Group leader Jennifer Gess and two great young people came to visit Lee Callahan in the studio to tell their stories of coming out, being brave, and working for other gay youth.

We talk about that and so much more here:

The long list of stars she has coached in dance includes Dennis Quaid, Mary Steenburgen and Donnie Wahlberg. Murphy and her dance partners have won the Austrian National Championships and the U.S. Nine Dance Championships, and claim an impressive list of top finishes at competitions around the world.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE has become a hit around the world, and Murphy frequently travels to countries such as Australia, Canada and Norway for “special guest” judging appearances on international versions of the show. In 2007, she was awarded Best Host/Judge at the Reality TV Awards.

Beyond her work in Hollywood, Murphy continues to be one of the hardest-working women in dance. She serves as a judge at major ballroom dance competitions across the U.S., including The Holiday Dance Classic in Las Vegas. She is involved with the American Cancer Society, Mary Murphy’s Chance to Dance program and Soldiers Who Salsa. She also recently guest-starred in the Broadway production of “Burn The Floor.”

Listen to Callahan’s candid talk with the down-to-earth Dance Teacher To The Stars, Mary Murphy:

Lee Callahan, Jack FM Seattle

What do the prog-rock giants and the hip-hop legend have in common (other than membership in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame)? Well, probably not much. But, believe it or not, both bands have toured with San Francisco rockers Primus.

Primus was the opening act on the genre-crashing Anthrax/Public Enemy co-headlining tour of 1991. The following year, they played arenas opening for Rush. So Primus frontman Les Claypool is one of the only musicians to spend time on the road with both groups, and he says that both are fully deserving of the accolades that they received at the induction ceremony in Los Angeles last month.

The members of Primus have always worn their Rush influences on their sleeves; like the Canadian group, they are a power trio led by a bassist with an unusual singing voice who are influenced by hard rock and progressive music.

Claypool told Radio.com, “One of my first introductions to music as a teenager was Rush records.”And it showed, particularly early on in their career. Primus’ debut EP, 1989′s Suck On This, opens with 36 seconds of the band covering Rush’s classic instrumental “YYZ” before launching into their own “John The Fisherman.”

And while it is often said that you shouldn’t meet your idols, he reports that bonding with Rush has been a great experience for him and his band. “When I was 16, if you told me I’d be friends with Geddy, Alex and Neil, I would have s*** myself right there, literally,” he said. “To work with these guys and be friends with them, and to still be friends with them after all these years, it’s a pretty spectacular thing.”

He’s also glad to see that the band’s stock seems to have risen (in terms of credibility) in the past few years, which culminated with their long-awaited Rock Hall induction. But he notes that Primus were supporters when it wasn’t so cool to love Rush.

“Back when we were playing with them, we actually got a lot of flak from press, as to why we were playing with these guys, these progressive rock dinosaurs… this was in the ‘90s,” Claypool said. “But the fans thought it was the greatest thing! It makes me chuckle now, to see these bands that have come out in support of Rush after all these years, when they were remaining very quiet in the ‘90s when we were getting chastised for supporting them (laughs).”

Read more at Radio.com.

– Brian Ives, Radio.com 

The Stooges – “1969″ The Stooges debuted in ’69 with their classic self-titled LP, which featured this skull-crusher. “Another year for me and you, another year with nothing to do!” Well, there was nothing to do after June 3 of that year, at least if you were a Trekkie (a term which hadn’t yet been coined): That was the date that the show was cancelled. Years later, in 1997, Stooges frontman Iggy Pop appeared on the third Trek series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as Yelgrun, an “overseer” for the Dominion (those were the bad guys, for non-DS9 fans). (See a couple of Iggy’s scenes here.)

The Mamas & The Papas – “Monday Monday” Though Star Trek aired on Thursday nights at that time that “Monday Monday” hit No. 1 in 1966, there’s a line here that rings true: “Can’t trust that day!” Or at least NBC couldn’t, moving the show to the dead zone of Friday nights instead of just cancelling it. The cancellation moment came two season later, with the show returning nearly 20 years later in 1987 via Star Trek: The Next Generation. And you know who was there? Mamas & Papas singer Michelle Phillips, who played Jenice Manheim (Captain Picard’s ex-girlfriend) in the first season of the show. Boom. Circle complete.

Fleetwood Mac – “The Chain” Like Star Trek, Fleetwood Mac has proved remarkably enduring. Although the lineup (like Trek‘s Enterprise) has gone through many staff changes, like the Federation, drummer Mick Fleetwood (along with bassist John McVie) has remained a constant. While you can’t miss Fleetwood’s commanding presence behind the drums at the Mac’s concerts, you’d be forgiven for missing his appearance on the Next Generation season 2 episode “Manhunt” in 1989.  First off, he shaved off his omnipresent beard for the role. Second, his prosthetics rendered him unrecognizable. In this scene, he plays an Antedean dignitary who looks like a fish. Is that politically incorrect? Well, we got the idea from Lwaxana Troi, who exclaimed, “Delegates! Last time I saw something like that, it was being served on a plate!”

Rage Against The Machine- “Bulls On Parade” “Weapons, not home, not food, not shoes,” spits frontman Zach de la Rocha; it’s one of many songs where Rage stand up for the less fortunate. To be sure, in Gene Rodenberry’s Trek universe, there are haves and have-nots, but it is still an optimistic future where poverty seems to be eliminated and racism is rarely an issue (though it did pop up in the original series episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”). That’s a future that guitarist Tom Morello no doubt hopes for, so it’s no surprise that he was a big fan of the show, and appeared in the 1998 film Star Trek: Insurrection (featuring the Next Generation crew), uncredited as a (heavily made-up and unrecognizable) Son’A officer.

