Damon, who announced his strike in February, stated that those in the effort “won’t go to the bathroom until everyone in the world has access to clean water and sanitation.”

The strike that is led by the Damon and the advocacy group he co-founded, Water.org, are seeking to end the water crisis that is leaving millions without accesses to clean water and sanitation that can lead to illness and even death.

While the idea of the strike is a serious one, Damon and the other celebrities involved have turned to humor in order to get more awareness. In a video posted to YouTube on May 22nd, Wilde, Bono and Branson joke about how Damon crashed their not-so-secret secret meeting.

“I remember when Matt first brought up the idea, it was at a meeting of the Illuminati,” said the U2 frontman.

Wilde joked and added, “Bono was so mad. I only got in because I am an android from the future.”

Branson also added some humor to the video adding, “Bono started beating Matt with a two-by-four.”

However, alongside the jokes, the celebrities cited facts about the water crisis and what people could do to help.

“Millions of people each day spend hours just fetching clean water,” Bono says in the new public service announcement. “780,000,000 people – that’s one in nine – lacks access to safe water.”

Damon appears at the end of the video to encourage others to “join the millions of famous people who’ve already joined my strike. And remember, if you don’t use the toilet, you’re a celebrity.”

For other information about how you can help the “toliet strike” cause or make a donation, visit water.org or strikewithme.org.

- Devon Marti / WNCX

This is the second time McCartney has expressed support for the three band members who were originally arrested in March of 2012. Three members of the Russian feminist punk-rock collective, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina, were arrested and charged with hooliganism after protesting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s main cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in February 2012.

The band members were convicted of the charges in August of 2012 and were sentenced to two years in prison. However, after less than two months, Samutsevich was released on an appeal. The spark for recent interest from McCartney came after Alyokhina was denied access to her own parole hearing. As of May 22, Alyokhina has declared she will be on a hunger strike in protest of being denied the right to attend her hearing. Tolokonnikova, also still in prison, was denied parole on April 26.

The former Beatle stressed the Russian administration should consider parole for Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova.

In the letter regarding the case of Alyokhina, McCartney wrote and shared on his website, “My personal belief is that further incarceration for Maria will be harmful for her and the situation as a whole, which, of course, is being watched by people all over the world.”

McCartney continues in the letter, “In the great tradition of fair-mindedness which the Russian people (many of whom are my friends) are famous for, I believe that you granting this request would send a very positive message to all the people who have followed this case.”

In a separate hand-written letter, McCartney stressed concern for Tolokonnikova as well. He writes, “I have had a long relationship with the Russian people, and, with this in mind, I am making the following request in a spirit of friendship for my many Russian acquaintances who, like me, believe in treating people – all people, with compassion and kindness.”

McCartney is not the only musician that has voiced support for Pussy Riot band members. Madonna, Sting, and Yoko Ono, have publicly supported the group.

- Devon Marti / WNCX

He recently spoke out against the British version of the show, which features judges Jesse J, Will.i.am, Tom Jones and Danny O’Donoghue.

May wrote on his own website, “Sorry, hate to be negative but The Voice is the dullest, dumbest, most depressing show on TV.” Adding, “It’s the ultimate insult to music and to performers.”

Though we are not sure May seems to understand the concept about the show and the blind audition rounds. “Every time I catch a glimpse of young singers busting their guts trying to win somebody’s attention, who is rudely sitting with their back to them… I feel sick. I hope this vile show dies a natural death very soon,” May wrote.

Apparently May doesn’t hate everything about the show. He does seem to be a fan of Tom Jones, though he wishes that Jones would decide to walk away from The Voice. And of course, May isn’t totally against music-based competition shows: May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor have performed on American Idol. 

What do you think, is The Voice an insult to music, or is Brian May just a grumpy?

Answer: 1954

Here’s the rest of today’s Rock N’ Roll Diary!

• 1968: The Rolling Stones released their single “Jumping Jack Flash” … A year later, the Beatles’ “Get Back” went to #1.
• 1982: A benefit concert in San Francisco for the Vietnam Veterans Project netted $175,000. Jefferson Starship, The Grateful Dead and Boz Scaggs performed.
• 1997: Bob Dylan was hospitalized with what was described as a “life-threatening” viral infection that caused the sac around his heart to swell…He soon recovered.
• 2003: Paul McCartney played his first concert in Russia, playing in Moscow’s historic Red Square (down the block from the other Lenin!).
• 2004: Attorneys for Bruce Springsteen shut down an online auction in which a document said to be the rocker’s birth certificate was up for bid.
• Checking the WZLX ticket stash: Canned Heat played the first of two nights at the Psychedelic Supermarket in 1968…And Deep Purple was at the Music Hall in 1973!

