December 31: The band end this year rocking with a performance at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

December 22: ABC News spoke to Scott at the Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas and found out that the working title for VR's next album is 'Libertad', which means 'Freedom' in Spanish. Scott said: "The title that I'm sort of kicking around is … 'Libertad,'" and added "that can mean a lot of things. [..] The great rock and roll records were albums. It wasn't about 10 to 12 songs just thrown together so it can support three singles, which is sort of what records are about today."

December 14: Press reports left and right are buzzing with the news that Velvet Revolver are working on a concept album. They quote Scott saying "It's something I've been wanting to do since the last STP album, since the Shangri-La Dee Da album, and it never was completely realized. You never know until you really completely get there, but it's going in that direction right now." No details about the concept were given, but Duff adds that they are still looking for a spring 2006 release. A day later, Billboard quotes Duff saying the band hopes to be in the studio by February or March, with a possible July release date for the album. Scott is also working on a second solo album, for which he has 25 songs written already.

December 6: VR played an unannounced show in Las Vegas. The band performed a 11-song set at Body English at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where Maxim held a Billboard Music Awards afterparty. Earlier that night, the band presented the award for Hot 100 Song Of The Year to Mariah Carey during the ceremony.

November 30: VR has been nominated for 'Best Rock Artists of the Year' at this year's Billboard Music Awards! The competition in this category is Breaking Benjamin, Green Day and Papa Roach. Winners are determined by the 2005 year-end charts, which reflect the weekly charts that Billboard published from December 2004 through November 2005. This year's show will be hosted by LL Cool J on December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

November 22: Slash performed with Ozzy Osbourne at the 77th Royal Variety Performance in Cardiff, Wales. The song they did was the Beatles classic 'In My Life'. Other performing artists were Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Cliff Richard, Katherine Jenkins, Will Young and Charlotte Church.

November 17, 2005: Slash performed 'Hey Joe' with a killer solo at the UK Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony, where Jimi Hendrix was inducted. Slash also presented the award.

November 12, 2005: Scott sang three songs on the 'Decades Rock Live: Cyndi Lauper' show taping: 'Barbarella', 'Money Changes Everything' and 'Time After Time'. The show was taped for duture broadcast by VH1 Classic.

November 4, 2005: 'Fall To Pieces' is nominated for 'Song of the Year/Rock Radio' at this year's Radio Music Awards. The winners of all categories will be announced during the show's live broadcast on Monday, December 19 from Las Vegas.

October 22: Slash guests at the Queen & Paul Rodgers concert at the Hollywood Bowl. He played on the Bad Company Classic 'Can't Get Enough' and shared the lead solo with Brian May.

September 16: Message from Matt:

"Hello all you loyal Velvet Revolver fans,

Just wanted to say to all the fans that came to see VR on the last leg of the tour including Ozzfest, how sorry I am that I couldn't make it. It was very hard for me to sit on the sidelines while my band went out on the road without me. But it’s what they had to do and with my blessing. It was just a week before the tour when I went to my Mom’s house on Lake Havasu near the Colorado River. I was water skiing when I had a freak fall on the water skies by getting tangled in the ski rope and being dragged. Not even realizing anything was seriously wrong nor broken till the following morning when I awoke to my hand as swollen as a football; I went straight to a local clinic for x-rays. I was stunned when I heard the news. I had fractured my hand, breaking the smallest finger on my right hand.

Calling my managers I headed back to Los Angeles for an expert bone analysis. I went to a Hand Specialist, Dr. Miles Cohen, at the Cedars Sinai Hospital. Dr Cohen has been working with bones for 40 yrs. At first he thought I might be ready to perform by Ozzfest and only out for a few dates. Then after a week of wearing a cast and trying to heal naturally, it turns out it wasn't healing properly. So he decided I needed surgery. I was afraid, because I had never dealt with any trauma to my hands before. The drums are my life and this scared me. But I was in good hands - No pun intended. He inserted a pin from my pinky to my wrist. I am doing well and on the road to recovery. Nonetheless, I really missed all of you fans. I tried to kill time by just simply sitting and watching TV. Saw the family, which was nice after a YEAR and a half of touring, had some BBQ's in my backyard, and spent some time with my girlfriend, Ace in Las Vegas, who has been dancing with The Pussycat Dolls at The Caesar’s Palace.

Thank you for your postings on VR.com and related fan sites. I do read that stuff sometimes. I am flying with the band to NY now to hang out for the opening of the New Hard Rock Hotel in Times Square… I won't be playing yet though. Maybe one song won't kill me, we'll see. And on Friday we will be receiving a double platinum award from all the good people at RCA Records.

