Axl Rose has been voted the greatest lead singer of all time.
The Guns N' Roses[/rt] frontman topped the survey carried out by website Musicradar.com, beating off competition from the likes of late [art]Queen star Freddie Mercury and veteran Led Zeppelin rocker Robert Plant, who were placed second and third placed respectively.
The website commented: "Think back to the late 1980s. Axl Rose: dangerous, lean, angry, confrontational, controversial."
Axl, 48, was overjoyed to scoop the accolade and thanked fans for their votes.
He posted on the group's Facebook page: "Thank you for all of the support you give us day in day out. All you folks on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, the message boards that fight the good fight - we feel it and very much appreciate it - THANK YOU!. And special thanks to MusicRadar for holding the poll and letting people speak."
Also featured in the poll were Ronnie James Dio, the Black Sabbath star who passed away earlier this year, and late Beatles legend John Lennon, who rounded out the top five.
John's bandmate Sir Paul McCartney placed tenth, while the rest of the top 10 was comprised of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Radiohead star Thom Yorke, late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Muse rocker Matt Bellamy.
Musicradar.com's greatest lead singers of all time:
1. Axl Rose
2. Freddie Mercury
3. Robert Plant
4. Ronnie James Dio
5. John Lennon
6. Bruce Dickinson
7. Thom Yorke
8. Kurt Cobain
9. Matt Bellamy
10. Paul McCartney
Sir Elton John has become a father.
The musician and his husband David Furnish welcomed son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John - born to a surrogate mother - into the world on Christmas Day.
A statement from the couple told Us Weekly magazine: "We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment.
"Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents."
The baby weighed a healthy 7lbs 15oz, was 22 inches long and was born in California, but no further details about the pregnancy or the surrogate mother have been made public yet.
Elton, 63, married David, 48, in 2005 after being in a relationship together for 12 years.
The Canadian filmmaker has previously talked about raising a family with his pop superstar partner but insisted they were waiting until Elton's touring commitments were less demanding.
He said: "We don't want to put the raising of children into the hands of nannies and housekeepers. We want to be active parents."
The couple made a bid to adopt a HIV positive Ukrainian child, Lev, last year, but this was eventually rejected due to Elton's age and the fact the country doesn't recognize same sex civil marriages.
Although they could not adopt the boy, Elton and David continue to support him and his brother financially.
The 'Rocket Man' singer also has 10 godchildren, including David and Victoria Beckham's sons Brooklyn and Romeo and Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian.
Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear we were reunited onstage this week.
Dave's present band, Foo Fighters - which includes Pat - played a secret show in California, debuting new songs from their upcoming album, but during Tuesday's (12/21/2010) set he surprised everyone by inviting bassist Krist to the stage.
The band then played the song 'Marigold', Dave's sole composition for Nirvana - which broke up in 1994 after the suicide of frontman Kurt Cobain.
The show at the small Paladino's club was packed with around 500 people including celebrity actors Ryan Phillippe and Amanda Seyfried, and saw the Foo Fighters debut new material including tracks called 'Dear Rosemary', 'White Limo', and 'Back and Forth.'
Krist worked with Foo Fighters on their as yet-untitled latest album, playing bass and accordion on one song, and the album was recorded by Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana's genre defining 'Nevermind' album, which Dave has previously said was something of a "weird" experience.
"To be in the same room as Krist and Butch for the first time in so long was a little weird. But it was cool that we survived. As he was leaving here I said in a cute voice, 'I love you, Krist', and he said in a similar voice, 'I love you, too!' "
Dave has also said the album will the "heaviest" Foo Fighters have ever recorded, promising: "In the 14 songs, there's not one acoustic guitar, there's not one in the house."
Radiohead's 'OK Computer' has been voted the best album of the last 25 years.
The British indie group topped the list of the best 250 albums released between 1986 and 2011 - beating U2, Nirvana, Oasis, Muse and The Strokes - in the poll by Q magazine.
'OK Computer', released in 1997, is seen as the band's defining work, and saw them fuse their melancholy indie pop with cinematic ambition and the influence of computer generated sounds. The record was instantly hailed a classic in their native England and helped establish them as one of the most popular underground bands in the US.
A spokesperson for the magazine said: "As this poll testifies, our readers see it as the benchmark against which all other albums are and continue to judged against in Q's lifetime."
Grunge pioneers Nirvana's genre defining 'Nevermind' album, from 1991, was voted in second place while guitar group Oasis followed with their second album '(What'sThe Story) Morning Glory' and their debut 'Definitely Maybe' in third and fourth respectively.
One of the youngest bands on the list, The Arctic Monkeys, made sixth place with their debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' - recorded when frontman Alex Turner was still a teenager - beating Irish rockers U2, who's 'The Joshua Tree' album was seventh.
Rounding out the top ten are second entries for Radiohead, with 'The Bends' and U2, with 'Achtung Baby', and the most recently released album to make the top 10, 'Black Holes And Revelations' by Muse, which came out in June 2006.
