It was the moment die-hard Rolling Stones fans had been waiting for since it was announced Mick Taylor would be hitting the road with the band last year. Taylor dominated the Stones' Monday night (May 20th) final gig at L.A.'s Staples Center, which featured no other surprise guests. Taylor performed a total of four songs with the band -- including his signature tour-de-force, the extended Sticky Fingers workout, "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," along with the rarely played 1971 classic "Sway" which featured only Taylor and Mick Jagger on guitars during the original session.

Taylor joined the band again for his customary spots on "Midnight Rambler" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Other highlights in the show featured a performance of the Some Girls favorite -- and "Miss You" B-side -- "Far Away Eyes."

We asked Mick Taylor if it was difficult in rehearsal to figure out how he, Keith Richard, and Ron Wood would weave three guitar parts into a two-guitar band: "We didn't even think about it. I mean, in a strange way, all three guitars kind of blend seamlessly into each other, y'know? Especially if the sound is really good on stage. It was actually good right from the off, y'know?"

The Rolling Stones tour dates (subject to change):
May 25 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
May 28, 31 - Chicago, IL - United Center
June 3 - Chicago, IL - United Center
June 6 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
June 9 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
June 12, 14 - Boston, MA - TD North Garden
June 14 - Boston, MA - TD North Garden
June 18, 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
June 24 - Washington, D.C. - Verizon Center
June 29 - Pilton, England - Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm
July 6, 13 - London, England - Hyde Park

Jon Bon Jovi took a swipe at pop star Justin Bieber, citing his unprofessional attitude, and calling him an "asshole." Bon Jovi spoke about the 19-year-old Bieber's penchant for showing up late to his concerts -- including a London show in March, which saw Bieber stroll in two hours late. Bon Jovi told The London Evening Standard, "Every generation has guys that do that. None of that is new. They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you the permission to take two or three hours of their lives -- or in that kid's case, 80 minutes of their lives."

He gave some word of advice for the latest pop sensation, who later blamed his tardiness on technical difficulties: "Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won't have you back. Then it just becomes a cliche. It's really not cool -- you're an a**hole. Go to f***in' work!"

Jon Bon Jovi has literally grown up in a bubble. He told us he and the band have come a long way since scoring their first Number One album with 1986's Slippery When Wet: "Y'know when I was 25 and we wrote ' . . .Bad Name,' you were the kid with long hair in the mall -- sex, drugs, rock n' roll. All that kind of stuff. You were a cowboy. You were gonna ride into town. You were dead or alive. That's who I was at that time. I'm not that guy anymore. I've grown up in the public eye. We've been at this a long time."

Bon Jovi performs tonight (May 22nd) in Bergen, Norway.

Rod Stewart needn't have worried if his return to songwriting would be a flop -- the new album Time now sits on top of the UK charts. The album marks his first UK chart-topper since 1979's Greatest Hits Volume 1 and his first of original material since 1976's A Night On The Town. Stateside, Time -- which features Rod's first substantial attempts at songwriting since 1991's Vagabond Heart -- hit the Billboard 200 album charts at Number Seven. The album features 10 out of the 11 tracks co-written by Rod, who solely produced the set. Time includes two songs which show very different sides of relationships, "She Makes Me Happy" and "It's Over," which are already making their mark on radio here and overseas.

Rod was asked if he was always aware of that unique sway he seems to have with the ladies: "I don't know, I'm not a standardly good-looking bloke, I've just. . . I used to do right even before I was in the music business. Y'know, probably a good chat-up line and I think I can be, when I want to, fairly charming and well-mannered."

Rod Stewart's next North American date will be the kickoff of his latest Las Vegas run on July 20th at The Colosseum At Caesars Palace. He'll be performing at the hotel through August 4th.

This fall he'll hit the road in the States with Steve Winwood serving as his opening act.

Rod Stewart & Steve Winwood tour dates (subject to change):
October 17 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
October 19 - Atlanta, GA - Philips Arena
October 24 - Chicago, IL - United Center
October 26 - Auburn Hills, MI - The Palace Of Auburn Hills
December 4 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
December 7 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
December 9 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden Arena
December 11 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
December 14 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
December 15 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre

Now running at New York City's Morrison Hotel Gallery is an exhibit by photographer and filmmaker, Norman Seeff. Over the years, Seeff has captured timeless shots of such musical and pop culture legends as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Sly Stone, Joni Mitchell, Ray Charles, Martin Scorsese, Patti Smith, Frank Zappa, David Crosby, Aerosmith, Carly Simon, Ike and Tina Turner, Miles Davis, John Belushi, Blondie, the Eagles, Van Morrison, Michael Jackson, Norman Mailer, John Huston, Steve Jobs, among many, many more. Seeff's exhibit runs through June 9th.

The exhibition features enormous mounted canvases featuring each shot laid on top of one other, with two people being needed to flip over the sheets of photographs. The exhibit features iPads, which include Seeff's previously unseen footage from the shoots.

Seeff recalled to us one of his more memorable shoots featuring the great Tina Turner: "Tina Turner walked in and she stepped up on -- we built a little stage -- and within one second, I said to her. . . and I'm playing her music, y'know -- 'Would you like the music louder?' And she's saying, 'No, fine!' And she starts to sing and it's the Tina Turner delivery. And the whole session became, 'Can I keep up with the power of this woman?' And the thing about shooting is that you ride that wave. You ride that current emotionally. And there are moments when, y'know, there's like a peak in energy, it's like a waveform. And I was firing and firing and firing."

Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell said in a recent fan question and answer session at HBO's website that inducting Heart into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last month was an "eye-opening experience" that changed his view of the entire institution. Cornell explained, "I was certainly honored, but had always had a cynical attitude about an institution like this as it pertains to rock 'n' roll in general. The fan support of all the bands inducted and their emotional enthusiasm changed everything for me."

Asked "If Soundgarden is inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, who would be the presenter?" Cornell replied, "I would hope it is a when, as opposed to an if. How about Gene Simmons?"

As for who he would like to induct into the Hall if he had the chance to do it again, Cornell selected singer and songwriter Daniel Johnston, who recorded a lot of music on cassette tapes through a boom box.

Cornell said, "It occurred to me at one point that I got no less enjoyment out of listening to his records than I did from a Pink Floyd record . . . That thought spoke to me as an absolute definition of what rock 'n' roll is really about."

Soundgarden plays in Kansas City on Wednesday night (May 22nd) as the band continues to support its 2012 album King Animal.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is currently at the Cannes Film Festival in France, where he is talking with various international distributors about the band's upcoming feature film, Metallica Through The Never. Ulrich, a well-known film buff who has even done a little acting in a handful of movies, was asked by Getty Images Entertainment if he ever considered actually directing a movie himself one day.

He replied, "The biggest enemy I have is time. Metallica in its 32nd year is busier and has more projects on the table and takes up more of my time than it ever has. I may do it. I would love to do something. I have actually been offered the chance to both direct and produce as well as write and I've acted in a couple of films so I do what I can."

But, Ulrich added, "Metallica is the main thing in my life and I'm not going to turn my back on that."

Metallica Through The Never will open on IMAX screens in the U.S. on September 27th, with a wider release following on October 4th.

The movie stars Dane DeHaan has a member of the band's road crew who is sent on a mysterious mission while the group headlines a concert at an arena. The film is said to mix a conventional storyline with concert footage.

Ulrich said about the filmmaking process, "Making a movie at this level has been a little overwhelming. In the music world, you get very used to controlling your environment and in the film world there is nothing to control . . . it's just like a complete clusterf*** . . . and there's a bizarre beauty in that."

Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne turned up at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's An Evening With Women cancer prevention fundraiser last Saturday night (May 18th), where the Prince of Darkness performed a short set containing both Sabbath classics and solo hits. According to Loudwire, among the tunes Ozzy belted out were "War Pigs," "Paranoid" and "Crazy Train."

Ozzy is no stranger to dealing with cancer. He told us that his wife Sharon's bout with colon cancer several years ago was unexpected and frightening: "It's always someone else. You never really think it's gonna happen to you. It's like, across the road or down the street or something. To be honest with you, the first month when (inaudible), I was like, I'd never known anyone that had been diagnosed with that that had recovered. But then I went to my doctor one day and he said to me, 'I had colon cancer 10 years ago and I got over it, you know.' He was the first guy that ever gave me hope."

Ozzy's backing group for the evening featured members of Camp Freddy and Billy Idol's band, including guitarist Steve Stevens, guitarist Billy Morrison and keyboardist Derek Sherinian, along with Black Sabbath touring drummer Tommy Clufetos.

Perhaps most significantly, Ozzy walked the red carpet at the event with Sharon and their daughter Kelly, with the family all smiles as they arrived.

Ozzy and Sharon had reportedly been living apart for several months after he relapsed into drug and alcohol abuse, but they have reportedly moved back in together now that Ozzy's been sober again for more than two months.

Comedian Kathy Griffin hosted the benefit, which also featured a performance from Natasha Bedingfield.

Black Sabbath recently finished a tour of Australia and New Zealand, as well as a headlining stint at the first-ever Ozzfest Japan two weeks ago.

The band's new album 13, the first to feature Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler all together in 35 years, arrives on June 11th.

The news that Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington was going to be the new frontman -- more or less -- for Stone Temple Pilots seems to have divided fans of both bands, but one person thinks it sounds great: Slash. The legendary guitarist, who played in Velvet Revolver with former STP vocalist Scott Weiland before dismissing him from that band, tweeted, "On a quick break from interviews, listening to new @STPband w/ @chesterbe sounds fantastic! Really excited for this new line-up."

It was Slash who first hinted that STP had fired Weiland for a second time last December, with the band itself making the official announcement in February.

Slash has made no secret of his problems with Weiland but admitted a while back that he was hardly surprised by them: "You know, we knew what we were getting into going into it and, you know, he managed to do pretty well for a while there. But then he turned around and it was aggravating and frustrating and all those negatives, but at the same time, you can't sit there and be surprised."

Fans were shocked when Stone Temple Pilots made a surprise appearance at a radio festival in the Los Angeles area last Saturday (May 18th), with Bennington making his debut on the mic.

The group performed a new song called "Out Of Time" at the show, putting a studio version online earlier this week. Bennington later said that he was planning on doing more recording and touring with STP, while remaining in Linkin Park.