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Big-voiced rocker Caleb Johnson is the season 13 “American Idol,” winning the title over teenage pop singer Jena Irene.... The two-hour finale included performances by John Legend, Kiss, Demi Lovato and Lady Antebellum. It also showcased a song by judges Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr., with judge-turned-mentor Randy Jackson joining in. Even Seacrest took a turn crooning, proving as a singer he’s a great host. He was joined on Richard Marx’s “Right Here Waiting” by the singer-songwriter. NBC’s singing contest “The Voice,” which leapfrogged “American Idol” in the ratings, has leaned heavily on its performer-coaches to boost...

If you search my posting history, you'll find that I never really got acclimated to the rock music of the 50s, 60s and beyond. My tastes still remain rooted in Southern Gospel (The Kingsmen, Happy Goodmans, Florida Boys and such) and traditional country (Roy Acuff, Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells and the like).Today while heading back from errands, my car radio happened to scan onto a station playing a song I had never heard before, "Things We Said Today" by the Beatles.

The band Rainbow with their hard rock classic Stargazer (Ronnie James Dio on vocals).

Atomic Rooster, live in the studio, performing with their 1972 lineup.

It sounds like a remarkable story, almost unbelievable: Anders Helstrup went skydiving nearly two years ago near Hedmark, Norway and while he didn’t realize it at the time, when he reviewed the footage taken by two cameras fixed to his helmet during the dive, he saw a rock plummet past him. He took it to experts and they realized he had captured a meteorite falling during its “dark flight” — when it has been slowed by atmospheric braking, and has cooled and is no longer luminous. Norwegian astrophysicist Pål Brekke confirmed to Universe Today that the story is true. “I...

An IDF force lying in ambush shot dead an Arab terrorist who was preparing to throw rocks at Israeli cars traveling on Road 60, north of Jerusalem. The incident took place near Givat Asaf, in the Binyamin region, on Monday evening. The ambush was placed following an uptick in the number of similar attacks as of late. It is too early to say whether it signals a change in IDF policy toward rock throwers, but the military action appears to be a departure from the policy of the last few years, which has been marked by extreme hesitance to use...

“Our ’65 Chevy low rider convertible, flying the colors of ZZ Top’s El Dorado Bar is solidly a Texas car yet, equally at home on the streets of LA, Fresno, or Bakersfield.” –Billy Gibbons. This pic of ZZ Top has it all, in my opinion. Just checkout that custom-built Texas state Gibson guitar! The band has acquired an enviable car collection over the years, and is out and about in the custom scene. “We attend the Mooneyes Festivals in California and Japan and always make the SoCal Speed Shop summer ‘Open House’ gathering. Always a terrific time. As far as clubs...

I dunno how many of ya'll caught Lynyrd Skynyrd (named after the core members' high school gymn teacher -Leonard Skinnard- back in Jacksonville, Florida) live on stage, but this Yankee here was a BIG fan back in the days... Still a major enthusiast for blues rock, i.e. Cream, early Humble Pie (with Peter Frampton), early 70s Status Quo, et. al, actually- and I really do think these guys are the ones who got me into it. But the plane crash that ended the band kept me from ever seeing the real Skynyrd. I did -though- have the opportunity to see the...

105.9 FM is the local classic rock station in south Florida.....just a few minutes ago, I was bored with everything else on the radio and hit that station...just in time to hear the beginning of the hit "Money for Nothing"... Imagine my surprise when the lyric got to: "That little faggot with the earring and the mink coat, Yeah, buddy, thats his own hair. That little faggot got his own jet airplane. That little faggot is a millionaire!" Funny lines....but the dreaded "slur" was clipped out! Absurd. Anyway, since I RARELY listen to music radio, I was wondering if this...

"The Beau Brummels crafted a terrific pop song :"Laugh, Laugh" which went to No. 15 during the first five months of 1965"... The Beau Brummels may very well have been the best rock vocal quartet to find themselves in the right place at the wrong time. Their recording career spanned the years 1964 through 1968, a time when radio air play meant just about everything and groups that couldn't be conveniently classified as rock/folk/country/whatever had a time getting played. Unfortunately, the country-flavored rock style of the Brummels was too smooth and too vocally sound for them to be portrayed as...

A link sent to me by a family member. A unique rendition of the national anthem and worth the listen, IMO.

[Yahoo Homes editor's pick, 2013: Every December, we look back at our most popular stories of the year. We've had some terrific ones recently, like the amazing artist who hand-carves soaring, swirling caves where none existed before; and the architect who, hit by foreclosure, built a tiny house for $11,000; and the architect who put the world's "biggest public toilet" in a glass cube in the middle of a clearing. But our most popular story of the year was this one, published way back on Jan. 24, 2013.] For many people, the idea of living under a rock might seem...

Archaeologists have discovered a panel containing the only known example of spider rock art in Egypt and, it appears, the entire Old World. The rock panel, now in two pieces, was found on the west wall of a shallow sandstone wadi, or valley, in the Kharga Oasis, located in Egypt's western desert about 108 miles (175 kilometers) west of Luxor. Facing east, and illuminated by the morning sun, the panel is a "very unusual" find, said Egyptologist Salima Ikram, a professor at the American University in Cairo who co-directs the North Kharga Oasis Survey Project. The identification of the creatures...

"Led Zeppelin II is the second studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in October 1969 on Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at several locations in the United Kingdom and North America from January to August 1969. Production was credited to lead guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page, while it also served as Led Zeppelin's first album to utilise the recording techniques of engineer Eddie Kramer. With elements of blues and folk music, Led Zeppelin II also exhibits the band's evolving musical style of blues-derived material and their guitar and riff-based sound. It has...

Lou Reed, a massively influential songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly fifty years of rock music, died today. The cause of his death has not yet been released, but Reed underwent a liver transplant in May.

A heavyweight rock crusher's disability claim is being slammed by critics as more mental than physical. Glenn Taylor — who infamously filmed his ability to knock over an ancient 2,000-pound sandstone with his bare hands — filed a lawsuit claiming "debilitating" physical injury weeks before the stunt's filming, it has been revealed. Taylor, seen destroying a 200 million-year-old goblin sandstone formation in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park last week, filed a personal injury lawsuit last month claiming to have been disabled after a car crash four years ago.

Faces -sometimes known as The Faces- were an English rock band formed in by residual members of the legendary Small Faces when Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton et. al. in 1969..  The name derived from English 'mod' slang of the era, where 'happening' or socially-known people within the mod scene were known as 'faces'- along with the fact that all five band members were somewhat vertically-challenged. After the highly-successful Small Faces broke-up, the remaining band members - Ronnie Lane (bass guitar), Ian McLagan (keyboards) and Kenney Jones (drums) - were joined by two (taller) blokes,...

'If you have a problem with America,  you have a problem with me!' -Gene Simmons Unlike many of today's less-appreciative-type immigrants -who entertain visions of conquest- traditional American immigrants of the 20th century (and their children) are among the most patriotic people you could ever ask to meet. They knew how good we've got it in this country -felt blessed for being allowed in- and where/are sincerely grateful for America's sacrifice on their behalf- you never heard any of this entitlement crap from them...What's that got to do with Gene Simmons?  He was actually born Chaim Witz in Israel on...

Procol Harum performing A Whiter Shade of Pale.. the 1967 version.... This is the original 16mm Scopitone conversion, from the 'summer of love' 1967 hit record. Vocals and piano played by Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher played the Hammond organ, and these original lyrics were written by Keith Reid...[H/T maggiesfarm]