News Roundup 2011: June

The E Street Band's Clarence Clemons tragically passed away on 18 June aged 69 after suffering from a massive stroke. The musical world united in tribute to the Big Man. Springsteen offered this tribute "Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band." You can read our tribute to Clarence HERE

Elsewhere, Texan trio ZZ Top gave a brand new song from their forthcoming new album one of the more unique premieres that you're likely to see. They sent a copy of the song 'Flyin' High' along with their friend, NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, to the International Space Station.

Axl Rose settled a particularly problematic and ugly lawsuit with his former manager Irving Azoff. Azoff had sued Rose in 2010 for failing to hand over a chunk of the Guns N Roses touring revenue , while Rose sued Azoff after he allegedly tried to force Rose to reunite with the "classic GNR line-up."

The ever cash strapped U2 revealed that they were planning to sell off their three enormous "Claw" stages that they had been using on their 360 tour. At the end of June the band were looking for suitors who may want to use the massive structures as permanent venues somewhere.

Jimmy Page gave us a little intrigue this month, when he placed a countdown onto his previously unused website, www.jimmypage.com. While the world speculated as to the purpose of the countdown, it was eventually revealed that Jimmy had been working hard at preserving his archives and the website eventually launched on 14 July. As well as an ever expanded database of Jimmy information, there's an extraordinary "On This Day" style nugget of information written by Jimmy himself every single day.

Mountain's Leslie West sadly lost his leg to an infection related to diabetes. All credit to the man, though, as he faced the setback head on - he released a (very good) brand new studio album entitled Unusual Suspects later in the year and booked a tour along with Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker.

A chartered boat operator in Southern Australia found that AC/DC music helps calm great white sharks. After accidentally discovering that music seemed to affect the sharks' behaviour he undertook a little personal research. "I started going through my albums and AC/DC was something that really hit the mark. Their behaviour was more investigative, more inquisitive and a lot less aggressive. They actually came past on a couple of occasions when we had the speaker in the water and rubbed their face along the speaker which was really bizarre." And the song that works best? 'You Shook Me All Night Long'

A Foo Fighters tour rider leaked online in June and it was, as you would expect from a band such as the Foos, witty and utterly charming. The 52 page document contains an array of jokes and tour references, along with a colouring book and word search. And there's a recipe for ice. Well worth taking a look HERE

And Metallica's top secret project, which was revealed by the band earlier in the year, was unveiled. They had recorded a whole album with the legendary Lou Reed. This was going to be AWESOME.