Yesterday in New York City, a small group of friends and admirers got together in New York City to pay their respects to late guitar legend Les Paul. Paul — who invented and lent his name to the Gibson model axe that may be one of the most identifiable instruments in the world — passed away last Thursday at the age of 94. Another service is planned for tomorrow in Paul's hometown of Waukesha, Wisconsin. The attendees at yesterday's service included Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, Joan Jett, Tony Bennett and Slash. In the wake of Paul's death, Slash said, "[He] was a shining example of how full one's life can be. He was so vibrant and full of positive energy. I'm honored and humbled to have known and played with him over the years. He was an exceptionally brilliant man." Like Sambora, Slash was not only an admirer of the legendary guitarist but also a friend.

Jett also had somber and appreciative words for Paul's memory. "He was a genius inventor, musical innovator and a wonderful person. Without the advances he pioneered, the recording sciences and the electric guitar would have been left years behind. I will miss him so much," she said. In addition to the burial tomorrow in Waukesha, Paul's memory will also be celebrated at the Discovery World museum in Milwaukee. Their "Les Paul's House of Sound" exhibit tells the story of Paul's life, explains his many musical innovations and features a number of his instruments on display.

It's impossible to overestimate the impact guitarist and inventor Les Paul, who died today at the age of 94, had on rock music. His signature guitar design became so ubiquitous that it's easy to take it for granted. Many of the greatest guitarists in rock history have jammed on a Les Paul: Jimmy Page pounded out "Black Dog" on an LP, Slash used one to write "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" and it's the axe of choice for Neil Young, Pete Townshend and Ben Harper. And when pop stars want to strap on an instrument and look like a badass, they turn to the Les Paul (observe the guitar break that Madonna has built into her concerts and the six-string hanging around the neck of Katy Perry).

(Click here for more photos of stars with Les Pauls, including Katy Perry, Slash and more!

The list goes on: Coldplay's Johnny Buckland favors Les Pauls in concert and the Gibson-distributed design is the only axe used by Buckethead. Paul's influence clearly ran both deep and wide, and it's evident in just how many different types of musicians embraced his design as both a great-sounding instrument and as an emblem of infallible cool.

Last year, Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill came across a few tracks from Guns N' Roses decade-in-development album Chinese Democracy. He posted them on the music site he helps write and design. The post was quickly scrubbed, but the damage had been done: Cogill had angered the wrong people, and a few months later he found himself being shaken awake by the FBI so he could be arrested for piracy.

Yesterday, his legal woes finally ended, as he was sentenced to a year of probation (including two months of modified house arrest). Throughout the fiasco (and the subsequent release of Chinese Democracy), Axl Rose never weighed in on Cogill, but amazingly, Slash (who does not play on the album and by all accounts does not get along with Rose) did voice his opinion. That bothered Cogill. "An old friend of mine conducted the interview with him last year in which he called me a thief and wished that I 'rot in jail.' I found that surprisingly crass, considering the guy has made no bones about shoplifting cassette tapes with the same rationale as today's downloaders," he said. "But then he took it even further, stealing things he didn't even need, just because he could. For example, the top hat. So if he wants to see me in jail, I'll see him in the cafeteria."

Long-running, sweet-leaf-loving rappers Cypress Hill are in the process of making their first new album in four years, according to founding member Sen Dog, who told Billboard.com that the group has finished 30 songs for the untitled project. Dog described the album as "definitely hard-core hip-hop" and said the trio hopes to have the album out by the spring, though they’re currently looking for a new record deal.

Sen Dog boasted that it would include writing and production collaboration with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello on the song "Rise Up" and a cameo from Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda on another untitled track. Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash is slated to appear on a tune called "Front Line."

All of which begs the question, "Wait, Cypress Hill are still together?"

TMZ-land officially arrived at Lollapalooza Saturday afternoon – and you have Mr. Lolla himself, Perry Farrell to thank for it.

A mid-afternoon set at the dance tent Perry’s by Farrell and a “special guest” took on a whole different meaning when that guest was revealed to be none other than Samantha Ronson, accompanied to the endless fascination of all, by her ubiquitous gal pal, Lindsay Lohan. When we arrived to an already packed dance tent, were escorted into a predictably cluster f--- of a backstage area, under a searing afternoon sun, and got even more of a celeb eyefull than we were expecting. There was Perry on stage, in a glittery black and white number, spinning and pumping up the crowd for his ‘guest DJ.’ There was LiLo, hanging with a friend and trying not to pay attention to the fact that everyone in the area was looking at her. There was Samantha, waiting to go on. And then there was the even better known member of the Ronson family, DJ and uber producer brother Mark, an attention magnet himself. And to throw a certifiable rock god into the mix, there was the man himself, Slash -- yet another surprise guest for Perry to spring on the crowd.