Thank you for the support these last couple of years… it has been an amazing ride. Can't wait to start making the next album. It’s going to be awesome.

Take care and love to you all,

Matt"

September 7: Message from Scott:

"Go Irish!! I haven't seen a Notre Dame team play with such focus and urgency in years. The offence was executed with surgical efficiency you see in Florida teams. You see them dominate defenses with their pro aspects and deliveries. But the Irish? Is this too good to be true? Gosh darn Brady Quin, you looked like Joe Montana! Offensive line, running game, tight ends, defense, special teams, this is the game one I've been dreaming of for years.

Coach Weisse, you’re the coach I've been praying about for a long time now. Now a lot of folks are going to say, "Don't get ahead of yourself," and that's probably true. However when was the last time anyone saw the Irish play like that?

These boys have attitude! Damn that was Fun!"

- Scott

September 2: Velvet Revolver will be playing a benefit show for all the Katrina victims this coming Tuesday in Orlando, Florida! All proceeds go straight to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

August 16:Velvet Revolver have enlisted veteran drummer Mark Schulman to fill in for injured Matt Sorum during the Ozzfest trek. According to Schulman's official web site, Mark will taking over the drumming duties for Velvet Revolver beginning with the August 20 show at the Aladdin Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV.

August 12: Last night was the start of the US/Ozzfest tour. VR played for the first time Come On, Come In and Dead and Bloated at the show.

August 10: Snitch, the Manhattan rock 'n roll club co-owned by Duff and Scott, is drawing interest from several cable networks. Original Media, the company behind the tattoo reality show "Miami Ink", is shopping around "Snitch", which takes place at a New York venue of the same name and follows the workers, from the bouncers to the bartenders.

August 7: Drummer Brian Tichy will fill in for Matt on the first 6 or 7 dates of the upcoming tour. As previously reported, Matt fractured his hand in a recent boating accident, and will join the band on stage again for the Ozzfest dates later this month.

August 5: Matt Sorum suffered a fractured hand as the result of a recent boating accident, and it appears that he was unable to perform on the first few dates of the band's upcoming headlining tour.

August 3: VR cancelled their performance to be on the Jimmy Kimmel show! It is being reported that one of the VR members had a minor injury.

July 28: VR will be performing "Come On, Come In" live for the first time ever on the Jimmy Kimmel show. It airs on August 8th at 12:05 AM ET (technically on August 9th).

July 27: Congratulations to Velvet Revolver for having Contraband being certified as double-platinum by the RIAA for shipments in excess of two million copies in the United States, according to the Associated Press. The album has sold over 1,775,000 in the U.S. according to Nielsen Soundscan.

July 23: Velvet Revolver is at number 26 for the Mid-Year top 100 tours! It has grossed over 8.80 million dollars.

July 15: "Come On, Come In" entered the Billboard Mainstream Rock Singles Chart at number 17.

July 13: Scott Weiland's drug charges have been dismissed. A Pasadena court commissioner Tuesday dismissed a drug case against Scott Weiland because he has completed a rehab program under Proposition 36. The 37-year-old rocker, who was charged in May 2003 with possessing heroin and cocaine, faced up to three years in prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Harrold said. But the voter-passed law permits petty drug offenders such as Weiland to undergo treatment instead of jail.

July 9: Duff McKagan says that the mood in London in the wake of the tragic attacks is very different from the mood only a few days ago, when VR performed at the London Live 8 concert. He described the atmosphere at the show as a, "worldwide...just groove, peace fest." He says he thought the feeling would last, "and then this thing happens in London, and the focus definitely got turned."

July 2: VR just performed a blistering set at Live8 in London, with the songs 'Do It For The Kids', 'Fall To Pieces' and 'Slither'.

July 2: Thanks to Raw Power, here's a message from Duff:

"last night in denmark we had one of the best shows of this tour...amazing. unfortunately, scott sprained his ankle VERY bad (we thought it was broken) during the last note of the last song (slither). scott, being the trooper that he is, will play tonite in brussels and saturday at live8. what a bummmer, we"ve been touring for 14-15 months and we are finally going to get a break and scott will be bed-ridden for at least a couple of weeks. please send good thoughts scott"s way!

thanks all......duff"

July 1: Tsunami Benefit Single release pushed back again. The all-star tsunami benefit single featuring Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne, and VR has had its release date pushed back to Christmas.

