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Estranged Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward has confirmed that he will not be taking part in any of the three Black Sabbath shows set for this summer. The drummer has released a statement on his website, Billward.com, saying that he will not be playing with the band at their Birmingham show on May 19, nor with them at Download Festival on June 10 or at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 3.

A rare photograph showing The Beatles walking 'backwards' across Abbey Road is set to fetch up to £9,000 at auction. The snap, taken by late photographer Iain Macmillan, shows the band walking right to left across the zebra crossing outside the London studio where they made their 1969 album - the opposite direction to the picture which made it onto the sleeve.

The Rolling Stones are set to tour later this year after Ronnie Wood revealed he is "keeping October/November free". The band have long been rumoured to be playing live again this year to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Earlier this year, it appeared they would be delaying the celebrations until 2013 after guitarist Keith Richards suggested the band weren't ready to go back on the road yet. However, speaking earlier this week, Wood hinted the Stones could tour before the end of the year, telling The Sun:

Animal Collective have spoken about the making of their new album Centipede Hz and revealed that they wrote their new record "as a rock band in a room". The Baltimore electro-psychedelic band will release the album, which is the 10th LP of their career, in September via Domino Records. Centipede Hz is the band's first full-length studio album since their 2009 effort Merriweather Post Pavillion and follows the release in 2010 of the band's "visual album" ODDSAC.

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer has spoken about working with Blur and Gorillaz mainman Damon Albarn as part of Africa Express. The pair traveled to Ethiopia with Albarn for the project and described their experience of the country as "profound". Speaking to NME, Flea spoke at length about how much he enjoyed the trip.

Alabama Shakes have said that Jack White and My Morning Jacket's Jim James would be their dream collaboration. Speaking to NME, singer Brittany Howard says the pair would be her ultimate jamming partners. She says:

The Eagles have been awarded honorary doctorates of music by the Berklee School of Music. The ceremony, held in Boston on Saturday May 12, also saw Alison Krauss and Ethiopian musician Malatu Astatke honoured. Previously, Berklee, the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world, has awarded honorary doctorates of music to David Bowie, BB King, Aretha Franklin and Quincy Jones among other.

Keith Richards has confirmed that he won't be joining Mick Jagger, when the Stones' singer presents the May 19 season finale of American sketch show, Saturday Night Live. There has been speculation that Jagger would invite his bandmate to participate in the show, but speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, Richards had confirmed he won't be involved. "I spoke to Mick and he said it's something that he said yes to many months ago, so he's just doing it," Richards told the magazine. "He's on his own."

Ringo Starr has reportedly lost his collection of Beatles' photographs. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Starr - a keen photographer - admitted he had no idea where his own photographs taking during his years with The Beatles are. "I don't know where they are," he told Rolling Stone. "I wish I did. There's been several moves and things happen." Previously, Starr unearthed a batch of postcards he'd received from his former bandmates, which were published as Postcards From The Boys in 2004.

Mick Jagger is set to host US comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live on May 19, and reports are suggesting that he will perform alongside the evening's other musical guests, the Arcade Fire and Foo Fighters. The Rolling Stones frontman has confirmed that he will perform on the show as well as host, but Rolling Stone magazine is stating that he might play with the programme's fellow musical performers.