The line-up for London's huge rock music event has just got considerably larger with the announcement surrounding its Friday billing. Hard Rock Calling 2012 has confirmed that Seattle's seminal grunge and alt-rock outfit Soundgarden will headline the opening day of an impressive weekend that already features Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Saturday and Paul Simon with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Sunday.

Soundgarden's chops are considerable. The band was one of the key components of the so-called 'Seattle scene' in the '90s, but not before having already unleashed an uncompromising debut album in 'Ultramega OK' on SST in 1988. This album earned them a major label deal with A&M and their first hit album in 'Badmotorfinger', which contained three of their greatest singles in 'Jesus Christ Pose', 'Outshined' and the Johnny Cash-covered 'Rusty Cage'.

But it was the follow-up and the band's 3rd collection that crossed them over to mainstream success. 'Superunknown' was and still is an out and out belter. 'Spoonman', 'Black Hole Sun' and 'The Day I Tried to Live', the list sort of goes on. After just one more album, 'Down on the Upside', the band imploded in the mid-90s, before regrouping in 2010 with 'Telephantasm'. You can expect to hear many familiar (and very loud - but not too loud, eh residents) rock classics from a decade that lost the plot in many ways, but not with these boys.

We will have tickets to see Soundgarden's first UK show for 14 years (excepting the preceding June slot at Download, of course) when they will be made available from Friday 30th March at 9am. Prices start at £50 for the whole day, which also includes arch-punk and US garage-legends Iggy and the Stooges, almost reason enough to grab a ticket! Classic '70s Aussie-rock comes courtesy of Cold Chisel, whom you may not know (yet) but are enjoying a modicum of success again in their homeland after over 30 years in the business.

Please note that there are only Premium tickets available for Bruce Springsteen on Saturday. There are still some face-value tickets left for Paul Simon on Sunday though - £55 for his 'Graceland' rendition in full, plus appearances from Alison Krauss, Jimmy Cliff and more.