Slash, whose Velvet Revolver is currently on tour with Alice in Chains, tells Glam-Metal.com that he is nearly finished with the autobiography that he’s been working on with former Rolling Stone scribe Anthony Bozza, who you remember helped Tommy Lee pen the often lurid and bombastic Tommyland. Due to hit shelves on October 15, Slash reportedly decided to put finger to computer when he realized he couldn't stand all the mis-information out there about his longstanding feud with former bandmate Axl Rose, including reports that he made an unannounced 5:30 a.m. visit to Axl Rose’s house two years ago. "I started realizing the amount of rumors and s**t that Guns N' Roses has generated in all the books that are unauthorized. I hooked up with this guy and I started to do an autobiography and so it's coming out."

But even with a co-writer, Slash confided that he found the writing process harder than he imagined. "It seems like it's all about me. It's sort of weird. It's got some funny s**t in it. It's not really a book that I'm out attacking anybody or venting all my grievances in it or that kind of s**t. It does sort of factually tell everything that happened since I started till now." He's contracted to do five "in store" book singings to promote the tome, so look for him in a Barnes & Noble near you.

Alice in Chains’ troubled front man, Layne Staley, who died of a drug overdose in 2002, still lives on in an annual benefit concert in his hometown of Seattle. At this year’s show on Saturday, August 25, one of his unexpected admirers headlined. It was season five American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry, whose debut album is the fastest-selling debut rock album in SoundScan history. Though during his run for the top spot on the high-rated show, he actually admitted he owned a Richard Marks album, the North Carolina native is a die hard grunge fan and offered his services, helping Staley’s family raise over $100,000 this year, all of it going towards drug prevention efforts. While Daughtry might have been the biggest name, the highlights of the show included the video made by the remaining Alice in Chains members, who showed a more whimsical side of their fallen compatriot and a performance by Staley’s mother who sang a duet with a recording of her son.

The Road does go on forever. Gregg Allman added four more dates to his fall tour. Following the Allman Brothers Band summer swing, which sounds its final note at Farm Aid Sept. 9 in New York’s Randall’s Island. Allman will take a month off before he hits the road on his own tour, which kicks off in North Charleston, South Carolina on Oct. 12. Allman will perform a special acoustic set at Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews, adding to the always stellar lineup at the annual fest.

This year’s Farm Aid will be the first held in New York and will feature founders Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, and Tim Reynolds, as well as Gregg Allman, the Allman Brothers Band, Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Guster, the Derek Trucks Band, Warren Haynes, Supersuckers, the Ditty Bops, and Montgomery Gentry. 

Trent Reznor is the master of shapeshifting and now he’s taken that to a whole new level—turning Nine Inch Nails’ latest album, Year Zero, into a TV show. Year Zero, which is a concept album, is Reznor’s own updated version of Orwell’s 1984, viewing society as he sees it 15 years in the future. He told Britain’s NME, “We’ve got a producer on board and have met with other writers. We’re about to pitch it to the network, so we’re a couple of weeks away from meeting all the main people and we’ll see what happens.” —Jaan Uhelszki

Blur drummer and budding British politician Dave Rowntree—who lost a city council election earlier this year—has decided to model his campaign after Barack Obama and has confessed some of his former not-so-healthy habits. Rowntree admitted to being addicted to cocaine in the ’90s, when his Brit pop band topped the U.K. charts with songs like “Song 2” and “Girls and Boys.” Ingenuously, Rowntree is using his past as one of his political platforms, trying to get the British government to do more to tackle the drug problem. He tells London’s Guardian, “Taking drugs is like playing Russian roulette.” —Jaan Uhelszki

Recently missing in action were the Old 97’s, but we have good news. The band has picked Dallas-based singer-guitarist Salim Nourallah to produce their latest album. Why Nourallah? He was the opening act for Old 97’s frontman Rhett Miller during his 2002 solo tour, and the two of them kept in touch. The band is due to hit the studio this fall. —Jaan Uhelszki

If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard much from Pearl Jam, one of the reasons is that frontman Eddie Vedder has been busy doing other things, one of which is working out the kinks on his new super group with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea and Pearl Jam stickman Jack Irons. They are strongly tipped to play Neil Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit on October 27 and 28, but don’t worry, the grunge progenitors are still a living, breathing entity. Vedder also will perform at the premier of the documentary Body of War at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11. Vedder penned two songs, “No More” and “Long Nights,” for this grueling and graphic documentary about Tomas Young, a soldier paralyzed by a bullet during his first week in Iraq. 

Photo Credit: Danny Clinch

While the philosophies espoused in “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” would seem pretty much diametrically opposed to, say, those of “All You Need Is Love,” there’s something intriguing about the Wu-Tang Clan getting in touch with their inner Beatles via a cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Not only has the Staten Island crew announced their intention to take on that classic, they’ve even opted to sign up a bona fide guitarist -- none other than George Harrison’s son Dhani—to play on the track. We’re kind of hoping they move on to the Ringo catalog next—after all, hearing Method Man intone the line “no, no, no, I can’t smoke it no more” would make our day, month, and year. —David Sprague

It’s long been said that the pen is mightier than the sword, but that adage apparently hasn’t trickled down to Florida’s anarchist community—a group made up pretty much entirely of members of Against Me and the odd disgruntled Disney World employee. Tom Gabel, who, as far as we know, only fits into one of those categories, took exception to the concept of freedom of expression while sipping a latte at a Tallahassee coffee shop earlier this week. The singer saw a press clipping about his band defaced with four-letter words and derogatory comments and responded in a manner more suited to Fight Club than debate club -- smacking a beverage out of the hands of his critic, then smashing the guy’s head into a table. For now, he only faces charges of battery, but accusations of hitting like an adolescent girl are sure to follow. —David Sprague