Metallica has partnered with Activision Publishing, Inc. to headline the Call of Duty: Black Ops launch event on November 4 at Santa Monica Airport’s Hangar 8.  The event will feature a performance by the GRAMMY-Award winning band, honor the six branches of the Armed Forces and raise $1 million for The Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit, public benefit corporation founded by Activision Blizzard that helps soldiers with the transition to civilian life and help them establish jobs and careers. Call of Duty: Black Ops will release worldwide on November 9.

“We are honored to have Metallica partner with us to pay tribute to the brave servicemen and women who have risked their lives at war only to return home to find their biggest challenge is searching for a job,” stated Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.  ”Today, the unemployment rate for veterans is 21% higher than the rate for all Americans, with veterans’ unemployment topping 500,000.  We believe that the business community can and should do more.  Through The Call of Duty Endowment, we are committed to raising millions of dollars for job assistance and training programs for veterans and raising public awareness for this serious issue.”

Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, Metallica have become one of the most influential and commercially successful rock bands in history, having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and playing to tens of millions of fans the world over.  They have scored several multi-platinum albums, including 1983′s Kill ‘Em All (3x), 1984′s Ride the Lightning (5x), 1986′s Master of Puppets (6x), 1988′s …And Justice For All (8x), 1991′s Metallica (also known as “The Black Album” – 15x), 1996′s Load (5x), 1997′s ReLoad (3x), and 2003′s St. Anger (2x).  Their latest album, Death Magnetic, was certified platinum just six weeks after it debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 Album chart in October 2008.  The band released a groundbreaking Guitar Hero edition of Death Magnetic, which was the largest selling download album on the platform at the time.  They also released Guitar Hero: Metallica in 2009 with Activision.  Metallica have also garnered numerous awards and accolades, including nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum last year.

Legendary musical icons and heavy metal pioneers, Metallica, are returning for an encore this fall by bringing their skill, intensity and passion to the Guitar Hero music library.

In conjunction with the launch of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, fans who own Guitar Hero Metallica will be able to import 39 of the game’s on-disc tracks directly into their Guitar Hero music library beginning September 28. Additionally, head-banging, guitar-shredding rockers who buy Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock between September 28 and October 5 will be able to import these tracks from their copy of Guitar Hero Metallica for free*. The disc import will feature the following tracks:

– Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – “Turn The Page (Live)”
– Diamond Head – “Am I Evil?”
– Kyuss – “Demon Cleaner”
– Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Tuesday’s Gone”
– Machine Head – “Beautiful Mourning”
– Mastodon – “Blood & Thunder”
– Mercyful Fate – “Evil”
– Metallica – “Battery”
– Metallica – “Creeping Death”
– Metallica – “Disposable Heroes”
– Metallica – “Dyers Eve”
– Metallica – “Enter Sandman”
– Metallica – “Fade To Black”
– Metallica – “Fight Fire With Fire”
– Metallica – “For Whom The Bell Tolls”
– Metallica – “Frantic”
– Metallica – “Fuel”
– Metallica – “Hit The Lights”
– Metallica – “King Nothing”
– Metallica – “Master Of Puppets”
– Metallica – “Mercyful Fate”
– Metallica – “No Leaf Clover”
– Metallica – “Nothing Else Matters”
– Metallica – “One”
– Metallica – “Orion”
– Metallica – “Sad But True”
– Metallica – “Seek And Destroy”
– Metallica – “The Memory Remains”
– Metallica – “The Shortest Straw”
– Metallica – “The Thing That Should Not Be”
– Metallica – “The Unforgiven”
– Metallica – “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
– Metallica – “Wherever I May Roam”
– Metallica – “Whiplash”
– Motorhead – “Ace Of Spades”
– Samhain – “Mother Of Mercy”
– Social Distortion – “Mommy’s Little Monster (Live)”
– The Sword – “The Black River”
– Thin Lizzy – “The Boys Are Back In Town”

Featuring importable tracks from Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero Smash Hits, Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and Guitar Hero Metallica later this month, the Guitar Hero music library will contain over 550 songs by the launch of Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock; allowing gamers to experience hundreds of hours of intense rifts, blistering solos, slamming drum fills, killer bass riffs and intense vocal ranges all while they create their own ultimate playlist tailored to their unique tastes.

The Guitar Hero Metallica disc import will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 480 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation®Store for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system for $5.99 and for Wii(TM) for 600 Wii Points(TM). In addition to the in-game music store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, Xbox 360 owners can expand their Guitar Hero music library using the Guitar Hero VIP Pass Music Store, available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network.

*The free Guitar Hero Metallica import offer will only be available to US Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners.