SEE ALSO: Past Rock N’ Roll Diaries

The concert film is blended with a surreal narrative story, which features actor Dane DeHaan as a Metallica roadie who gets caught up in a life-changing mission while attempting to deliver a mysterious item to the band for the show.

Metallica’s concert footage was shot over three separate concerts last year in Vancouver, Canada. Through the Never is scheduled for release on every North American IMAX screen on September 27, expanding to additional theaters the following week on October 4.

While the band is currently preparing for their second annual Orion Music + More Festival, set this year for Detroit’s Belle Isle on June 8-9, Metallica members recently revealed that the band has already amassed enough new material for a studio album.

“I want it done yesterday,” singer James Hetfield told Billboard about what will be the band’s first studio album since Death Magnetic in 2008 (they released the collaborative effort Lulu with Lou Reed in 2011). “(Orion) and this movie is keeping us pretty busy at this point and it’s taking a lot of our time and effort. We’ve been touring some obscure places; I guess basically what we’re trying to do is pay for this movie, so the touring is keeping us from getting in there and finishing the record. Right now the focus is on the movie.”

“I can tell you this; the grooves and the riffs that are already on the radar are really, really awesome,” added bassist Robert Trujillo. “We’ve still got more riffs to go through and jam out and throw into the process, but we’re getting there, and we’ll have something great, hopefully, in the next year.”

Apparently, Lillywhite was one of many producers considered for GNR’s loooooong-delayed Chinese Democracy album (finally released in 2008), and he actually took a meeting with Axl Rose to discuss it.

“I was summoned to Los Angeles to meet with Axl Rose, we went for sushi, and then we went to the studio to listen to some tracks and he played me some instrumentals,” Lillywhite said. “I thought, ‘I can understand why he’d want me to work on this.’ And then I said, ‘Do you have anything with vocals on it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got one song.’”

It was at that point that Lillywhite remembered why working with GNR would be unpleasant (besides Axl’s famously volatile personality).

“I was listening to it and I thought ‘Oh my God, I’d forgotten how much I hate his voice.’ I’m sorry! To some people, Axl Rose is royalty. To me, it’s like fingers on a chalkboard. Now, He was a very nice guy. We finished the evening – he paid – the next morning, the manager called and said, ‘Steve, you’re in. He thinks your fantastic. ‘ I said “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m the right man for this job.” And that was it and I left it at that.”

It’s likely that Rose was upset by this, and the next development in the story reads like a bit of payback. “I wouldn’t be telling this story,” Lillywhite says, “except, the next issue of Rolling Stone came out and it said ‘Axl Rose Turns Down Steve Lillywhite!’ I would have said nothing if he said nothing!”

Lillywhite most recently produced Thirty Seconds To Mars‘ new album, Love Lust Faith + Dreams, which was released earlier this week (May 21).

Pete Townshend may have started this whole guitar-smashing thing in rock music, Jimi Hendrix famously set his guitar on fire, and Paul Stanley of KISS certainly makes a big spectacle out of it. But no rock star consistently demolishes their axe on-stage with as much vigor and ferocity as Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow.

On this day in 1987, Deep Purple’s world tour got interrupted after Blackmore broke a finger in his hand while destroying one of his axes during the show. Specifically, he threw the guitar up in the air and tried to catch it like he often did – but instead, it cracked him in the hand on the way down.

So naturally the tour had to be cancelled with the band’s dynamic, incendiary lead guitarist suddenly unable to play. But it was just a great reminder of just how insane the guy went when it came time to smash his guitars into dust. He didn’t smash his guitars so much as mercilessly beat them into oblivion, as if the soul of Satan was stuck inside.

These video clips should do justice to that claim. Here’s a collection of Blackmore bashing his guitars into smithereens throughout the ’70s and ’80s.

The move that broke a finger:

(Smashing begins at 0:11 – this isn’t the actual time Ritchie broke his finger, but you can see how it was inevitably going to happen!)

