NEWS

Led Zeppelin want the Ninth Circuit appeals court in the US to reconsider overturning the original ruling in the Stairway To Heaven song-theft case. Their legal representatives claim that it would upset the “delicate balance” between copyright protection and the artistic freedom enjoyed by music creators.

The Verdict, the new studio album from Queensrÿche, is released on March 1 via Century Media Records. It’s the third to feature current frontman Todd La Torre, who replaced Geoff Tate in 2012.

Inglorious, Wayward Sons, Vega, Bigfoot, Doomsday Outlaw and City Of

Thieves have been announced to appear at the inaugural Frontiers Rock Festival, which takes place at the Birmingham Institute on February 2.

Rodney Matthews celebrates his 50-year career as an albumcover artist with a special anniversary event at Birmingham’s Highbury Hall on January 19 from 7.30pm to midnight, at which Praying Mantis will play a live set.

Mr. Big vocalist Eric Martin would like the band, whose drummer Pat Torpey (pictured) died in February this year, to record a final EP or album before calling time on the band. “I want to do a new record,” Martin says, “and I also want to have a couple of different drummers on it, ones that Pat really liked – maybe Mike Portnoy, Gregg Bissonette, or Ray Luzier from Korn.”