WILDSTREET AT ROCKLAHOMA 2013

RICHIE SAMBORA ON BON JOVI SPLIT: ‘ENOUGH WITH THE TRASH TALKING’

After laying low for a few weeks, Richie Sambora has decided to speak up about his recent departure from the Bon Jovi lineup — and it sounds like fans may need to start preparing for the possibility that he may never return.

Sambora knows there’s been a lot of speculation regarding his reasons for splitting during the band’s latest tour, and although he won’t specifically address what led to his departure, he sounded upbeat during an interview with the U.K.’s ‘Daily Mail.’ “I don’t have any major problems in life right now,” he insisted. “I love my fans, and I feel bad for them at the moment. Bottom line.”

Lack of major life problems notwithstanding, Sambora did allow that his relationship with longtime bandmateJon Bon Jovi is currently strained. “My opinion is Jon wants to see if he can pull off stadiums by himself,” Sambora mused. “He is making it very difficult for me to come back.” Perhaps referencing Bon Jovi’s recent interview with the ‘London Evening Standard,’ he added a warning: “Enough with the trash talking! Jon needs to stop talking about me publicly.”

While the two work out whatever their differences are, Sambora insisted he’s keeping himself occupied with other business ventures. “I am fine working very hard on my fashion company Nikki Rich,” he concluded, “and this is a private matter.”

BILLY JOEL CLEARS UP DUI, BANKRUPTCY RUMORS

Billy Joel opens up about a lot of things in a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, including dating, not writing any new pop songs and Elton John‘s “mom hair.” But he also addresses two subjects the tabloids have mostly focused on since Joel stopped making pop records two decades ago: his drinking and the state of his finances.

Joel says there was “no booze involved” in the 2002 accident — the first of three — that happened in East Hampton. “It’s these really dark roads back up here at night,” he explained. “The car went off the road and into a mud rut. I had gone through a breakup and was really broken up about it, and I decided I’m drinking too much. I should go to rehab. But people made a connection, like, ‘Oh, he went there because he was in a car accident from drinking.’ No.”

Joel said the second accident, which happened in 2003, occurred at a spot called Dead Man’s Curve. “It was black ice — that wasn’t drinking either,” he said. “The car slid and smashed into a tree. I went to rehab in ’05 because, when I was with [ex-wife] Katie, she said, ‘You’re drinking way too much.’ I never had a D.U.I. in my life. That’s another fallacy. Look at the police records.”

Joel also opened up about recent stories regarding his financial situation over the past several years. “There was a rumor that I filed for bankruptcy — that never happened either,” he said in the interview. “I owed Uncle Sam a couple of million bucks in income tax, and the money that I thought was there, wasn’t there.”

He goes on to explain that he had to sell one of his New York City properties, because he also owned another NYC place and was building a house in the Hamptons. He sold the spot to Sting. “I was praying for a rock star,” Joel said. “Then I sold the house that I was building to [Jerry] Seinfeld. I keep exchanging star homes. I bought Roy Scheider’s house. Mickey Drexler bought my old place in Martha’s Vineyard. I’m the Realtor to the stars.”

PAUL STANLEY DOESN’T NEED THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

With HBO airing highlights of the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Paul Stanley took the opportunity to speak his mind about how Kiss has been overlooked over the years. In a new interview, he railed against the museum.

“Look, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is marketing,” he told the Huffington Post. “You’ve got a bunch of faceless people in a back room who trademark a name that sounds very official. Well, if you had thought of it first, you would have been the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

But unlike, say the Sex Pistols and Axl Rose, Stanley would gladly acknowledge the honor – should it ever happen – because it means a lot for their fans to see them inducted. “I would certainly accept on their behalf because it seems to be a major sore spot for them, but I don’t need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” As for when that might happen, he added, ”Well, it depends on who lives longer, us or Jann Wenner.”

Instead, Stanley takes pride in the number of popular musicians today who grew up listening to Kiss, which is all he needs to justify Kiss’ placement among rock’s elite.

‘BATES MOTEL’ SEASON 2 SPOILERS: BATES FAMILY TREE, SHERIFF ROMERO OPENS UP, AND MORE!

Only one week following ‘Bates Motel‘s first season finale cliffhanger, and already we’re dying for a look at the prequel drama’s second season in 2014. Before then however, series creator and showrunner Carlton Cuse offered up some tantalizing teases of the second season to come, including which additional members of the ‘Bates’ clan will pop up, and who the series will explore in ‘Bates Motel’ season 2!

‘Bates Motel’ fans had plenty of unanswered questions left by season 1 finale “Midnight,” but they won’t have to wait until 2014 for answers on the Hitchcockian drama’s second season. Speaking to TVGuide, series creator and former ‘LOST‘ showrunner Carlton Cuse previewed that the second season would delve deeper into the Bates’ family history, which Norma herself recently revealed to include a complicated relationship with her brother.