June 22: For the "Come On, Come In" video, Velvet Revolver joined forces with director Wayne Isham in Los Angeles before the band launched their in-progress European tour. Inspired by the adrenaline-driven visuals and conceptual theme of the "Fantastic Four" movie, the video combines the raw energy of a Velvet Revolver performance, with graphic transitions between movie footage and Dali-esque individualized abstract portraits of each band member. The song was released to US radio stations yesterday.

June 15: Velvet Revolver will record an acoustic version of You Got No Right, to be released as the 4th single off Contraband. The band will hit the studio in Prague next week with a full string section to put the performance to tape.

June 15: Scott Weiland's wife, Mary Weiland, has released a statement in response to last week's Associated Press story in which "family obligations" and album "pre-production work" were cited by Velvet Revolver spokeswoman Kristine Ashton-Magnuson as reasons for the group's decision to cut short their overseas tour. Mary Weiland's statement in response to the Associated Press story reads as follows:

"In response to the Associated Press piece last week, Scott Weiland's family obligation is to myself and his children. As for Finnish TV and any so called 'rock critics' involved in a pool on my husband:

1. That's so early '90s

2. You can kiss my ass."

June 11 : Two new messages from Scott

"Christ! You people are like locusts! Every day there's more bullshit. I must be absolutely mesmerizing! You all seem to be enraptured and in need of your rock & roll fables.

1. A few days ago I was a Nazi.

2. Then the end of the Euro Tour is cancelled because Slash and I hate each other.

3. Now I hear I'm going to Rehab.

Get a Fucking Life!! - Scott"

"Out of respect for my German fans of all races and creeds, as well as those who might have been offended, and those who might have misunderstood the true meaning of the event that did not, in fact, take place, I did not wear the SS hat at the German shows. As for the writer from New York Magazine - thousands of miles away - attacking my personal integrity by printing a private Blackberry message of mine, and the press invading my personal privacy to spin a web of deceit about me? Not an original concept, especially when being done with malice!

Once again I have been very vocal with my opinions about policies. Music, theatrics, and their combined force can ultimately be much more powerful than empty promises or political jargon that's almost unlistenable and definitely unbelievable - especially when spoken by politicians who's motives are self-seeking, yet whose arms are long reaching (all the way into the private sector). Dollars go in and body bags come out, and wounded men and women are sent back to America as heroes, but not quite the same as they were before; a leg missing, two legs missing, an arm gone, one man shot in the face, a morphine drip in the arm. But a thumbs up! That's all that some could give.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center three weeks ago. Slash, my wife, and I, were there on our anniversary. We couldn't have prepared ourselves for what we saw: not the pain or the horror, but the courage... the honor. "I declare this mission accomplished!" said our fearless "leader". It will never be over.

I sent the original e-mail to people at my record label and to people at my management company. Someone mysteriously passed it off to you. Now you slandering me is the same as slandering my entire family! Are you trying to start a war with me?

- Scott Weiland "

Weiland insists he is "in no way, shape, or form a Nazi" Weiland says,

"The Nazi SS hat that I wear in fact symbolises the loss of democracy and the shift to totalitarianism. "One could make an argument that indeed the Government of the US is evolving into, or is already, a fascist police state, hiding under the guise of a republic."

June 7: Contrary to some tough internet rumours and speculation by Finnish magazine 'Iltalehti', the band is NOT breaking up! Even though the band have cancelled some European shows after the Live8 benefit (more info & official statements will probably follow soon), they are only taking a break from the exhausting tour that they've been on for over a year, so they can rock the U.S. even better after a well-deserved break.

May 27: Song title for the Fantastic Four movie revealed! The band hit the studio on May 16 in Lakewood's Lava Room Recordings to finish recording the vocals of "Come On Come In," the new track for the upcoming Fantastic Four soundtrack. The soundtrack will be available on June 28 through Amazon.com.

Lava Room partner and chief engineer Mike Brown engineered the session. "It's a great track," says Brown. "It's pretty aggressive. Scott was really rippin'. He did a few megaphone parts, bringing some of the Stone Temple Pilots parts to the band. They were definitely professionals. Scott's really serious about what he does, a real perfectionist. They were very easy to work with. We had a good time."

May 19: Scott and Matt joined Camp Freddy today. Scott performed Surrender with Billy Duffy and Bodies with Steve Jones while Sorum played drums.

