Former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley’s legendary 1975 Gibson Les Paul will headline Julien’s Auctions “Music Icons” sale on May 29th and 30th at Hard Rock Cafe Times Square. The instrument served as Frehley’s primary guitar throughout most of his career with the rock band. The auction features over 800 items with online bidding starting April 27th. Other notable lots include Kirk Hammett’s first “Ouija” ESP Custom guitar estimated at $250,000-$350,000 and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s 1969 Guild F-412 from his 1990 MTV Unplugged performance valued at $300,000-$500,000. Former Guns N’ Roses member Izzy Stradlin’s 1987 Gibson HR Fusion guitar carries a $30,000-$50,000 estimate. The sale follows another recent record-breaking guitar auction, during which David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” sold for a staggering $14.55 million. Story URL
Netflix’s new documentary The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother, Hillel uses artificial intelligence to recreate the voice of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak reading his personal journals. Director Ben Feldman obtained Slovak’s family’s blessing for the AI voice recreation, believing it was “a critical way to make his words feel alive.” The film includes a notice about the digitally reconstructed audio. The documentary features interviews with Anthony Kiedis and Flea, telling how the trio became friends at Los Angeles-area high school in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It tracks the band’s early days through rock and punk scenes before achieving iconic status. Slovak played on the band’s first three albums before dying at 26 from an accidental heroin overdose in 1988. The band clarified they had “nothing to do with it creatively” but participated “out of love and respect for Hillel.” Story URL
Puddle Of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin will not serve jail time after accepting a plea agreement in his domestic battery and drug possession case. Court documents obtained by TMZ show the judge placed Scantlin in a one-year diversion program instead of prison. He must also enroll in and complete a drug rehabilitation program. Police arrested Scantlin last year after allegedly getting physical with his girlfriend. Officers also discovered drugs on him during a search. The judge accepted the plea deal for the drug possession charge and dismissed the remaining counts. Scantlin is scheduled to return to court May 29th for a progress report on his diversion program compliance. Story URL
Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival announced its 11th anniversary tour for summer 2026, but with significantly fewer dates than previous years. The tour will visit only 12 cities compared to last year’s 35 stops, marking what organizers call “a special limited run” for the 92-year-old country legend. Featured artists include the Avett Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Wilco, and Stephen Wilson Jr., with varying appearances across dates. Notably absent is Bob Dylan, who co-headlined the previous two years and announced his own separate summer tour Monday. The festival opens July 3 in Irving, Texas, includes Nelson’s traditional July 4th Austin show featuring Billy Strings and Rodney Crowell, then resumes in mid-August for nine additional Midwest and Northeast performances. The tour concludes August 30 in Saratoga Springs, New York. Tickets go on sale Friday. Story URL