For more information about Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and the entire line-up of downloadable songs and disc imports, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

PlayStation 2 system rock stars can now experience the intensity of musical icons Metallica and over 20 additional bands. Shred on the guitar controller, rip on the drum kit controller and wail on the mic to a killer set list of over 45 explosive hits from both Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Queen.

“Guitar Hero Metallica has garnered critical acclaim across the industry proving the widespread appeal and accessibility of both Guitar Hero and Metallica,” said Will Kassoy, Head of Publishing for the Guitar Hero franchise. “With a very successful launch on Wii(TM), Xbox 360(R) and PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, we are excited to bring the game to the huge PlayStation 2 system gaming community and expect it to quickly become a fan favorite for that platform.”

Guitar Hero Metallica allows fans to “spend an evening with Metallica,” and more than 20 popular artists, while performing in venues reminiscent of their epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales. The all-new Expert+ drum difficulty setting, available for all platform versions of the game, features two bass drum kick pedals, offering an authentic Metallica experience with note-for-note tracking, and Metallifacts, which, after nailing a song, lets players enjoy a virtual concert filled with on-screen facts and trivia about the song being played.

Guitar Hero Metallica is now available for the Wii(TM) home video game system from Nintendo, the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PlayStation 2 and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment systems across North America. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Guitar Hero Metallica, please visit guitarherometallica.com.

Activision Publishing Broadcast Media Center

Members of the media can visit Activision Publishing’s Broadcast Media Center to download broadcast quality video, web-ready video and high- resolution images. Members of the media using Pathfire can take advantage of a Pathfire enabled video download.

Sound bites, behind-the-scenes and gameplay b-roll footage of Guitar Hero Metallica are available for download.

Broadcast Media Center: www.usngondemand.com/index.php.

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

“The number of Metallica forgeries being offered rivals the number of forged Barack Obama autographs peddled after he was elected president,” continues Cyrkin. “It’s so bad that we asked the chief authenticator of the largest autograph authentication service, PSA/DNA, to write an article that shows how to identify genuine Metallica signatures.”

The authenticator is Steve Grad, a rabid Metallica fan with one of the largest Metallica autograph collections in the world. There are photographs of 28 genuine Metallica-signed items in the article, including an autographed flyer from 1982 — the earliest band-signed piece Grad and the magazine have seen.

“My favorite piece is an autographed 8×10 photo from 1983 that we show life-size in the article. The band signed only 100 of them, which they sent to the first 100 members of the Metallica fan club. Only a few have surfaced over the years,” Cyrkin says.

The article gives details on the history of the band’s signing habits throughout their career. And fans and collectors can compare their Metallica autographs to the ones in the article to determine if they are likely real.

“Two factors make rock attractive to forgers,” Cyrkin says. “First, rock stars that have been around for decades have more fans who can afford to buy rare and expensive items. For many bands, like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, genuine signed items like albums and guitars are extremely rare or do not exist. Most are not available at any price from legitimate dealers and auction houses, but the sellers of forgeries are happy to meet the demand. Second, in the case of hot, touring bands like Metallica, members stop signing as much as they see their autographs being offered all over the Internet.”

“Autograph’s” May Metallica Hall of Fame issue is $8.95. It is only available through their Web site by advance order, or with a subscription ordered by April 17. The issue mails the last week of April. The magazine is a niche publication that is not available in stores. It can be ordered at http://store.autographmagazine.com/.

Amid signature green slime and bright orange blimps, Activision Publishing, Inc.’s Guitar Hero(R) World Tour was awarded “Favorite Video Game” at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards 2009 on Saturday, March 28. Guitar Hero World Tour took the top honors in the video game category with a record-breaking 91 million votes cast at the Kids’ Choice Awards 2009 earning the show’s highest ratings ever amongst kids and tweens. The awards allow fans to vote on their favorite entertainment and entertainers, including actors, TV shows, movies, singers and video games. On Sunday, March 29, 2009 Guitar Hero(R) Metallica(R), the newest entry into the Guitar Hero(R) franchise, debuted at retailers across North America giving fans the chance to experience the music of Metallica plus 20 top bands, such as Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters, Social Distortion, Queen and The Sword.

Guitar Hero World Tour continues to be one of the best-selling video games since its release on October 26, 2008. Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’s signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands,” which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a wired microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Music creators are also able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunes(SM) where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of over 247,000 already uploaded unique creations.

Guitar Hero World Tour is now available for Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, the Wii(TM) home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Guitar Hero World Tour, please visit worldtour.guitarhero.com.

Guitar Hero Metallica is now available for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION3 computer entertainment system and the Wii home video game system from Nintendo, and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. The PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system version will be available in North America in April 2009. For more information on Guitar Hero Metallica, please visit guitarherometallica.com.