“We would be remiss if we didn’t meet some other members of the Bates family,” said  Cuse. “I don’t want to say who, but we are definitely going to learn about their family tree, which has more twisty branches.” Cuse also added that Norma would find herself a new love interest in the coming year, one we’d yet to meet, while Vera Farmiga added that she looked forward to meeting one of the Bates clan in particular.

Meanwhile, Nestor Carbonell’s mysterious Sheriff Romero will receive a bigger spotlight in ‘Bates Motel’ season 2, moving into more of his home life, and the identity of Dylan’s father come to light as well, according to series star Freddie Highmore.

Well, what say you? Are you about to go ‘Psycho’ waiting for ‘Bates Motel’ sesaon 2? Give us your predictions for the coming year, and tell us what you thought of the first season in the comments!

‘SONS OF ANARCHY’ SEASON 6: KURT SUTTER TO LAUNCH ‘TALKING DEAD’-STYLE COMPANION PIECE?

AMC’s successful experiment in launching Chris Hardwick’s ‘Talking Dead‘ talk show after episodes of ‘The Walking Dead‘ not only spawned the development of a ‘Talking Bad‘ series for ‘Breaking Bad,’ but may have also inspired ‘Sons of Anarchy‘ creator Kurt Sutter to develop his own companion talk show for the FX series as well. Sutter has a slightly different vision in mind however, so find out if ‘Talking Sons’ will crop up on FX inside!

Five seasons in with a sixth on the way, no one can deny the cultural phenomenon and increasing popularity of FX and Kurt Sutter’s ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ so much so that Sutter may take a page from AMC’s playbook in launching a ‘Talking Dead’ style companion piece to accompany the biker drama. Speaking in his latest “WTF Sutter” webcast, the executive producer and series creator explained that he had pitched a similar idea for several seasons, though the success of ‘Talking Dead’ may have given him the clarity to get the idea off the ground.

The great thing about ‘Talking Dead’ is that that companion piece was so symbiotic and worked so well, it really helped me then continue to sell the idea for ‘Sons’ with its success. ['Talking Dead']’s a great companion piece, and I actually thank them for fueling my needs and desires here.

So we’re going to do something, it’s not going to be our version of the ‘Talking Sons of Anarchy,’ it’ll be different. I think some component of it will be looking at episodes, but I think there will be a lot of other things connected with it.

Sutter went on to specify that his ‘Sons of Anarchy’ companion piece likely wouldn’t air on FX initially, rather first projected on the internet, with the program’s evolution to be determined thereafter.

As for ‘Sons of Anarchy’s upcoming sixth season itself, the new episodes will feature the likes of former ‘The Shield’ star CCH Pounder, ‘Deadwood’ star Kim Dickens, while both Drea de Matteo’s Wendy and Donal Logue’s villainous Lee Toric will return, and Jimmy Smits (Nero Padilla) was upgraded to series regular. Still unconfirmed is the involvement of Billy Brown’s character August Marks, whom Sutter previously cautioned might not be available for the sixth season. Last year, Sutter also told reporters the next batch of episodes would likely open a few weeks ahead in the story, the weight of the season 5 finale’s events still fresh.

Well, what say you? Would you want to see ‘Sons of Anarchy’ spawn a talk show companion piece to air on FX? Check out Sutter’s blog entry below, and give us your thoughts in the comments!

THE CW’S ‘CULT’ RETURNS FROM CANCELLATION JUNE 28

Now that the broadcast season has all but ended, with renewals, cancellations and pickups mostly decided, the stragglers from the 2012-2013 season have been given their last hurrahs. Among the dearly departed, The CW’s now-cancelled ‘Cult‘ has officially set a June 28 return date to finish out its remaining episodes, but will they offer up any hope or closure for the series?

It’s good news/bad news for fans of The CW’s high-concept ‘Cult’ TV series, as the series will officially return this summer to finish out its remaining episodes. Series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon announced over Twitter last night that the remaining episodes of the series will debut on Friday June 28, slated to run in two-hour blocks from 8:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M. for three consecutive weeks.

For those who never tuned in, the series followed journalist blogger Jeff (Matthew Davis) and Skye (Jessica Lucas), a production researcher on a popular television crime series called ‘Cult,’ which stared ‘Prison Break’ vet Robert Knepper as the character Billy Grimm. Jeff and Skye investigated the fans of the series who were re-creating the crimes committed on the show. And perhaps now you can see why it had trouble catching on.

Well, what say you? Did ‘Cult’ deserve to disband, or did it go before its time? Tell us what series from the past year you thought deserved another chance in the comments!