News

Gene Simmons is swiftly entering his post-Kiss era.

Brazilian rock festival Summer Breeze announced the lineup Wednesday for its three-day festival in April with the Gene Simmons Band headlining the three-day event, the self-proclaimed God of Thunder’s first performance since Kiss’ final concert.

“Gene Simmons’ new solo band will be the surprise attraction of the second edition of Summer Breeze Open Air Brasil,” the festival wrote on Facebook. The Gene Simmons band will perform on April 26.

The Kiss frontman last performed with the solo group in 2018 with a different lineup of musicians,...

Kiss recently played their final concert ever, but singer-bassist Gene Simmons is not ready to quit performing quite yet.

Simmons has booked a date with his solo project, Gene Simmons Band, at the Brazil edition of the Summer Breeze festival on April 26th in São Paulo. It’s the first post-kiss activity from any of the remaining band members, and the announcement comes just over a month after Kiss retired from performing in human, non-avatar form after two concerts at Madison Square Garden.

Simmons’ solo band last played in 2018 and typically runs through a setlist comprised of Simmons-penned Kiss material and deep cuts. The band’s current lineup is rounded out by guitarists Brent Woods and Zach Throne (Corey Taylor) and drummer Brian Tichy.

For Simmons, the solo shows have offered a more intimate setting — and one where he can dig deep into Kiss’ songbook.

“Doing these smaller concert halls,...

American Dad directors and creatives stepped in for voiceover cast and key creatives today on San Diego Comic-Con to tease the upcoming season on TBS. The session kicked off with Innerspace parodied episode airing on Sept. 4, in which Francine, Stan’s wife, shrinks down into a small spaceship and takes a ride through Stan’s body; a battle with spiders ensues.

Asked about the Christmas episode this year, director Brent Woods said that Santa is making an appearance as Stan’s family is “transported into a different place, we have fun with them looking like CGI animation.”

One fan asked if B12, the boy band which was assembled by Snot’s uncle. That’s still Tbd.

Another fan raised the question to the panel today in Ballroom 20 as to how the show deals with the network’s standards and practices.

Director Jen Graves revealed that there’s an upcoming script...

Stand Up And Shout For Ronnie James Dio’S Birthday, Saturday, July 10 global virtual concert produced by Rolling Live Studios, has added a wealth of talent to the already star-studded lineup that will bring together unusual musical pairings for one-of-a-kind performances, special birthday messages and artist interviews.

The event, hosted on rollinglivestudios.com beginning at 2:00Pm Pacific time (Pdt), will benefit The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund (www.diocancerfund.org), founded in memory of the late heavy metal icon who was the voice of Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio before losing his battle with gastric cancer in 2010.

The global fundraising event will bring together celebrities and fans all over the world to honor Dio’s undeniable impact both on and off the stage. Among the artists joining the roster for conversations and/or performances are Rob Halford (Judas Priest); Sammy Hagar; Tenacious D’s...

This year’s virtual Comic-Con@Home has announced its schedule for Saturday, July 25. The highlights are below.

The virtual event replaces the annual San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in North America, which was to be held July 22–26 at the San Diego Convention Center, until the Covid-19 pandemic forced its cancellation.

In June, Comic-Con International — the non-profit organization that oversees Sdcc and its sister event, WonderCon in Anaheim, Calif. — announced it was moving forward with the virtual event on the same dates. This time, however, the event is free and open to all.

The Comic-Con@Home schedule — including Wednesday, July 22, Thursday, July 23, and Friday, July 24 — is being announced daily through Sunday.

Saturday’s events include (all times are Pacific Daylight):

10–11 a.m.

“Cosmos: Possible Worlds” — featuring the host and creators of the Fox docu-series, including host Neil deGrasse Tyson, visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, executive producer and director Ann Druyan,...

It’s a Comic-Con first: This year, fans worldwide will be able to partake in the pop culture extravaganza for free and from the comfort of their couches, as the annual event shifts to an at-home virtual edition as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. Instead of having to flock to San Diego, TV aficionados will be able to watch a series of streaming panels via YouTube, taking place Wednesday, July 22 through Sunday, July 26.*

To help you navigate Comic-Con @ Home, we’ve compiled all the major TV-related events. We’ll be updating this post as more panels (and specific day/times) are officially announced,...

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con fest may not be taking place in-person this year, but the event still has plenty of TV show panels and screenings that fans can watch from the safety of their homes. For your convenience, Variety has compiled a master list of all the details pertaining the pop culture convention set for July 23-26.

AMC Networks was the first to share plans for this special event, including a number of panels dedicated to “The Walking Dead” universe. Disney then followed, dedicating a number of panels to animated series from “The Simpsons” to “Solar Opposites,” as well as its upcoming live-action A.I. drama “Next.”

As of press time, the below panels don’t yet have scheduled dates and times to be posted online, so check back here, as we will update this post with that information, as well as more panels, as they get announced.

Taylor Hawkins prances around in leopard leggings while singing to his real-life daughter Annabelle in the trippy video for “Middle Child.” Featuring Dave Grohl on guitar, the glam-rock track appears on Hawkins’ new album with Coattail Riders, Get the Money.

