Back in June of 2016,

a federal court jury determined that Led Zeppelin, the English rock band that took the world by storm in the 1970’s, was not guilty of stealing the intro to their most famous song, “Stairway to Heaven.” The band was put on trial by California folk group, Spirit, who argued that the descending scale featured in the intro of “Stairway to Heaven” was too audibly similar to that of their song, “Taurus.” The jury sided with Led Zeppelin singer, Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page, who are credited with writing “Stairway to Heaven.”

In the original trial, which lasted five days, “United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner failed to advise jurors that while individual elements of a song such as its notes or scale may not qualify for copyright protection, a combination of those elements may if it is sufficiently original, said Ninth Circuit Judge Richard Paez.” According to an article in The New York Times.

Now, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has requested a new trial on the grounds that the original jury members were not allowed to hear an original recording of “Taurus,” an instrumental track from the band’s 1968 self-titled album. Because “Taurus” was protected by copyright law, the jury was only allowed to hear renditions of the song in court. They had to rely on the opinions of musical experts present at the trial.

An article on the issue in The New York Post reads, “‘We conclude that the district court abused its discretion by not allowing the sound recordings of ‘Taurus’ to be played,’ the three-judge appeals panel wrote in its 42-page decision. ‘Further, at any retrial, the district court should reconsider whether an inverse ratio jury instruction is warranted.’”

The inverse ratio rule would lower the bar for how similar the two musical works must be, based on the amount of access that Page and Plant had to the song. A trustee for Randy Wolfe, the artist who wrote “Taurus” states that Spirit was on tour with Zeppelin in 1968 and ‘69 during which time they played the song, “Taurus.”

This article will be updated as the trial develops.

The post Led Zeppelin Will Return to Court to Defend “Stairway to Heaven” appeared first on Red Roll.

In addition to reaching number one, The Eagles’ also holds the spot for third-best-selling album of all time with their 1977 release Hotel California, which sits at 26x platinum.

Drummer and vocalist, Don Henley issued a statement saying:

“We are grateful for our families, our management, our crew, the people at radio and, most of all, the loyal fans who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of 46 years. It’s been quite a ride.”

This is the first time since 2006 that the RIAA has tallied the sales for Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975). Of course, since then there have been changes to the way the company determines platinum status. Originally, it was determined that an album reached platinum when it sold 1 million copies, but in 2013 the RIAA added streaming numbers from platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, and other similar services.

The post The Eagles Pass Michael Jackson for Best-Selling Album appeared first on Red Roll.

Deep Purple and Judas Priest will launch a co-headlining tour across North America in late August. The tour will begin on, August 21st in Cincinnati, Ohio and ends in Wheatland, California, on September 30th.

Deep Purple released their 27th studio album, Infinite, last year, supporting it on a rather lengthy tour that ran from May of last year, to December. The band’s current line-up includes members from the seventies – singer, Ian Gillan, bassist, Roger Glover and drummer, Ian Paice. Along with guitarist, Steve Morse, and keyboardist, Don Airey.

Judas Priest, also put out their 18th studio album, Firepower, this past March. It reached Number Five on the Billboard 200, making it the band’s highest U.S. chart placement to date in the United States. The band is currently touring with guitarist, Andy Sneap, who replaced longtime guitarist, Glenn Tipton, who parted ways with the band due to his battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Despite the announcement, Tipton rejoined the band during a New Jersey concert, playing three encore songs to end the night.

You can find the dates for the tour below and let us know in the comments which show you’re going to!

Deep Purple – Judas Priest Tour Dates

Aug. 21 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Aug. 22 – Chicago, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Aug. 24 – Detroit, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
Aug. 25 – Mt. Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort*
Aug. 27 – Hamilton, ON – FirstOntario Centre
Aug. 29 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Aug. 30 – Quebec City, QC – Centre Videotron
Sep. 01 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Sep. 02 – Bethel Woods, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Sep. 05 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Sep. 06 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Sep. 08 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Sep. 09 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
Sep. 11 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Sep. 12 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place
Sep. 14 – Atlanta, GA – Verizon Amphitheatre
Sep. 16 – Biloxi, MS – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Sep. 18 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
Sep. 20 – Welch, MN – Treasure Island Casino*
Sep. 21 – Council Bluffs, IA – Harrah’s Council Bluffs*
Sep. 23 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
Sep. 26 – San Diego, CA – Mattress Firm Amphitheatre
Sep. 27 – Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
Sep. 29 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sep. 30 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre

The post Judas Priest and Deep Purple to Tour North America appeared first on Red Roll.

Recently, 20^th Century Fox released some new photos of Malek, and other actors as they don the personas of the classic rock legends. This has caused a lot of excitement from the bands fan base, as they’ve praised how accurately the actors resemble the members.

While fans may be anxiously anticipating the film, Malek is feeling a bit of pressure.

In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Malek says he went to do prerecording at Abbey Roads Studio, in London where he walked by an autographed photo of the entire band. “Freddie Mercury’s face is kind of just staring at me, telling me, ‘Don’t do this.’” He also says that he watched the remaining members of Queen view the first recordings of the film, another nerve wracking experience.

Production was delayed slightly since the original director, Bryan Singer, was fired from the position. However, Malek remains light-hearted considering the stress of the film.

The studio has been so confident about production time, since losing their director, including the release date being moved up from December to November. Fans also anticipate an online trailer for the film to be released soon, after one was shown at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

The post Anticipation Builds For New Queen Film appeared first on Red Roll.

The timing of this change to the website couldn’t have come sooner, only fueling the rumors of an upcoming Led Zeppelin reunion brought on by the website Feel Numb who claimed that these rumors were true:

“I have some well placed sources in the industry telling me that Robert Plant has agreed to reunite Led Zeppelin for Desert Trip 2017.  Rumor has it they turned down a reported $14 million dollar pay day to play at last years festival and that this year there are “millions & millions” of more reasons why they should do it.”

This appearance at Desert Trip would have coincided with the 50th anniversary of Led Zeppelin.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case. According to Billboard:

“Gary Tovar, the founder of AEG’s Goldenvoice promotion unit, told The Guardian in an interview last month that ‘we’d like to bring up the Led [Zeppelin], if you know what I mean,’ fueling the rumors even though Tovar is no longer part of the company.

“But there’s no deal in place to get Led Zeppelin’s surviving members — Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones — back together, sources say, while AEG hasn’t announced another Desert Trip festival for this year.

“The promise on Mr. Plant’s website, meanwhile, is more likely a tease to a forthcoming album than to an upcoming performance, sources tell Billboard.”

Despite how this sounds, Metal Injection maintains that the rumors of a reunion still carry weight to them. Even if the story Billboard has put out is true, and there is no deal currently in place, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be one in the future. Negotiations could be currently underway, and the trajectory of the rumors are similar to how Guns N’ Roses got started on their own reunion tour. Only time will tell, so don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, but don’t uncross your fingers just yet.

The last time Led Zeppelin reunited was back in 2007, with original members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones reuniting with Jason Bonham, son of the band’s late drummer, John Bonham, playing the drums.

The post Led Zeppelin Is Not Reuniting This Year appeared first on Red Roll.