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As Billy Corgan's newest incarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins is getting ready to head out on a short tour of North America this July, the band also is releasing a new single. The song "Freak" will ship digitally to Modern and Active Rock radio on July 6 courtesy of Martha Music/CO5 Music, and the official impact date will be July 20. After their North American run, the Pumpkins will be heading to Asia in early August and on August 28 they'll headline a stage at the Sunset Strip Festival in Los Angeles.

Zack de la Rocha is continuing to lead an artist boycott of the state of Arizona over its controversial new immigration laws. The Rage Against The Machine frontman is planning a series of protest concerts for later this summer, to take on SB 1070, which is slated to become law on July 29.

In a rather sudden and unexpected move, Rob Zombie has exited his record label of 18 years and inked a new worldwide deal with Roadrunner Records through its Loud & Proud imprint. Zombie’s new album, Hellbilly Deluxe 2, had previously been set for a November 17 release date, but will now be released by Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records in early 2010. The first single, "What?," was already launched at Rock radio.

The RIAA has announced its Gold and Platinum certifications for the month of April. Most notably, Nickelback's latest album Dark Horse and the soundtrack to the hit film Twilight were both certified double-Platinum, each selling over two million copies at this point. Indestructible from Disturbed was also certified as a Platinum album. Among the month's new Gold albums were Feist's breakthrough record The Reminder, Theory Of A Deadman's latest Scars & Souvenirs and Thr33 Ringz by T-Pain.