Bolder joined David Bowie’s backing band in 1971, alongside guitarist Mick Ronson – with whom he’d played in The Rats – and drummer Woody Woodmansey. He appeared on the albums Hunky Dory, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups.

He replaced John Wetton in Heep in 1976 and made his recording debut with them on 1977′s Firefly. He also played on Innocent Victim, Fallen Angel and Conquest, before joining Wishbone Ash. In 1983 he returned to Mick Box’s outfit and played on Equator two years later. He’d appeared on every album since, including their most recent outing, 2011′s Into The Wild.

Earlier this year he announced what was hoped to be a temporary absence as a result of surgery. He later told Classic Rock: “I had pancreas cancer so I had to have that removed. Not the entire pancreas; but still, it was bad news. They’ve cut out the bad bit. I’ve had a bit of chemo, got to have that, which I’m doing now, in case there’s anything hanging about. Once that’s done, I should be back to doing what I do for a living.” The band had said he was aiming to be back in action in time for Heep’s appearance at the Download Festival.

A statement from the band reports: “Trevor was an all-time great – one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players Britain ever produced.

“His long time membership of Uriah Heep brought the band’s music, and Trevor’s virtuosity and enthusiasm, to hundreds of thousands of fans across the world.”

Box adds: “Trevor was a world class bass player, singer and songwriter – and more importantly a world class friend. He will be sadly missed by family, friends and rock fans all over the world. We are all numb to the core.”

Bowie has released a brief statement of his own, saying: “Trevor was a wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with. But he was foremostly a tremendous guy, a great man.”

Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott, along with guitarist Phil Collen, Woodmansey and keyboardist Dick Decent, had played with Bolder in their Ronson tribute band Cybernauts. Elliott said last night: “I had the great pleasure of knowing Trevor for the best part of 30 years. He was one of my idols growing up. I got to know him when Uriah Heep opened for Def Leppard on the Pyromania tour in 1983, and we became firm friends. I stayed with him, he stayed with me and we recorded and toured together.

“For myself and Phil it’s devastating, because we were looking forward to finishing up some new Cybernauts recording pretty soon – that may now not happen. But our real thoughts right now are with his family. Trevor was one of the good guys; we have lost a brother, a great bass player, a funny, funny man who lit up any room he walked into. I guess now, him and Ronno have a bit of catching up to do. Rest in peace, my friend.”

Uriah Heep have set up a memorial guest book on their website.

-Classic Rock

Hyams joined his first group, Dolls House, in 1971, then went on to become a member of the Samuel Prody Band with Canadian guitarist Bruce Irvine. In 1974 he worked on a solo LP, Mistaken Identities, in America with Wings drummer Denny Seiwell and producer Elliott Mazer then re-recorded the album in England.

Hyams cut six tracks with Mott in 1977, later released as World Cruise. His second solo album, Feather And A Tomahawk, was issued in 1997 and his song I Fall Over, I Fall Down was recorded by Marianne Faithfull. He also fronted the Dig Band and the Steve Hyams Band.

Mott mainman Ian Hunter recalled: “Steve Hyams worked in a record store on the Kings Road – the Chelsea Drug Store – when Mott The Hoople started in 1969. We soon found him to be an astute listener and his taste was faultless. Later on, he got into music and he’s done some seriously good stuff. I would have been really happy if Steve would have taken my place after Mott The Hoople finished in 1974. He was unique. Steve’s one that got away.”

Ian Hunter and Mott The Hoople biographer Campbell Devine commented: “Steve was a tremendously talented writer and musician. He was also passionate, humorous and sensitive – a very charming and thoughtful man.”

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Contrary to the false claim, the Scots veterans are currently working on a new album and have live dates planned in North America, with a set of UK shows confirmed for the end of the year – dates below.

Bassist Pete Agnew says in a statement: “It’s been advertised by a Swedish festival that it will be Nazareth’s last show, and it might be everyone’s last chance to see the band.

“This is a load of rubbish. It won’t be the first time that promoters used these tactics to improve ticket sales – and it won’t be the last.

“I see on Facebook that some of you believed this, and now the rumours start to fly, which only harms the band. As I’ve said before, if any big decision concerning the band is being made it will be announced by us on our website.

“We’re currently recording a new album. We’ll work through May then tour the USA and Canada for two months, after which we’ll return to the studio to complete the project.”

Meanwhile, Naz have appeared in a single with young Scottish rap outfit SHY & DRS, collaborating on a track called Enough Love – view the video below. It’s the result of a recording session in Germany, with the promo shot during a mini-tour that followed, and it’s released on June 3.

Nazareth UK tour
Nov 22: London Islington Assembly Hall
Nov 24: Bilston Robin 2
Nov 27: Ipswich Railway Venue
Nov 29: Hard Rock Hell, Pwllheli
Nov 30: Brighton Concorde 2
Dec 1: Grimsby Yardbirds

-Classic Rock

The band surprised fans at the weekend by appearing on stage in Los Angeles with the Linkin Park singer at the front. They performed a set of classics and also delivered new track Out Of Time, which can be heard below.

Both parties made it clear that Bennington wasn’t leaving Linkin Park – but now the vocalist has confirmed there’s more to come from his STP collaboration.

He tells KROQ: “We couldn’t really plan a tour because we couldn’t let people know what was going on. Now the cat’s out of the bad we’re going to go out, make more music, play more shows and have some fun.”

Bennington continues: “Every band has its own vibe. Stone Temple Pilots has this sexier, more classic rock feel to it; Linkin Park is a very modern, tech-heavy band. I grew up listening to these guys – when the opportunity came up it was a no-brainer.”