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

“Mandatory Metallica” to coincide with the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“Mandatory Metallica” to be available to SIRIUS subscribers for the first time

SIRIUS XM Radio announced that legendary rock band Metallica will host their own music channel on SIRIUS XM. Mandatory Metallica will be broadcast on SIRIUS channel 27 and XM channel 42 and will debut on Saturday, March 14 starting at 6:00 pm ET and run through Monday, April 13 at 3:00 am ET. The launch of SIRIUS XM’s Mandatory Metallica channel coincides with the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.

“Metallica is one of the most influential and distinctive bands in the world,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SIRIUS XM Radio. “We are thrilled to broadcast Mandatory Metallica for SIRIUS XM listeners and give Metallica fans a place to go to hear all the music, interviews and rarities with this incredible rock band all in one place for thirty days.”

Mandatory Metallica will air Metallica music 24/7 as well as new songs from their recent release, Death Magnetic, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum in less than three weeks. The channel will also feature interviews with Metallica guitarist and singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

In addition to interviews with all four band members, Mandatory Metallica will air exclusive interviews with other artists sharing their personal insights about Metallica’s influence on music, including Linkin Park, Slipknot, Disturbed, Guns N’ Roses, Chris Cornell, RUSH, Ashes Divide, Black Stone Cherry, Five Finger Death Punch, Atreyu, Cinderella, Mastodon, Judas Priest, Dragonforce, Triumph, Tesla and others.

Mandatory Metallica will offer fans exclusive access to the band and their music. The limited-run channel aired exclusively on XM in 2008 and will be available to SIRIUS subscribers for the first time. The channel will feature virtually every Metallica song ever recorded, plus rare live cuts from the band’s personal archives.

In addition to their own SIRIUS XM channel and recent record release, Guitar Hero will launch “Guitar Hero: Metallica” featuring music from the band’s 25 year career as well as special hand-picked guest acts on March 29, 2009. The band will also be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009. Death Magnetic, the band’s 10th studio album, was released worldwide on September 12. For more information about Metallica’s new album, go to www.metallica.com.

Mandatory Metallica continues SIRIUS XM’s practicing of creating exclusive limited run artist-branded channels dedicated to iconic musicians. In addition to the current broadcast of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Radio and Paul McCartney’s Fireman Radio, SIRIUS has previously offered limited run channels such as Rolling Stones Radio, AC/DC Radio, Led Zeppelin Radio, The Spectrum of John Mellencamp, The Who Channel, Radio R.E.M., Coldplay Nation, ABBA Radio, Neil Diamond Radio, Jay-Z Nation, Garth Brooks Radio and Duran Duran’s Red Carpet Radio among many others.

For more information, please visit www.sirius.com or www.xmradio.com

Fans, stagehands and groupies alike will have the opportunity to shred and drum with or wail as the digital King Diamond during performances of “Evil.” The song, which originally was recorded in 1983 and is one of the Mercyful Fate songs that comprise Metallica’s “Mercyful Fate” medley, was re-recorded by four of the five original band members for Guitar Hero Metallica. The recording session was overseen by guitarist Hank Shermann in the band’s native Denmark; after which King Diamond laid down his vocals in Dallas, Texas, and mixed the song with J.T. Longoria.

“It’s been absolutely amazing to be a part of this Guitar Hero experience. It was quite a trip to re-record the song ‘Evil’ almost 25 years after the original recording took place. The end result with four out of the five original musicians turned out so much better than I would ever have hoped for,” said King Diamond. “Seeing my animated character take form was totally eerie in a very good way. It’s so strange to see yourself animated in such perfect detail – cross bone microphone, Eye necklace and all. This game looks and sounds METAL all the way. HORNS UP!!!”

“Ride the Lightning” with musical icons Metallica and 21 other rockin’ acts in an all new Guitar Hero(R) experience – Guitar Hero Metallica. Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time. Shred on the guitar controller, rip on the drum kit controller and wail on the mic to a set list featuring over 45 explosive hits from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Bob Seger, Foo Fighters, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Queen. Fans will be able to rock as Metallica while performing in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales.

Guitar Hero Metallica is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system. The Wii(TM) home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system versions are being developed by Budcat. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero Metallica, please visit guitarhero.com.

Source: Activision, Inc.

Metallica’s influential music takes center stage this spring when Activision Publishing Inc.’s Guitar Hero(R) Metallica(R) takes music fans through the band’s fabled library of songs, plus the music and musicians who influence them. When the house lights go down this spring, virtual rock stars across the globe will shred, drum and wail to an explosive set list featuring over 45 tracks from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Queen, Foo Fighters, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Slayer and Judas Priest.

