Slash: My last words to Axl Rose

Facts about Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin was a British rock band who in the 70s repeatedly and flagrantly rocked the world so fucking hard that scientists can still detect residual vibrations in the Earth's mantle to this day.
The phrase "lead balloon" has commonly been used to describe an ill-conceived idea, or one whose failure is both predictable and inevitable. The name then allegedly arose when Keith Moon, after being invited to drum for the band, thought the idea would go over like a "lead zeppelin"--Moon evidently modifying the common phrase after observing that zeppelin's were quite large. Reportedly Jimmy Paige liked the phrase so much, he took it for the band's name. The decision to misspell it was made because they thought Americans would be stupid enough to mispronounce the word "lead." Running a Website with a functioning comments section as we do, Cracked.com officially has a hard time disagreeing with this theory.

Flight of the Conchords: Business Time

Music History - The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. They became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music.^[1] The band's best-known lineup consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, the group later utilised several genres, ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as their songwriting grew in sophistication, they came to be perceived by many fans and cultural observers as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the era's sociocultural revolutions.
The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960. Moulded into a professional act by manager Brian Epstein, the creativity of producer George Martin enhanced their musical potential. They gained popularity in the United Kingdom after their first single, "Love Me Do", became a modest hit in late 1962. They acquired the nickname the "Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market. The group toured extensively around the world until August 1966, when they performed their final commercial concert. From 1966 on, they produced what many critics consider their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential albums Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968), and Abbey Road (1969). After their break-up in 1970, the ex-Beatles each found success in individual musical careers. Lennon was murdered in 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain active.
The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, with EMI Records estimating sales of over one billion units.^[2] They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act. According to the RIAA, as of 2012 they have sold 177 million units in the US, more than any other artist. In 2008, they topped Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists. As of 2012, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with 20. They have received 7 Grammy Awards from the American National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and 15 Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people.

The Beatles - Hey Jude

Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine

The saxophone (info on)

The saxophone^[2] (also referred to informally as the sax) is a conical-bore, transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet.^[3] The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846.^[4] He wanted to create an instrument that would be the most powerful and vocal of the woodwinds, and the most adaptive of the brass—that would fill the vacant middle ground between the two sections. He patented the sax on June 24, 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B♭ and E♭, designed for military bands, has proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. Instruments from the so-called "orchestral" series pitched in C and F never gained a foothold, and the B♭ and E♭ instruments have now replaced the C and F instruments in classical music.
While proving very popular in military band music, the saxophone is most commonly associated with jazz and classical music. There is substantial repertoire of concert music in the classical idiom for the members of the saxophone family. Saxophone players are called saxophonists.^[5]

Slash - Solo GodFather Theme

Facts about Velvet Underground

More influential than successful, The Velvet Underground are often called one of the most important and influential groups of their era by whoever last updated their Wikipedia page.
The name stems from the title of an S&M book a band member found on a sidewalk in New York. The book itself describes the underground sexual scene in 1960s America. We're not sure what the sexual underground of the 60s looked like, but we're guessing the book was primarily comprised of mustache grooming tips and maps to funky smelling basements.

Facts about Motörhead

Motörhead is a British rock band whose success in the 70s and 80s helped redefine heavy metal. They have a bit of a reputation, too--Motörhead's founder, Lemmy, has stated that his aim was for the group to be "the dirtiest rock n' roll band in the world." "If Motörhead moved in next to you, your lawn would die."
While it sounds like a pretty straightforward band name, motor-head is actually the equivalent to the American term "speed freak," a slang term for an amphetamine user. Rumors about whether this implied members of Motörhead participated in drug use have dogged the band to this day.

Panic! At The Disco: New Perspective

Bullet For My Valentine - Tears Don't Fall

The Guitar (info on)

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck, to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with either nylon or steel strings. Some modern guitars are made of polycarbonate materials. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers. There are two primary families of guitars: acoustic and electric.
Acoustic guitars (and similar instruments) with hollow bodies have been in use for over a thousand years. There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the archtop guitar. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the vibration of the strings, which is amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. The classical guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a comprehensive fingerpicking technique.
Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Early amplified guitars employed a hollow body, but a solid body was found more suitable. Electric guitars have had a continuing profound influence on popular culture. Guitars are recognized as a primary instrument in genres such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, reggae, rock, soul, and many forms of pop.

Bullet For My Valentine - All These Things I Hate

Music History

James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the #3 single "Fire and Rain" and had his first #1 hit the following year with "You've Got a Friend", a recording of Carole King's classic song. His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies. Following his 1977 album, JT, he has retained a large audience over the decades. His commercial achievements declined slightly until a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s, when some of his best-selling and most-awarded albums (including Hourglass, October Road and Covers) were released.