ROB ZOMBIE Turns 50

Singer, screenwriter and director Rob Zombie turns 50 on Monday (January 12). In addition to making several albums with WHITE ZOMBIE, five solo studio records and a handful of compilation, remix and live sets, plus scripting and directing six feature films, Zombie has also directed almost all his own videos, run his own record label at one point and written his own line of comic books.

When asked by The Pulse Of Radio not long ago if there was anything that he hadn't done yet that he still wanted to do, Zombie said he wasn't sure. "I mean, I never really look at it that way. I don't know. I mean, you know, there's always something, something always comes up that you're like, 'Wow, never thought of that, that's cool.' Even if it's just with music and movies, I mean, every movie is the new challenge and there's always a new, exciting thing that goes with it. Every record is a new challenge and that's what's great about it. I'm happy with that. It's not like I'm always looking for a completely new thing I have to do. Both those things are still pretty exciting."

Rob Zombie will release a new live album, "Spookshow International Live", later this year through T-Boy Records. The CD will feature 19 tracks, including perennial favorites like "Dragula" and "Living Dead Girl", as well as live cuts from his last studio album, "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor", and his cover of the RAMONES classic "Blitzkrieg Bop".

Zombie said, "It's been eight years since our last live album, so we figured it was time for another. Actually, we weren't planning on it, but we recorded a few shows and they sounded really great, so we thought, 'Fuck it! Let's get it out there.'"

"Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor" sold 34,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week of release, landing it at No. 7 on The Billboard 200 chart.

In November, Rob Zombie announced that his next movie as a director, "31", is ready to move forward now that the crowdfunding campaign for the project is complete.

"31" is set at Halloween and follows five carnival workers who are kidnapped and held hostage in a large secret compound known as Murder World, where they have 12 hours to survive a game called "31", in which murderous maniacs dressed as clowns try to kill them.

Zombie said that the story was inspired by hearing a statistic that claimed more people go missing and are never from again on Halloween than any other day.

Zombie hopes that "31" will kick off a new franchise. His previous films include "The Lords Of Salem", "The Devil's Rejects", the 2007 remake of "Halloween" and "House Of 1000 Corpses".