Finalists for the 14th annual hennemusic Rock News Awards are chosen by readers: the Rock News Story Of The Year is determined by page views, while the Rock News Artist Of The Year is based on the combined total page views of the top 50 hennemusic rock news stories of the past twelve months.
The 2023 hennemusic Rock News Awards winners will be announced on Thursday, December 21.
2023 Rock News Artist Of The Year – Top 10
10 – TESLA
09 – THE ROLLING STONES
08 – HEART
07 – QUEEN
06 – KISS
05 – METALLICA
04 – THE DOOBIE BROTHERS
03 – LYNYRD SKYNYRD
Rock News Artist of The Year No. 2 – VAN HALEN
Van Halen rocker David Lee Roth began 2023 with new episodes in his series The Roth Show that included some behind the scenes stories about the group.
Throughout the year, Roth randomly released covers of tracks by Wilson Pickett and Marvin Gaye, among others, as well as new recordings of Van Halen classics like “Unchained”, “Atomic Punk” and “Jump.”
In March, Roth revisited the circumstances of his retirement in the week leading up to a corporate gig in Las Vegas, while Wolfgang Van Halen released the lead single from his second album, “Mammoth II.”
April saw the guitar Eddie Van Halen used in the music video for Van Halen’s 1984 hit, “Hot For Teacher”, sold for a record amount during an auction at Sotheby’s.
In July, Queen guitarist Brian May announced plans to release an expanded edition of his 1983 EP, “Star Fleet Project”; under the banner of Brian May + Friends, the original 3-track “mini-album” saw May joined by Edward Van Halen, drummer Alan Gratzer, bassist Phil Chen and keyboardist Fred Mandel over two days at The Record Plant in Los Angeles, CA.
Van Halen made some headlines in the summer when Roth shared an episode of a fan-made documentary series that highlighted the band’s legendary appearance at the US Festival in 1983.
Wolfgang released his sophomore album, “Mammoth II”, in August, while continuing to tour, while in October – on the fourth anniversary of Eddie’s passing – Van Halen released “The Collection II”, a new box set spotlighting the band’s years with singer Sammy Hagar, with Wolfgang launching a fall North American tour the following month.
Hagar announced plans to celebrate his Van Halen years on The Best Of All Worlds tour next summer; the Red Rocker will be joined by his Circle bandmates Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham and Hagar’s Chickenfoot guitarist Joe Satriani for the North American series.
See also:
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