Soon it was showtime for Sam – decked out in an Average White Band t-shirt and a fedora, she spun a 15 minute set heavy on “upbeat” tunes at Perry’s request, she told me, and with a healthy dose of ‘80’s. “Yeah, so I included some Foreigner,” she said, “some Depeche Mode, some Hot Chip. I tried to mix it up.

“I’m just psyched to see Slash,” Sam said of first Lolla experience, “Perry and Slash, I’ve never been to Lollapalooza, and after this I don’t think I need to go to another.” Samantha’s in and out of Chicago – she has to be back in LA tonight – but Mark is hanging all weekend, checking out a ton of favorites -- from Black Keys and Radiohead yesterday to Rage tonight -- and then playing his own set tomorrow night, on one of the festival’s biggest stages.

By Jem Aswad and Steve Woods
Photo by Denise Truscello

It's no surprise that Wednesday night's birthday party for ex-Guns N' Roses' guitarist Slash at the Bare pool lounge at the Mirage in Las Vegas was loaded with '80s/'90s-rock vets like Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Sen Dog (Cypress Hill) and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons (OK, he's a bit older!). But it was a surprise to see Black Eyed Pea Fergie join in the festivities.

After many of the above musicians tore through classics like Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free," David Bowie's "Jean Genie," Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love" and ZZ Top's "La Grange" and "Gimme All Your Loving," Fergie hopped onstage for Heart's "Barracuda" and also GNR's "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City."

Incidentally, Ferg was returning a favor from last weekend, when Slash joined her onstage at her show in Costa Mesa, California, which met with a decidedly displeased review in the Orange County Register: "Fergie should stick to doing what Fergie does best — pop-tart tunes — and stay away from rock."

Slash will continue to hang with the Peas on Thursday night (July 24) at the Jet nightclub (also at the Mirage), when Will.I.Am will DJ after Slash plays a special acoustic set.

Since it was revealed two months ago that singer Scott Weiland had been booted from the band, the rest of Velvet Revolver have been searching for his replacement. Apparently, the guys have been hosting auditions, and they've even fielded an offer from reality-television producer Mark Burnett, who wanted to make VR the subject of his next "Rock Star" series.

Over the past few weeks, several names have surfaced online as possible future frontmen for the group — including Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, who dismissed those rumors in an interview for this week's Kerrang! magazine.
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We’re still a little bit stuck on the passing of ginormous blues guitar talent Bo Diddley –- as are a whole slew of artists, from all ends of the rock spectrum.

"He's a huge hero of mine, and the fact that he knew who I was was a huge compliment," said Slash, who also admitted Diddley's rhythm inspired the Guns N' Roses classic "Mr. Brownstone." “Bo Diddley created a myth that was uniquely his own. An entire rhythm is owed to just one guy, and that's pretty rare.”

Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand chimed in: “What a guitarist -- totally revolutionized the way the instrument was played with that loose sexy rhythm.”

And Mick Jagger took time out to give props to Diddley for being a big influence on the Rolling Stones. "He was very generous to us in our early years, and we learned a lot from him,” he said. “We will never see his like again."

Thanks to the NME for hunting down these tributes, and others. And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out this slice of an interview Kurt Loder did with Diddley.

There are plenty of ways for veteran bands to score new lead singers. You can go the Journey route, and pick a guy (or guys) who kind of sounds like the old dude, but looks nothing like him. Or, you could pull a Van Halen, and go with a singer who sounds nothing like your original frontman, score tons of hits with him, then boot him too and replace him with a hair-band reject -- only to go back to the first guy for the big cash-in reunion tour .

Then there’s Velvet Revolver. Now that the band of ex-Guns N’ Roses members is singer-less after an ugly split with former and once-again Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, guitarist Slash says the band is talking about building a website to audition potential new lead singers.

We’re not suggesting that this is a horrible idea (because it totally-in-every-way is), but perhaps Slash has forgotten about their original search for a singer for the project then called, uh, “The Project.” The crew listened to 600 demo tapes -- such as this one, this one, and this one -- and auditioned everyone from ex-Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach to Neurotica’s Kelly Shaefer, singer-songwriter Beth Hart, Days of the News’ Travis Meeks. They even put feelers out to gonzo rocker/rapper Mike Patton.

Then again, Slash has probably got plenty of time on his hands these days and while he’ll probably get plenty of this and this, when all else fails, there’s always this guy.

Now that Scott Weiland’s reunion with the Stone Temple Pilots is finally official, what’s next for Velvet Revolver, the band the singer was booted from just last week? Already, guitarist Slash has promised a third record from VR, and he even said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that the band's got a few fellas in mind to take over behind the mike. Slash even admitted that, as recently as last month, the band auditioned at least one hopeful -- right around the time that rumors of the band’s split started gaining speed.

So, who do we think would work well with Velvet Revolver? Here’s a couple of possible hopefuls the band should consider, after the jump... Read more...