Directed by Hawkins, Wiley Hodgen and Jeff Coffman, the clip opens in a hazy sepia-toned kitchen; Hawkins sits with Annabelle as she watches depressing news headlines on television. “My little twin I am here with you,” he says comfortingly, clutching a dog in his arms while she flips channels on the remote.

Taylor Hawkins has shared his guest-filled new video for “I Really Blew It,” the first video from the Foo Fighters drummer and the Coattail Riders’ just-released new album Get the Money.

Like the album itself, “I Really Blew It” features appearances by Hawkins’ fellow Foo Dave Grohl — here a disembodied head in the fireplace that delivers the song’s title — as well as Perry Farrell, who fronts a miniaturized band in the bizarre visual. To complete the “1970s late-night music video TV show vibe,” “I Really Blew It” also features a Hall & Oates spoof.

“Cosmos: Possible Worlds” finally has a premiere date at National Geographic. The 13-episode season will debut March 9, 2020 on the cable channel and is set to air on Fox next summer.

“National Geographic is proud to be the world’s leading destination for viewers who are passionate about science and exploration,” Courteney Monroe, president of global television networks at National Geographic, said in a statement Thursday. “Which is why we’re excited for the next chapter of the most-beloved and most-watched science show to date, ‘Cosmos,’ to return to our air. ‘Cosmos: Possible Worlds’ takes complex themes from astrophysics, astronomy and anthropology and makes them accessible and entertaining for millions of people around the world to devour.”

Fox and Nat Geo, which share the series, pulled their respective scheduled March 2019 premieres of “Cosmos: Possible Worlds” — a follow-up to 2014’s “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey”– back in February, amid an investigation into sexual...

Taylor Hawkins recruits Foo Fighters bandmate Dave Grohl for “Middle Child,” a glam-rock cut from the former’s upcoming album with the Coattail Riders, Get the Money.

Grohl and Brent Woods power the track with a distorted, trebly guitar riff. Chris Chaney contributes a fuzzy bass line, and Hawkins adds both a propulsive drum part and harmonized vocals that recall the multi-tracked grandeur of vintage Queen. “How I love you, middle child/I see angels when you smile,” he belts on the chorus. “When I look into your eyes, I...

The Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins and his band the Coattail Riders teamed up with Chrissie Hynde, Joe Walsh and Duff McKagan for a simmering new song, “Get the Money,” the title track from their next LP, out November 8th via Shanabele/RCA Records.

“Get the Money” takes several unexpected musical turns, opening like a psych-folk tune, settling into a reggae-tinged groove, going back to that psych-folk vibe before steadily ramping up into a breakneck prog freakout. Throughout the song, Walsh peels off crackling riffs over McKagan’s supple bass while Hawkins and Hynde trade lyrics,...

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has linked up with his bandmate Dave Grohl and Yes singer Jon Davison for an eclectic new rocker, “Crossed the Line.” The track will appear on Hawkins’ new cameo-filled album with his band the Coattail Riders, Get the Money, out November 8th via Shanabelle/RCA Records.

“Crossed the Line” opens like a slow-and-steady prog rocker, with Davison draping his soothing croon over a guitar riff that plucks as much as it wobbles. But the song slowly opens up in various directions, from a cheeky nod...

Yay! One of my favorite animated films of 2014 topped the recently announced 2014 Annie Awards honoring excellence in the field of animation. Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi's "The Boxtrolls" received 12 nominations including Best Animated Feature. The winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at UCLA.s Royce Hall. For more information on the Annie Awards, click here.

Here's the full list of nominees for the 2015 Annie Awards

Production Categories

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6 - Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheatin' - Plymptoons Studio

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - DreamWorks Animation

Song of the Sea - Gkids/Cartoon Saloon

The Book of Life - Reel FX

The Boxtrolls - Focus Features/Laika

The Lego Movie -Warner Bros. Pictures

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya - Gkids/Studio Ghibli

Best Animated Special Production

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey - Voyager Pictures LLC

Dawn of the...

Monday morning, the International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 42nd Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. Leading the pack with 13 nominations, including a nod for Best Animated Feature, is Laika Animation's "The Boxtrolls." Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" followed with 10 nominations, joining "Boxtrolls" in the Character Animation, Animation Effects, and Best Feature categories. Rounding out the organization's big prize are "Big Hero 6" (seven nominations), "Cheatin'" (three), "Song of the Sea" (seven), "The Book of Life" (five), "The Lego Movie" (six), and "The Tale of Kaguya" (three). The Annie Awards also announced nominations in TV, video game and short subject categories. “We had a steady increase in submissions this year and I am excited to say it’s going to be a great awards ceremony,” remarked Asifa-Hollywood Executive Director, Frank Gladstone. “We added a new category...

Big Hero 6, Cheatin’, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song Of The Sea, The Book Of Life, The Boxtrolls, The Lego Movie and The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya have been nominated in the top category for the International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood’s 42nd annual Annie Awards. The Annies cover 36 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Special Production, Commercials, Short Subjects and Outstanding Individual Achievements. The winners will be announced January 31 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Here’s the full list of noms:

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6

Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheatin’

Plymptoons Studio

How to Train Your Dragon 2

DreamWorks Animation

Song of the Sea

Gkids/Cartoon Saloon

The Book of Life

Reel FX

The Boxtrolls

Focus Features/Laika

The Lego Movie

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Gkids/Studio Ghibli

Best Animated Special Production

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Voyager...