According to the VAN HALEN fan site Van Halen News Desk, the band's guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, appears to be part of hip hop legend LL Cool J's upcoming album, "Authentic", due out on April 30. On March 4, the pair jointly released a photo of them sitting in the recording studio, with no accompanying text. The site adds: "Eddie Van Halen is either working as a co-producer, or has recorded a guest part LL Cool J, or for an artist who is recording with LL Cool J. No doubt that more info will be coming in the near future."

On Monday (March 11), VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth announced during a radio interview: "We're going to be playing Europe — probably 50, 60 shows outside of the States, starting at the end of this year, and then come back around through the U.S." Legendary music mogul Irving Azoff, who manages Eddie and Alex Van Halen, spoke to Billboard, and essentially called Roth a liar, explaining, "All the announced dates, which include the date in Australia, the dates in Japan and a date in Wisconsin, are confirmed and on sale and those are real. I manage the Van Halens, and I know nothing about any European tour."

A while back, drummer Alex Van Halen joked with The Pulse Of Radio about a certain affliction nearly every rock band finds itself dealing with. "The joke has become the 'L.S.D.' thing, 'Lead Singer Disease,' and it's not an entirely off-base comment," he said. "Not all lead singers, but most of them, they're on a different planet. Part of what makes a band. . . it's like a team! You may have a star player or two, but it's still a team! Without the team, y'know, you're really dead in the water."

VAN HALEN will close out the annual Rock USA festival, scheduled for July 17 through July 20 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

(Thanks: NJthrasher)