May 16: Last week, Scott Weiland performed a new song for NBC-TV's "Last Call With Carson Daly" on a day off from the VR tour. The charismatic frontman strode onstage in a vintage original Nudie Rodeo Tailor suit from 1972 and debuted a new song, "The Man I Didn't Know". For the performance of this loose-limbed and poignant country rock ballad he wrote about his father, Weiland assembled a band that included the unlikely match-up of a pedal steel guitarist and steel drummer. Weiland goes on to explain:

"I met Tim McGraw at the Grammys, when we sang 'Across the Universe' together for tsunami relief and we talked about singing a song together. This is the song I wrote for us to sing."

May 14: Matt Sorum recently spoke to Launch Radio Networks about the group's upcoming DVD, which is tentatively due late summer.

"We're working on it right now," Sorum said. "We're cutting it up. Shot that down in Houston early on, and we did a lot of footage backstage and stuff, so it should be real interesting. We're gonna intercut a lot of backstage footage with a lot of stuff in our travels, you know, cross-country, which will be cool to kind of end the tour up with."

May 13: This is a message from Scott:

"Lately I have felt an increasing need to set the record straight since false information and gross distortions continue to get proliferated through the media in many forms by dishonest and disingenuous writers/journalists who are supported by their publications. It is not a crusade for the truth, it is a realization that the neo-tabloidism sells magazines, but also...wrecks marriages...wrecks families...wrecks careers...wrecks lives!!!

Yeah there is probably some writer, critic or journarazzi that's saying to himself or among others "oh poor rock stars, oh poor celebrities". Well fuck off! Does doing what I love to do give you a right to put a bulls eye on my "back"? Does is give you the right to make it open season on anyone of notoriety? If your a mother fucker and you still answer yes what about about the ones that really suffer from your selfish lies and deceit, the children, the wives, the parents, and the friends!? That can not be justified...period.

Dedicated to Mike S. You were the inspiration and muse for this little thought.

P.S. In regards to the article "Beating the Odds - Velvet Revolver Sticks Together Despite Unstable Pasts" from the publication Newark Star Ledger written by Jay Lusting

I never auditioned for this band nor any other band. Nor was I ever settled on.

If you want to find out how I in-fact did come to the band then do your homework instead of continuing to perpetrate bullshit."

May 12: ABC ePrep reports that Slash will be featured in upcoming TV ads for X Games 11, which will take place August 4-7 in Los Angeles. According to MTV News, Slash will be part of a choir that includes extreme sports stars, including Danny May and Dave Mirra.

May 11: According to Sp1at.com, a spokesperson for Velvet Revolver has confirmed that the band had recorded a new song for the "Fantastic Four" soundtrack. The film is due for release in the U.S. on July 8. They recorded the track in Osceola Studios in downtown Raleigh, NC.

Also, Scott Weiland pulled out all the stops for his wife Mary’s 30th birthday with a blow-out “Pretty In Pink” prom bash at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Los Angeles. Scott and Mary Weiland--decked out in ‘80s prom attire along with the other guests--were the King and Queen of the prom, where the members of Velvet Revolver and guests like Charlize Theron; Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot Chili Peppers); Tony Kanal (No Doubt); Steve Jones (Sex Pistols, radio personality on Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles); Donovan Leitch (Camp Freddy) and wife, model Kirsty Hume; actress Ione Skye; Melissa Rivers; Billy Morrison (Camp Freddy, The Cult); and actor Michael Des Barres danced to a spot-on ‘80s covers band and had prom photos taken while films from the ‘80s were shown.

May 2: Scott Weiland has done some co-production work on the upcoming sophomore album from the Los Angeles power trio The Actual. They have recorded the CD at Burbank, California's Lavish Studios, which is co-owned by Weiland and the album's primary producer, Douglas Grean. Commented The Actual singer Max Bernstein in a March 25 online posting,

"Scott Weiland is coming in next week to produce 'Dancing on the Perimeter' and it’s gonna be amazing. I had to play it for him on acoustic guitar the other day and nearly died, especially when he chimed in with a backing vocal."

Grean also revealed that he and Weiland have plans to sign The Actual to Softdrive Records, the label venture Grean co-founded with Weiland back in 2003.

April 21: The official site has put up six new US tour dates for August. Here are the following dates: 8/11 Mt. Pleasant, MI; 8/12 Columbus, OH; 8/13 Chicago, IL; 8/15 Greenbay, WI; 8/19 Las Vegas, NV and 8/21 Tucson, AZ. Tickets for MI, IL, NV and AZ shows haven't been announced yet. For Columbus, OH show it goes on sale 6/04 and Greenbay, WI on sale 05/01.