California Jam, 1974:

(Smashing begins immediately!)

Munich, 1976:

(Smashing begins at 4:45)

Rainbow Live in 1981:

(Smashing begins at 3:21)

Frankfurt, 1987:

(Smashing begins at 0:34 – this was AFTER he returned from his broken finger!)

Detroit, 1987:

(Smashing begins at 2:44)

Who was your favorite guitar smasher? Share your thoughts in the comments!

SEE ALSO: Rock N’ Roll Diary Extra – Hendrix Sets The Rock World Ablaze

“The Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration” kicks off June 18 in Pittsburgh, where Haynes will be joined by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The tour will continue with two bursts of dates throughout the summer, with Haynes being accompanied by local orchestras in each of the eight cities. (Full list of performances here.)

Haynes, of course, has a history with the Grateful Dead. He played in bassist Phil Lesh’s band, Phil Lesh & Friends, for years, and produced Lesh’s 2002 album There And Back Again. He also did some time in The Dead, which featured Grateful Dead members Lesh, guitarist/singer Bob Weir, and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.

Haynes organizes some annual musical events — the Mountain Jam festival every summer and the Christmas jam in December — but he says this tour wasn’t his idea.

“We got a call from the people representing the Garcia Estate, saying they wanted to do a series of symphony shows doing Jerry’s music, and that they were going to have a few guest performers, and they wanted to know if I wanted to be the first guest artist,” he told Radio.com. “I was very honored.”

It turns out, Haynes had wanted to go the orchestral route for some time, but never had the right concept, until now.

“I’ve always wanted to do something with a symphony, but I never have, so it’s a really great challenge for me, and I was really psyched. I think it’s gonna be really amazing.”

Of course, a hallmark of both Garcia’s and Haynes’ music is improvisation. But how much can you improvise with an orchestra, particularly when you are performing with a different one every night?

“I felt like it was very important that we take the Grateful Dead spirit and to approach the symphonic production in a way that is different from the norm,” he explained. “I didn’t want it to be just like a symphony playing that music. We’re starting to figure out that there are ways to make it work. There are going to be certain windows that allow for improvisation. Other times, I have to keep my solos more part of the structure.”

Read more at Radio.com

– Brian Ives, Radio.com 

In the latest edition of Carter’s Catalog, our resident rock & roll encyclopedia Carter Alan examines The Who’s legendary double album “Tommy”, which came out on this day in 1969. The record coined the phrase “rock opera” and almost bankrupted the band while making it.

Also, Carter shares a tidbit of when he interviewed Pete Townshend in the early ’90s after the broadway musical version of the album brought the band huge success. Pete said to Carter: “Now I have ‘F*** off’ money!”

Has Townshend ever spoken truer words? Anyone who doubted The Who’s ability as musicians were promptly silenced after this opus was unleashed, and its transformation from an album into a venerable franchise continued well into the ’80s and ’90s. The band’s epic performance at Woodstock certainly helped, as did the wildly bizarre musical film version featuring a cameo performance of Elton John on “Pinball Wizard”.

“Carter’s Catalog” is a video series on WZLX.com featuring rock & roll expert Carter Alan, reflecting on classic albums and their impact and legacy. Check out more videos here and visit the Carter Alan show page.

SEE ALSO: The Who Inducted To The Hall Of Fame [VIDEO]

[Video footage from "Woodstock" (1970)]

Answer: Oz

Here’s the rest of today’s Rock N’ Roll Diary!

• 1970: Ex-Animal Eric Burdon released the single “Spill the Wine” with his new collaborators in the band War…
• 1970: The Beatles‘ “Long and Winding Road” from their final album Let It Be broke into the top 40 while Paul McCartney’s debut solo album hit #1 on the Billboard album chart…
• 1979: Tom Petty filed for bankruptcy and also petitioned his record company for release from his contract…
• 1979: The Who’s documentary movie “The Kids Are Alright” premiered in New York City…
• 1987: guitarist Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple broke his hand while playing a solo during a show in Phoenix…
• 2006: Booking agent and promoter Ian Copeland died of skin cancer at his home in La.. – His brother Stewart Copeland of The Police at his side. Ian is credited with discovering the average white band as well as helping to launch the careers of the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Police and others…
• In the WZLX ticket stash: Supertramp performed at the Music Hall in 1979 and in ’81 it was Rush at the Garden!