Jimmy Bain, a Scottish bass player who was right in the thick of the entire hard rock/heavy metal scene of the 1970s and 80s, collaborating in an early version of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and with Ronnie James Dio‘s 1980s lineup, has died at the age of 68 of undisclosed causes, although some reports have stated that Bain had been suffering from pneumonia the last few months.

More below.

Today is the celebration of the birthday of the late Ronnie James Dio, the heavy metal and hard rock singer and songwriter who carved his own niche in those aforementioned genres to become a figure as beloved as Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath) or Rob Halford (Judas Priest). But in many ways, Dio’s sound, fan base, versatility, flawless vocals, which metaphorically could move mountains with its rich high and low registers, makes him stand alone as arguably the greatest heavy metal front man of all time.

He was born Ronald James Padavona on July 10th, 1942 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Italian parents. Music ran through his veins early on in his life, learning brass instruments first such as the trumpet and French horn.

“I don’t know about you, but when I think of Mötley Crüe I think of filthy sex, drugs, a REALLY big show, and way too much fun…sounds like Las Vegas doesn’t it? A match made in heaven!”

So says Tommy Lee, the longtime drummer for the ’80s hair rock quartet Mötley Crüe. Last Thursday the band appeared on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight and confirmed the rumor that they were about to become the first hard rock group to hold a residency in Las Vegas.

You can check out a trailer for the event Mötley Crüe in Sin City here below.

Steve Prestwich, who was the drummer for Aussie rock legends Cold Chisel, has passed away at the age of 56. He was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, but was unable to regain consciousness following surgery.

Prestwich, originally born in England, moved to Australia in the 1970s and eventually joined forces with Jimmy Barnes, Don Walker, and Ian Moss to form Cold Chisel. The band was a major influence on the hard rock scene in Australia (and indeed, on Aussie culture in general), and are often seen as one of many bands that helped bring Aussie rock to the world stage.

Cold Chisel was formed in 1973, initially as an early metal group performing covers of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Using their metal and hard rock influences, the band evolved with their own original material – coming up with a sounds that many people identified with “Aussie Pub Rock” and songs that many find to be anthemic and synonymous to aspects of Australian culture.

Look, in all honesty, I really was going to write up something detailed and fabulous about this video, including a bit of a background of GWAR and so on… but once you’ve watched this video below, there’s really nothing to say.

Honestly – aside from having to change my pants because I laughed so much, you just have to see this one for yourself. Any description or background I offer will just ruin it for you.

So I guess metal band GWAR decided to team up with Break.com for a video, and decided to make it Christmas themed. That’s all I’m telling you about it because the video on its own is just brilliant, awesome, bloody, and festive. I’m hoping GWAR get some viral mileage out of this.

At any rate, here’s the video. Bring it on!