In addition to these dates, VR was added to the lineup of the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, IL. The band will perform on August 17 according to the ISF website.

April 20: Electric Wonderland tour marks the band's first arena tour, and Scott Weiland says that it's a challenge to bring an intimate quality to a large venue. He says that they solve the problem by keeping the stage smaller because, "if you enlarge the stage too much, we found that the band doesn't play as a band any more — you start playing as individuals...So, we sort of keep the stage smaller, just so we perform as a band." Slash says that VR has started to work on the second album, and as he puts it,

"We're making arrangements to take, whenever we have some time off, to go in and start pre-production and do this thing, 'cause everybody's really excited about it."

April 6: Matt Sorum talked to Launch Radio Networks about how the adjustment from playing in clubs to arenas isn't that big of a problem for him.

"The stage is a little bigger, but it feels pretty much the same to me," he said. "I mean, I'm not too affected by it. It's just nice. I mean, you get to the gig and it's just easier to deal with the — the venue's just set up better, usually, when you have a bigger venue. That's pretty much what they're built for, you know, is playing big rock shows and stuff."

April 4: Scott Weiland impressed lawmakers in Los Angeles on Monday with his sobriety, that they are set to dismiss drug charges against him. Scott has been in and out of court for over two years now. Scott was told by the court that he has only three more drug tests until July. And if he passes them, his probation will be terminated.

April 3: For "Dirty Little Thing" the group members didn't want to release it as a single. In fact, the song's video was conceived for "Sucker Train Blues", which was the quintet's choice for its next single. Drummer Matt Sorum told Launch that they ultimately decided to stick with the video concept even though the record company picked a different song:

"The original concept for that video was written for 'Sucker Train Blues'. We all wanted to put out 'Sucker Train Blues', but the label came back and said they wanted to do 'Dirty Little Thing'. Scott (Weiland) said 'Hey, why don't we use the same treatment, just use different song?'"

April 1: Matt Sorum has confirmed that they will play 10 dates for the Ozzfest starting in West Valley City, Utah. Velvet Revolver will be replacing Iron Maiden for the last seven dates.

March 31: Velvet Revolver will be on the XXX State of the Union soundtrack. Groovevolt has posted the full soundtrack for the movie.

March 29: Tribute Sounds will be releasing a Guitar Tribute to Velvet Revolver featuring various artists. It was released today through Amazon.

March 27: Matt has updated his official journal. In it he talks about his recent trip to Australia, Japan and the Grammy show.

"Hello VR people, Rocking Canada right now. Sitting on a plane heading to a place called Saskatoon in a province of Canada called Saskatchewan. Just played Hamilton, Ontario just outside of Toronto. Beautiful country up here. Have been busy. Did the UK in JanuaryAmazing crowds there. Played Dublin to about 8500.Went to a place called Lilly's bordello after the show with my girlfriend Ace. Drank some Guinness. Awesome. Only one problem me and Ace missed our flight to Glasgow, Scotland. Had to rent a prop plane to make the gig. Pretty scary flying over the Irish Sea in the Fog. Ran into Colin Farrell and told him the story while he was trying to steal my girlfriend. No chance Stud. She's mine!!! Anyway made the gig as usual and rocked the Scots. Stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Devonshire and had a butler named Billy. Drank single malt scotch and felt like a Lord or King with my Princess Ace. 5 nights in London Killer! Loved it! Great shopping and Indian food.

Back to LA for a minute then off to Japan. Played Nagoya and then took the Bullitt train to Osaka with my girl Ace.Ate noodles, Sushi and drank cold Saki.Sweet people in Japan.So polite and giving. Love to them.!!!!DOMO DOMO DOMO

Then a crazy trip back to LA for the Grammy'sUp for Three, pretty crazy!!And on top of it jamming with Bono, Alicia, Stevie Wonder, Steven Tyler, Norah Jones, Brian Wilson!!!!! And Billy from Green Day also Tim Mcgraw Unbelievable!! What a trip. I feel so blessed. Had one rehearsal backstage. You should have been there. Bono was very demanding.But hey he's Bono and he know's it. Anyway crazy day there.

Went to the pre-awards with Scott. To see if we would win. Well Scott went for a smoke and when he was gone they announced Slither as the winner of the Best Rock Performance. I went up by myself. I forgot to thank everybody. Thanked RCA Clive Davis, Ashley Newton. Thanked my band. But forgot to Thank our managers Irving Azoff, John Baruck, my guru David Cadikow, and Dana Dufine. Also Rob, Darryl and Jenna at CAARod McSween our agent in Europe, Australia and Japan. As well as our amazing crew. Tom Mayhue, Mike Mayhue, Adam Day,Feelie, as weel as all the other crew.We have 24 on the road now.

