1/1: HAPPY NEW YEAR, LEMMY, GUNS, SKIDS, ROCHESTER TOMORROW
Back from a few days and an extremely busy run of rock news. This is the first time I’ve been able to get online here to express my thoughts on Lemmy’s passing, but if you follow on Twitter I was very active there where I pretty much broke the sad news Monday afternoon. How that happened was I was contacted by a few people in Lemmy’s camp and confidentially told of his cancer and that he had only about a month to live. This was Monday just as I was boarding a flight to Vegas. I was asked about the possibility of some radio specials to celebrate Lem while he was still with us. Having just attended his birthday party, of course the news he was this ill this quickly was shocking. Everyone knew he was struggling, but 30 days and cancer? I was asked to hold off saying anything until Tuesday when I press release went out, which I of course agreed to. Literally 10 minutes later texts came in from Scott Ian and others that he passed away! I then contacted Lemmy’s manager Todd Singerman. A great guy and old friend and asked what was up. He informed me Lemmy had literally just died that quickly. It almost seemed once he learned he was terminal he just checked out. Todd told me the plan was to announce it the next day. I told Todd in this day and age it might be hard to sit on it and it was already kind of out there. He agreed and told me to go ahead and announce it which I did on Twitter. In all my years using Twitter I never had a response like I did from that tweet. My phone actually locked up from the data surge. My phone blew up with texts and calls. Mick Mars, Joe Perry, Rob Halford were just a few that reached out to me asking to please tell them it wasn’t true. Sadly it was.
I have interviewed Lemmy countless times in my decades on TV and Radio. The best word I can use to describe him is real. The genuine article. A fun guy, supremely underrated talent and writer, and one of a kind to say the least. Lemmy lived 70 years but the way he lived it might as well have been 140. He was a guy that loved to play loud rock n roll. And make no mistake, Lemmy did NOT consider himself metal. He always said Motorhead was a rock n roll band. Look no further than how the band introduced themselves each night. Of course his influence on metal is massive, but he rock n roll was his game and he did it so well. I doubt we will ever see the likes of someone like Lemmy again. An icon to say the least. Proven by the outpouring from the fans and artists he touched. I’ll talk more about Lem when I’m back on the radio Monday and take your calls. There have already been tributes over the last week but I have reached out to Fast Eddie and hopefully we can talk with him if he’s up for it. RIP Lemmy. Condolences to the many fans and his family and friends. He will be missed!
The other big news is the GnR stuff which by all accounts will be announced Tuesday. It really seems to be not if, bit where, when, how many dates, who’s in, etc. Coachella in April seems like where it’s all pointing and now even Billboard has reported it. Between the movie trailers and Kimmel appearance it looks like a full go. We will talk about it when it is official more. In the meantime lets wait and see who is and isn’t a part of it before reaching conclusions. I know some stuff but I will wait until we see what’s announced officially and go from there.
Finally in a shocking turn after less than a year Tony Harnell leaves Skid Row. I know Tony, have known the Skids forever. Honestly this was not a huge shock to me. This also is NOT related to speculation that it was done for Skids to reunite with Bach and open for Guns. Is that possible? Anything is. But it is not what led to Tony leaving and a reunion with Bach is far from a done deal. Anything can happen here and when I have news to share I will. Busy show Monday 6-10P ET on SiriusXM 39 TRUNKNation…
Happy new year to all. Thanks for your support. Be healthy and safe. My Year In Review show is this weekend with all 2015 music on the FM show. Debuts tonight 11P ET on Q104.3 NYC and WAAF Boston. Then back to regular format next week. Thanks to all my affiliates, enjoy the final year end show. Headed to Rochester now. I’ll be at Montage Music Hall with Don & Jim tomorrow (Saturday) night. Books and merch for sale too. Hope to see you. Tix and VIP tix at the door.
Would like you to elaborate more on why you weren’t surprised by the Skid Row breakup (although, pretty much no one is surprised – they’re like Quiet Riot at this point). The guys in SR need to accept the fact that they are never going to go anywhere w/o Sebastian as their singer. HE is the voice and personality they identify as being Skid Row. You saw similar deals with Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, etc. RARELY does it work out better with a new singer, especially when the singer is such a monster voice and a high-profile personality. The overall fan base just won’t support the new lineup or chemistry, no matter what.
I completely get why they say he’s never coming back and that money isn’t the issue. But, frankly, they might as well do away with the Skid Row name at this point.
Thanks for the update. I hope Mickey and Phil would also call in Monday. But maybe it is still too soon for them.