Scorpions are finishing up a new album and have announced plans for a lengthy world tour beginning in the spring. The "Get Your Sting and Blackout" tour will begin in the venerable hard rockers' home country, Germany and will, according to the band's website, continue for the next two years. The new album, Sting in the Tail is expected to be released prior to the beginning of the tour in May.

Dio Down
Ronnie James Dio has been so active on the hard rock scene for so long (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and his own band, Dio) we tend to forget that he's a mere mortal. The 67-year-old singer-songwriter has been hospitalized and the upcoming Dio tour of Europe canceled. Little is known beyond what Dio's wife (and manager) Wendy reports on the Dio website: "Ronnie has been hospitalized and we are waiting for further news."

^{Scorpions photo by Jo Hale / Getty Images; Ronnie James Dio photo by Paul Kane / Getty Images}

There will be a Faces reunion tour in 2010, but Rod Stewart won't be part of it, according to a Billboard report. Says keyboardist Ian McLagan, "If we don't do it very soon, one of us is gonna check out. We've been waiting and waiting for Rod to say yes; now he's finally said no. So we're gonna do it."

While Stewart tours in support of his latest solo album, McLagan, guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Kenney Jones will tour as Faces with an as-yet-unnamed vocalist.

If Faces happen to tour in the UK in April, they'll find themselves in good company: Bad Company. That band's surviving original members (Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs) will play a handful of UK shows, according to Classic Rock magazine (who should know, since they are sponsoring the eight-city tour.)

Bad Company played a gig in Florida in 2008, but it was more legal exercise than reunion. The mini-tour will come a couple of months after the release of a live CD/DVD set in February.

^{Paul Rodgers photo by Jo Hale / Getty Images}

I enjoy the holidays for a lot of reasons, one of which is having the excuse to dig around for choice examples of Christmas music performed by classic rock artists. New to the list this year: Peter Cetera (ex-Chicago) and Bob Dylan, joining artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, and, yes, even Jimi Hendrix. There's nothing quite like Christmas music, classic rock style.

^{Image courtesy MCA Records}

The fallout from the Steven-Tyler-leaving-Aerosmith gossip having been largely disposed of, we can now turn our attention to the latest unconfirmed rumors that are being reported as fact.

It isn't at all unusual at this time of year for the identity of the next Super Bowl halftime performer to be leaked, ahead of an official announcement. What is unusual is the response to this year's leak.

No sooner had Sports Illustrated "reported" that The Who would entertain us in the middle of Super Bowl XLIV in Miami February 7 than the principals (the band and the NFL) started issuing non-denial denials.

From The Who: "Rumors circulating that The Who are going to play at the Superbowl in Miami in February are pure speculation."

From the NFL: "When we have something to announce, we'll announce it."

Notice that neither actually denies that The Who will perform. Rather, they seem to be suggesting that they'd prefer not having their thunder stolen by having the fact become known in a way that kills any drama that might attach to the eventual "official" announcement.

Given that Super Bowl halftime has, in recent years, become something of a classic rock enclave (Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Tom Petty) The Who would be a logical choice. And the high profile exposure certainly wouldn't hurt at a time when Pete Townsend is busy working on a new rock opera and Roger Daltrey is in the midst of a solo tour.

SI, attributing the tip to "a source" (hey, who needs journalistic integrity in a sports magazine, right?) set off a wave of "The Who will perform" headlines from the likes of Reuters (hey, who needs journalistic integrity in a news organization, right?)

I'll be very surprised if The Who don't perform at the Super Bowl. I'll be even more surprised if there's any lessening of the trend for rumor and gossip being touted as fact.

^{Photo by Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images}