Speaking of his first show with the band he says: “I got to use my voice. I got to sing and show my range a little bit. I still got to throw a little scream in here and there, but it’s so different.”

Meanwhile, Weiland – who was fired by STP in February, although he denies it – is touring with his solo band The Wildabouts, performing a set mainly consisting of STP tracks.

-Classic Rock

He passed away in a clinic in Germany after having fought cancer of the bile duct for some time. He was surrounded by his family.

Manzarek founded the band with Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger and John Densmore in 1964. They became icons of the psychedelic era, having found the inspiration for their name in a poem by William Blake: “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

A statement from his family says: “Ray passed away today at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his wife Dorothy and his brothers Rick and James.

“The Doors formed when Ray had a chance encounter on Venice Beach with poet Jim Morrison. LA Woman, Break On Through To The Other Side, The End, Hello, I Love You, and Light My Fire were just some of the band’s groundbreaking songs.

“After Morrison’s death in 1971, Ray went on to become a best-selling author and a Grammy-nominated recording artist in his own right. In 2002, he revitalized his touring career with Doors guitarist and long-time collaborator, Robby Krieger.”

Guitarist Krieger says: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate. I’m glad to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him.”

-Classic Rock

The Seattle icons blasted back into action with last year’s acclaimed album King Animal. And bassist Ben Shepherd says he had no doubt they’d be able to deliver the goods, despite having split in 1997.

He tells the St Louis Post-Dispatch: “Even when we were in the room together meeting about having meetings, it was already back to the same chemistry. There were no worries about us taking the next step and being able to write new songs.”

Of the album he says: “We wanted it to sound like us. The only pressure we put on ourselves was that we make a record that’s on par with our old stuff. I had the utmost faith in the others that we would bring it all the way. There was no way we were going to put out a crappy record that no one cared about.”

Tour tickets go on sale on Friday, May 24.

Soundgarden UK and Ireland tour:

Sep 13: Manchester O2 Apollo
Sep 14: Birmingham Academy
Sep 16: Dublin O2
Sep 18: London O2 Academy Brixton

-Classic Rock

He still won’t discuss what led to the guitarist’s non-appearance at the start of Bon Jovi’s latest world tour leg – but he insists it’s not about money, and the pair haven’t fallen out.

Bon Jovi tells the Mirror: “We were all in Calgary. Richie was going to turn up on show day, but we went the night before because it’s a long flight.

“At 3.30pm on show day the manager said: ‘Guess what?’ He didn’t even have to finish the sentence. Because we had been through it before we performed that night. We couldn’t let down the fans.”

He admits he hasn’t set eyes on his bandmate since that moment. “I talked to him once – once in six weeks and 18 shows. He’s not fired, we didn’t have a fight, it certainly isn’t about money. He can return when he is ready to die every night, the way I walk on stage. No one’s mad, no one’s sad.”

Bon Jovi is still reeling over his teenage daughter’s overdose – Stephanie, 19, was taken to hospital in November after being found unconscious in her college dorm. She faced drugs charges but they were later dropped.

“We went through something that a lot of parents do; many more than I thought,” he says. “I feel it was a terrible tragic lesson of life, but I thank God every day because she is whole. It happened and it has gone. I know people where it was a lot, lot worse. That could have been Stephanie.”

He believes it’s a struggle for parents to understand the environment that surrounds their children, because things are so different today. “There’s a lot of pressure on this generation – a lot of temptation and access and pressures that, just a generation ago, you and I didn’t know about.

“Our world is far more relatable to our parents’ world than the kids’ world. There’s many more pressures on kids: what is this college degree going to do for me, what am I going to be when I grow up, will I be able to accomplish things?”

Bon Jovi tour the UK next month:

Jun 8: Manchester Etihad Stadium
Jun 9: Birmingham Villa Park
Jun 12: Cardiff City Stadium
Jun 13: Sunderland Stadium Of Light
Jun 15: Dublin Slaine Castle
Jun 16: Isle of Wight Festival
Jul 3: Glasgow Hampden Park
Jul 5: British Summer Time Festival, London

-Classic Rock

STP announced in February that they’d “terminated” Weiland’s contract. But since then, he’s been insisting both that he wasn’t fired and that he can’t be fired, arguing: “I started the band. There’s certain clauses in place that keep that from happening.”

The band unveiled their current lineup and their latest song at LA radio station KROQ’s annual weenie roast over the weekend, taking the crowd by surprise. Bennington later said: “I’ve loved STP since I was 13 years old. When the opportunity came up to so something creative with them I jumped at the chance. The guys in Linkin Park have been incredibly supportive of me undertaking this project while I’ve continued to work on new music with LP.”

Guitarist Dean DeLeo added: “We know Linkin Park will always be his priority, but we thought it would be cool to try something together. We managed to find the time to record a song and we’re all really happy with the result.”

It’s not clear whether the band plan any further activity together.

Meanwhile, Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash recently reported the band haven’t given up on finding a replacement for Weiland after firing him in 2008. “We’ve been very quietly been looking for somebody who’s right for that band,” he said. Slash was first to publicly discuss Weiland’s departure from STP.

-Classic Rock

The astute amongst you will have spotted that these boys have become my latest musical obsession – in no small part due to Will being so friendly and open in his answers to my questions.

Will from Jett Black

Photos courtesy of Sue Powley

We talked about all things musical, influences, the numerous changes in vocalists and what it’s like to have Nikki Sixx as a boss!

CJ – Drowning Pool edit pt1 

CJ – Drowning Pool edit pt2

 Many thanks to CJ for being so open and positive (surely an award winner in the nicest guy in rock competition?)