Featuring tracks from every Metallica studio album, the complete Guitar Hero Metallica on-disc set list will include their following hits:

– “All Nightmare Long”
– “Battery”
– “Creeping Death”
– “Disposable Heroes”
– “Dyers Eve”
– “Enter Sandman”
– “Fade To Black”
– “Fight Fire With Fire”
– “For Whom The Bell Tolls”
– “Frantic”
– “Fuel”
– “Hit The Lights”
– “King Nothing”
– “Master of Puppets”
– “Mercyful Fate”
– “No Leaf Clover”
– “Nothing Else Matters”
– “One”
– “Orion”
– “Sad But True”
– “Seek And Destroy”
– “The Memory Remains”
– “The Shortest Straw”
– “The Thing That Should Not Be”
– “The Unforgiven”
– “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
– “Wherever I May Roam”
– “Whiplash”

Complementing Metallica’s intensity are the following 21 rockin’ tracks personally chosen by the band:

– Alice In Chains – “No Excuses”
– Bob Seger – “Turn The Page (Live)”
– Corrosion of Conformity – “Albatross”
– Diamond Head – “Am I Evil?”
– Foo Fighters – “Stacked Actors”
– Judas Priest – “Hell Bent For Leather”
– Kyuss – “Demon Cleaner”
– Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Tuesdays Gone”
– Machine Head – “Beautiful Mourning”
– Mastodon – “Blood And Thunder”
– Mercyful Fate – “Evil”
– Michael Schenker Group – “Armed and Ready”
– Motorhead – “Ace of Spades”
– Queen – “Stone Cold Crazy”
– Samhain – “Mother of Mercy”
– Slayer – “War Ensemble”
– Social Distortion – “Mommy’s Little Monster (Live)”
– Suicidal Tendencies – “War Inside My Head”
– System of a Down – “Toxicity”
– The Sword – “Black River”
– Thin Lizzy – “The Boys Are Back in Town”

Gamers who have downloaded the Death Magnetic album on Xbox 360(R) or PLAYSTATION(R)3 will have access to the album while the Wii(TM) and PlayStation(R)2 versions will have “Broken, Beat & Scarred,” “Cyanide” and “My Apocalypse” included on disc.

“Ride the Lightning” with musical icons Metallica and 21 other rockin’ acts in an all new Guitar Hero(R) experience – Guitar Hero Metallica. Enter the world of Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo and experience the intensity and skill of one of the greatest bands of all time. Shred on the guitar controller, rip on the drum kit controller and wail on the mic to a set list featuring over 45 explosive hits from Metallica’s illustrious career and a wide variety of other legendary artists personally selected by the band, such as Alice In Chains, Foo Fighters and Queen. Fans will be able to rock as Metallica while performing in venues reminiscent of the band’s epic album covers, themes from their music and real world locales.

Guitar Hero Metallica is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system. The Wii(TM) home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system versions are being developed by Budcat. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information about Guitar Hero Metallica, please visit guitarhero.com.

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

Ticketmaster is constantly looking at the use of new technology in order to offer a more secure and safe ticketing experience for fans, clients and artists. Paperless ticketing allows quick and secure access to venues, while reducing the amount of paper used to print tickets, saving both time for fans and reducing the impact on the environment.

Over 15,000 people are expected to attend the event but tickets will not exchange hands with this latest innovative and secure technology, and fans will not have to wait at box- ffices to collect tickets. Customers using a Credit Card/Visa Debit Card to purchase their tickets will not be sent a ticket but will only be required to arrive at the venue with their credit card and photo identification. Their card will then be swiped, they will be given a receipt, and they will then be granted entry to the event. The entire process is quick, secure and simple.

The Death Magnetic release party will go on sale to Fan Club and Mission Metallica members only from September 1st. The event is promoted by Stuart Galbraith for Kilimanjaro Live /AEG.

Chris Edmonds, Managing Director, said “The drive behind this innovative ticketing technology is our continued desire to provide our clients with new ways to provide quick and secure ticketing systems for their events. Paperless ticketing means no box-office collection queues for these tickets with entry being given on the swipe of the credit card used for the booking and photo ID checked by venue staff. This benefits both the consumer and the venue by allowing secure, smooth and fast entry to events.”

Stuart Galbraith, Kilimanjaro CEO, said, “Metallica want to ensure that all the proceeds from this launch party to go directly to charity. They also want the audience to be all Fan Club and Mission Metallica members. By working closely with Ticketmaster and their Paperless Ticket technology we can deliver the band’s wishes and minimise the possibility of charitable tickets being resold in the secondary market. Airline customers are now very used to arriving at check-in with just a credit card as validation and I believe that the TM Paperless Ticket system heralds the launch of a new phase in concert ticketing that will quickly be adopted by gig goers in exactly the same way.”

Source: Ticketmaster UK Ltd