Audioslave – “Original Fire” “The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on!” That may be a bit strong, but it’s sort of fitting: the Enterprise’s “five year mission” ended after three seasons in 1969, but the passion of the fans led to a return of Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew in 1979′s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Similarly, the disintegration of Rage Against The Machine didn’t stop Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford, who stuck together to form Audioslave. But why are we including two Morello/Wilk/Commerford songs in a row? Because Morello had the good fortune to appear in two Treks. After Insurrection, he returned in more recognizable form on the 2000 episode of Star Trek: Voyager, as a crewman named “Mitchell.” Watch his scene here.

Brad Paisley – “Celebrity” Paisley is a noted Trek fan, and while he has never appeared on one of the TV shows or films, he did get Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, to appear in this video. Paisley was also one of the many guests on Shatner’s 2011 album Seeking Major Tom (on a cover of the Steve Miller Band’s “Space Cowboy”).

Read more at Radio.com.

– Brian Ives, Radio.com 

It all happened to 20-year-old Bryan Zuniga in Pinellas County near Tampa, Florida.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says Zuniga was pulled over for failing to maintain a single lane Thursday near 3am.

Zuniga stopped his car but  jumped out of the passenger door. He then broke through a vinyl fence and escaped.

A few hours later, Zuniga was recovering in the hospital from multiple puncture wounds to the face, arm and armpit area. He told deputies he had been attacked by an alligator near a water treatment plant.

He has been charged with fleeing police, driving with a suspended or revoked license and resisting an officer without violence. The alligator was not charged…
Here’s the story from  CBS affiliate WTSP

-Callahan, Jack Seattle

Officers chased him in a stolen car – going through two fences and a gate near Irrigon. Once the car got stuck, our criminal took off running, and then jumped into the nearby Columbia River. As he tried to cross the  cold depths, he resorted to doing backstroke to the other side, but tired himself out quickly and begged officers to come get him. They obliged, wading into chest-deep water to arrest 20-year-old Zacharay Lawrence Bartz.

He faces vehicle theft charges, among other counts. (Isn’t there a law against poor judgement?)

-Callahan, Jack FM Seattle

But in an interview with NME, Osboune said that new material sounds “very current.”

“The one thing I’m really happy with the new material is that it doesn’t sound like what we’d have done next if I hadn’t left in 1979,” continued Osbourne. “It isn’t like we’ve tried to make ‘Paranoid’ again. It sounds like Black Sabbath, but it’s very current. I mean, with Pro Tools (an audio editing device) and computers and everything, we could make us sound like anything.”

Thank God for technology.

Geezer Butler adds, though, that the album was “very depressing” and showcases the “heavier side of Sabbath.”

Black Sabbath’s 13 is scheduled for release on June 10th. It will be their 19th studio album.

Lee Callahan, Jack FM

Our friends at Metrolyrics have the premiere of the official lyric video for one of those new songs, “Mystic River.” Check it out here.

In other Fogerty news, you’ll be able to see him perform at both the show opening and closing jams on HBO’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony broadcast, which premieres on the cable network Saturday night (May 18) at 9 pm ET. Read Radio.com’s review of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony.

And if that’s not enough Fogerty for you, he’ll also perform on Tim McGraw’s “Superstar Summer Night” special Sunday (May 19) night at 9 pm ET/PT on CBS.

– Brian Ives, Radio.com

While Chris Cornell got the honor of doing the presentation speech for Heart, Cantrell would have been a great choice to get on the mic as well. He has history with the group: Ann Wilson, along with Cornell and Mudhoney’s Mark Arm, provided guest vocals on Alice In Chains’ 1992 Sap EP. In 2005, three years after the death of Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley, the surviving AIC members performed at a benefit concert joined by a number of guest singers, including Ann Wilson. The following year, the band performed at a Heart tribute concert put on by VH1 Classic.

The night of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, Cantrell told Radio.com that Heart has been influential to him on musical, professional and personal levels.

“They’ve influenced not only me, but a whole generation of Seattle musicians, and also musicians worldwide,” Cantrell said. “Their body of work stands the test of time, and the level that they operate on as musicians has not dropped one iota.  It’s humbling to be asked to be a part of this. They’re my friends, they’re my sisters. Just being around them, and getting to know them as people has been inspiring just on a human level. They’re one of the bands that made me want to do this. A band like Heart and musicians like Ann and Nancy show you the level that you should try to operate at.”

He was there for Heart, but there was one other classic rock act who he was excited to see inducted that night.

“Rush is an amazing band,” Cantrell said. “You want to talk  about the top level of musicianship, Rush is at the top of the list.  I spend a lot of hours spent trying to learn the riffs to those songs, ‘La Villa Strangiato,’ ’2112,’ ‘Fly By Night.’ Rush, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures were all really important records to me.” (Read more about Rush’s induction)

Catch more from the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony when it airs Saturday May 18 at 9 p.m. on HBO, and check out more of our on-the-scene coverage of the event here.

Watch our recent Radio.com Inside Out episode on 2013’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction class, below.

– Brian Ives, Radio.com