Altogether in the top 250 - voted for by readers of the magazine - U2 have the most albums with seven, Radiohead follow with six, Muse and Oasis both have five, while Coldplay, Blur and Kings of Leon have four.
250 Best Albums Of Q's Lifetime (1986-2011), Top 30:
1. OK Computer, Radiohead
2. Nevermind, Nirvana
3. (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis
4. Definitely Maybe, Oasis
5. Whatever People Say I Am, Arctic Monkeys
6. The Joshua Tree, U2
7. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
8. The Bends, Radiohead.
9. Achtung Baby, U2.
10. Black Holes And Revelations, Muse.
11. Is This It, The Strokes.
12. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay.
13. Parklife, Blur
14. Screamadelica, Primal Scream
15. White Blood Cells, The White Stripes
16. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel
17. Hot Fuss, The Killers
18. Kid A, Radiohead
19. Funeral, Arcade Fire
20. American Idiot, Green Day
21. The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers
22. Absolution, Muse
23. In Rainbows, Radiohead
24. Only By The Night, Kings Of Leon
25. Demon Days, Gorillaz
26. Origin Of Symmetry, Muse
27. Appetite For Destruction, Guns N' Roses
28. Urban Hymns, The Verve
29. Automatic For The People, R.E.M
30. Loveless, My Bloody Valentine
The zebra crossing on featured on the cover of The Beatles' Abbey Road album has been given listed status.
The black and white painted strip of road in North London was immortalized when the group were photographed walking across it one after another on the cover of the band's 1969 album.
It is the first time a pedestrian crossing, or similar piece of everyday road has been given a Grade II listing, which means it is protected from being altered or moved unless approved by the local planning authority - usually with consultation from central government's English Heritage agency.
Sir Paul McCartney - one of the tw
John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage, said: "This London zebra crossing is no castle or cathedral but, thanks to The Beatles, and a 10-minute photo-shoot one August morning in 1969, it has just as strong a claim as any to be seen as part of our heritage."
The photograph used on the album cover was taken by Ian Macmillan.
Kings of Leon's final show of the year at London's The O2 venue has been postponed.
The 'Radioactive' group were hit by disaster when The O2 had to be evacuated after two of the band's buses caught fire while equipment was being set up for what would have been their farewell show tonight (12/21/2010).
The London fire brigade were called at around 8:30 a.m. this morning and 60 fire fighters were needed to quell the blaze.
However, following the incident the venue had to take an assessment to see if there was any water damage, as the hall's sprinkler system was triggered by the fire - which left the crew without enough time to complete setting up the show.
A statement from the venue read: "Unfortunately, due to this morning's fire on board one of the tour buses at The O2, tonight's Kings of Leon concert will now be postponed. Whilst there is no damage to The O2 there is now insufficient time to rig the arena for tonight's performance. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
"Whilst a lot of people have been working very hard and every attempt was made to go ahead with tonight's show, thorough assessments had to be carried out as a matter of procedure. Unfortunately, once the assessments were completed in full, there was not enough time to set up the show for tonight's performance."
Nobody was injured in the blaze, which only affected the venue's loading bay, not the stage or seating areas.
Earlier in the day drummer Nathan Followill has tweeted to say of his excitement at finishing off the group's year in style.
He wrote: "Good morning London. Last show of the tour/year and it looks like it's gonna be 1 hell of a finale. Let's do it in a drunken way shall we (sic)."
It is not yet known what when the rescheduled show will take place.
Green Day are thought to be preparing a live album for release in March.
The 'American Idiot' group have long been rumored to be releasing a recording of their concerts, and have not only teased fans about it on their twitter page, but online retailer Amazon.co.uk has a listing to release a disc titled 'Awesome As F**k'.
The album is listed by the site as a double disc set with a release date of March 15.
The band have previously tweeted: "We've been recording our live shows since the beginning of tour. Possible live album coming."
There is no official confirmation of the album at present and it is not known if a live record would document a single show, or take choice cuts from the group's 21st Century Breakdown world Tour, which started in 2009 and took in North America, Europe, Oceania, Asia and finished in Central America in October this year.
If the band releases a live album, it will be their second within five years, after 2006s 'Bullet In A Bible', which was recorded in the UK in 2005.
More recently the group have been involved with their 'American Idiot' musical, which has run since May on Broadway in New York.
1) Broken Bells - The High Road
2) Lucero - Nights Like These" (Live)
3) Dead Confederate - Giving It All Away
4) Slash f. Fergie - Beautiful Dangerous
5) Futurebirds - "Dirty D" (Live)
6) Coheed & Cambria - "Here We Are Juggernaut" (Live)
7) The Whigs - "Black Lotus" (Live)
8) Widespread Panic - "Mr. Soul" (Live at Fox Theater)
9) Crash Kings - "You Got Me"
10) Deer Tick - "Easy" (Live)
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