songs featuring certain techniques are organised into courses that you can progress through, outside of those more structured sections. This is cool to see, particularly as a non-beginner interacting with a platform – it’s a great jumping off point to find ways to broaden your playing horizons.

Learning a song

Fender Play certainly has an impressive song library, and this is arguably one of the platform’s biggest draws – Fender has been able to license a very wide range of music, with a catalogue that includes guitar-driven classics, modern pop, country, R&B, blues, metal and indie rock.

But while simplifying tracks to teach them to beginners is all well and good, this has a bit of a strange effect as on the rest of the experience. Like a few other learning apps, the broader song library will include lessons taken from the wider context of the more structured side of things. When browsing the song library independently of the Paths, you may encounter a track that just happens to be taught as a very early lesson – and perhaps be disappointed when you can’t actually learn the full song.

It’s not all chained to the Paths, though – there are also a few songs that exist as simpler versions within the course, but are presented as more accurate versions within the actual song library. Regardless, it’s still worth noting that just because a song is technically included in the library, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to learn it in full.

Relatedly, it’s also not guaranteed that a song will have a ‘full’ video lesson where an instructor takes you through each part step-by-step. If you really prefer learning with that kind of granular instruction, it’s meted out a little randomly, and there’s no way to filter for songs that have it. Songs that don’t will instead either have a tabbed-out play along video, or just a dynamic tab. That’s not to say Fender Play’s library of lessons is meagre, not by any stretch – but not all of the 1,200 songs here have a ‘full’ video lesson.

I do also want to note that I run into a couple of technical issues with the ‘practice mode’ tab player every now and again. The worst of these is the occasional audio de-sync, which renders some songs totally unlearnable. This was however very rare and exclusive to the desktop interface – it only affected two tracks across my entire time with Fender Play.

Fender Play, with emphasis on the Fender

Overall my time with Fender play is all very positive. As a learning platform, it’s in excellent shape – this isn’t some lockdown hobby project Fender dumped a load of money into and then abandoned as soon as the pubs opened again, it’s a really solid educational tool that offers great quality teaching and great value for money. However, I do want to address a very Fender thing that comes from Fender Play: While the stated goal is to teach you the guitar, there is always the feeling that there’s another motivation at play here. Rather than a guitarist, Fender Play wants you to be a Fender Guitarist.

It’s undeniable that Fender is good at doing brand things, and not just because you can buy basically any piece of merch you can imagine with a Fender logo slapped onto it. Fender products often feel like they exist within an Apple-styled walled garden, into which no other guitar company may enter. This remains true here: the universe depicted in Fender Play’s video lessons is one where the Telecaster Deluxe is the only dual-humbucker single-cut ever invented, the only metal guitars are Jacksons and Charvels, and the only amps are Fender combos or EVH heads.

Lessons have a “tones” section along with tabs and other info – but rather than general advice on how to get an appropriate tone for the song, this is instead a download link for a Mustang GTX/GT preset. Admittedly handy if you do have either of these amps, and occasionally the instructor does give some more general, less Fender-specific gear advice – but for the most part, gear-focused lessons are about dialling things in on Fender gear.

None of the genuine musical teaching is undermined by this, and I’ve definitely seen more teeth-grindingly profit-driven approaches in educational apps. But it is always there, a background hum of hey, by the way, we also sell everything you can see. This is a strategy Fender has always employed: need an amp, pedal, modeller, guitar (pointy or non-pointy!), audio interface or indeed a learning platform? You can get all of these things and more if you stay within the garden. Please don’t look over the walls. There’s nothing out there!

It is obviously not some searing insight to say that Fender is going to promote its own gear within its own learning platform. But despite the crushing inevitability of businesses needing to make money, it still feels more than a little distracting the more time I spend within Fender Play. I’d rather see beginner guitarists encouraged to explore beyond the big F, as there’s a lot out there – and discovering that whole wide world is as much a part of the guitar journey as learning to play is.

Is Fender Play worth it?

Advertising whinge over, let’s examine the value for money you get with Fender Play. Its base cost is £19.49 a month, or £12.08 a month if you buy annually. This is about average for a learning platform these days – it’s on par with other video library platforms like Guitar Tricks, but it’s a little more expensive than a basic platform like Simply Guitar. The quality of the lessons and the breadth of scope on display, however, are undeniable for the beginner player. It’s a very comprehensive and detailed overview, the kind of thing that can really only be bettered by finding a one-on-one teacher, or finding a bespoke course made by a specific teacher that you resonate with.

For a more intermediate or advanced player, however, Fender Play is perhaps less easy to recommend. It’s still great if you want to go over the basics again to work on the more fundamental aspects of your playing. Don’t expect a lot of super-advanced courses that’ll turn you into some sort of shred god, but there are still a few courses that you may find useful – whether they’re worth it will depend on your approach. There is luckily the option of a free trial, and so with that in mind I would say it’s worth signing up and poking around the platform.

The post Fender Play review: sleek learning platform is better than ever in 2025 appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.