Thank you too fans For digging what we're doing.It is an honor to rock for you.Anyway after the Grammy's we had to take off for New Zealand and Australia.Awesome down under. Summertime there. Stayed an extra day in Sydney on a beach called Bondi. I highly recommend it. Long ways to go but well worth it..I guess that's all for now.Come see us wherever you are. Love and respect.Your drummer, Matt Sorum

March 25: RCA Records has confirmed that Velvet Revolver will be on the Tonight show with Jay Leno on April 07. This will be the third time they have been on the Jay Leno show.

March 22: Slash won the best guitarist prize in the 2005 Esky Music Awards in Esquire Magazine. This is the write-up about Slash in the magazine:

"He's who we see ourselves as everytime we strap on an air guitar. The top hat. The hair. The dangling cigarette. The near-death experiences. He'll always be Slash of GUNS N' ROSES to us, but we also congratulate him for beating the comeback odds with a surprisingly legitimate and vital outfit, Velvet Revolver."

March 5: Slash has confirmed plans for a future live cd and dvd release later this year, to tie the fans over until VR releases a new album, hopefully before Christmas. He also says the band has been working on new songs, but do not want to play them live because they fear audience recordings will be on the internet in a matter of moments.

March 1: Scott is eager to release new album. VR will kick off their spring North American tour, in late March. But if it was up to singer Scott Weiland, the band would probably be in the studio working on their second album instead — if only to have some new songs to play live.

"We have one album worth of original material that we play, and to keep things fresh, we are constantly learning other people's material — covers of classic songs that we really admire, influences to us," Scott said. "But at some point, that's gonna get old. It's actually starting to get old. So we're really starting to get eager to put out a new record."

February 16: Scott wants new album out by Christmas. Although VR will be on the road until the end of this summer, lead vocalist Scott Weiland has a very definite timetable for when he'd like the band to record its second album.

"We're going into pre-production this spring, and our goal and our aim is to have a record out by Christmastime," Scott said. "We've reached every goal that we've set so far, so I really don't see a reason why we wouldn't hit that goal."

February 15: Dirty Little Thing is now available to watch online as Windows Media Player, Real Player and Quicktime. Rolling Stone has it on Real Player. It's also available through RCA records on Windows Media Player and as a Quicktime video through the official site.

February 14: Congrats go out to the band for winning a Grammy for 'Slither' in the 'Best Hard Rock Performance' category! VR also performed as the backing band for performance of the John Lennon song 'Across the Universe'. Scott Weiland, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Billy Joe Armstrong, Brian Wilson and Steven Tyler all traded vocals. Alison Krauss joined on violin.

Scott: "Everyone kind of counted us out from the very beginning. But we came out smashing through the gates, with a big middle finger to all our detractors. Performing John Lennon's 'Across the Universe' onstage was absolutely one of the highlights of my professional career, of my life."

February 5: Best wishes to Duff McKagan, who celebrates his 41st birthday today!

February 2 : VR starts their Japan tour today at Nagoya, Japan. This is the first time ever that they have played in Japan.

February 1: Rumors are that VR will be on the soundtrack for 'Batman Begins'. They have a 'newly recorded song' on the soundtrack for the upcoming Batman movie 'Batman Begins'.

January 30: VR will be supporting Black Sabbath at European festivals. They will be playing in Europe in June in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.

January 26: VR records an acoustic version of 'Fall To Pieces' at Lavish Studios with producer Douglas Grean. The song eventually ends up on the European 'Tour Edition' of Contraband, released in June 2005.

January 23: VR last show in the United Kingdom was tonight. For the first time ever, they played Five to One by the Doors on January 23th at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

January 18th: VR sign on for tsunami benefit single. Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne announced Monday their plans to record a cover of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" to benefit storm recovery efforts. Gwen Stefani, Pink, Velvet Revolver, Steven Tyler, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne are among the artists lending their voices to the song.

January 14: VR to record a new album in the fall! In a new Rolling Stone article, Slash talks about recording a new VR album in the fall after a worldwide tour.

January 13: New North American tour dates added. Slashonline.com put up North American tour dates for March and April.

January 10: VR started their UK tour last night in London, England. They will be playing 11 tour dates in the UK.

January 3: For the first time ever VR played Dirty Little Thing in Las Vegas, NV on January 1 and have also added You Got No Right to their setlist.