Twenty-four people are confirmed dead from the fires in California, which burned more than 40k acres and destroyed 12k structures. 92k residents are under evacuation orders, and another 89k are in warning zones. Chris Shifflet (Foo Fighters), Gary Spivack (Danny Wimmer Presents), Marko DeSantis (Sugarcult), Ken Pittman (CO5 and #HAPPENS), and Alexandra Baker (High Rise PR) are among the names from our corner of the industry on this regularly updated Google doc, which includes links to GoFundMe pages and other ways to help. Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Larry LaLonde (Primus) lost their homes. “Stephanie and I have had to

ROCK 95.5 WCHI-FM Chicago debuted The Morning Mosh Pit with evening host Maria Palmer now joining Matt "Marris" Harris and Michael Mason. 

Mid-West Family Madison, WI promoted Randy Hawke to General Manager and Lyndsey Bishop to Vice President of Business Development. Congratulations to both of them!   

SPV founder Manfred Schütz passed away on January 3, 2025, at 74, after a long and serious illness. Manfred launched the rock and metal heavy SPV in 1984, once the largest indie distro in Europe. SPV sub-label Steamhammer released essential metal albums from Sodom and Destruction and licensed records by Metal Church and Trouble. In the nineties, SPV was home to legendary bands like Motörhead, Dio, Judas Priest, Saxon, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the 2000s, Steamhammer signed Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, Helloween, Kreator, and Gamma Ray.   After leaving SPV, he started MIG Music, which will continue under the management of Tanja Michaelis and

Mediabase has revealed the 50 most-played Active Rock songs of 2024.  They are as follows:  Shinedown “A Symptom Of Being Human” Blink-182 “One More Time” Green Day “Dilemma” Papa Roach “Leave A Light On” ft. Carrie Underwood NOTHING MORE “IF IT DOESN’T HURT" Beartooth “I Was Alive" Foo Fighters “The Glass" Staind “Here And Now" Sleep Theory “Fallout" Daughtry “Pieces" Daughtry “Artificial" Wage War “MAGNETIC" Metallica “Screaming Suicide" Five Finger Death Punch “This Is The Way” ft. DMX From Ashes To New “Barely Breathing" Des Rocs “I Am The Lightning” Green Day “American Dream Is Killing Me" Godsmack “Truth" Disturbed

Falling In Reverse’s “Popular Monster” was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA this week for 3M streaming-equivalent units and sales in the United States. The song initially appeared in late 2019 as a standalone single, released by the Ronnie Radke-led band's longtime label, Epitaph Records, alongside a high-concept music video. It eventually became the title track on this year's full-length album.  Popular Monster (the album) also boasts three gold singles initially released as standalone songs: "ZOMBIFIED" (2022), "Voices in My Head" (2022), and "Watch the World Burn" (2023), which helped Popular Monster quickly achieve gold album status.  Newer hits from the

Kevin "Meatball" Kerr has a new gig. He's now the afternoon host at Spoon River Media Classic Rock “Rock 106.5" 1540 WLOI/106.5 W293DR in La Porte, Indiana. 

In the latest Cumulus cutback, Dave Rossi is no longer Active Rock PD at WKSM (99Rock)/Ft. Walton Beach-Destin, FL.   Ross programmed iHeartMedia's Classic Rock WNRQ (105.9 The Rock) and Alternative ALT 98.3 (WNRQ-HD2) in Nashville until November 2020, when he was one of many downsized by the pandemic. He relocated to Florida in May 2021.    Rossi can be reached at daverossi615@gmail.com.

Mediabase published their list of the ten most-played artists at Active Rock in 2024.  Green Day (Reprise/Warner)  Daughtry (Big Machine Rock)  Pearl Jam (Republic)  Foo Fighters (Roswell/RCA)  Sleep Theory (Epitaph)  Tim Montana (Music Knox/BMG)  NOTHING MORE (Better Noise)  Beartooth (Red Bull/The Orchard)  Staind (Alchemy)  Linkin Park (Warner)  Here is the list of Top 10 labels by chart share:  Better Noise  Warner  BMG  Atlantic  Big Machine Rock  Republic  Epitaph  Concord Spinefarm  Sumerian