SNC’S 10 BEST ITALIAN-AMERICAN ROCK VOCALISTS
1. RONNIE JAMES DIO – BLACK SABBATH, RAINBOW AND DIO
It takes cajones the size of Texas to fill Ozzy Osbourne’s boots, and Ronnie James Dio proved he had the chops to keep Black Sabbath’s legend alive on two stellar Sabbath albums, 1980’s Heaven and Hell and 1981’s Mob Rules. Before that the former Elf singer created future metal classics as a guest vocalist on Deep Purple bassist-songwriter Roger Glover’s 1974 concept album The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast and as frontman for guitar god Ritchie Blackmore‘s Rainbow.
The former Ronald James Padavona’s 1983 solo debut, Holy Diver, is unarguably one of the greatest metal albums of all time, and it’s all thanks to Dio’s supreme vocals, which remain unmatched by any other vocalist three decades later. We hold up a two-fisted devil’s horn salute to Dio every time we crank up “Rainbow in the Dark.”
2. JON BON JOVI – BON JOVI
As one of the best and most badass rock singers-songwriters on the planet, Jon Bon Jovi has earned his famous Superman-inspired tattoo. His anthems are timeless, and every track on his band’s self-titled debut sounds just as stunningly kick-ass today as it did in 1984. Plus, we’re sure that the former John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. is probably the only dude with Francis for a middle name who can still kick your ass without breaking a sweat!
3. STEVEN TYLER – AEROSMITH
Aerosmith‘s Steven Tyler, the artist formerly known as Steven Victor Tallarico, is the best thing to happen to rock n’ roll since the invention of the Stratocaster. And we’re not just saying that because he wrote one of the best pro-tolerance anthems ever inspired by 1992’s L.A. Riots, “Living on the Edge.” Although that certainly gets him some extra points.
4. GLENN DANZIG – MISFITS, SAMHAIN AND DANZIG
New Jersey’s Glenn Allen Anzalone, known better as Glenn Danzig, not only created three of hard rock’s greatest bands — Misfits, Samhain and Danzig – but his first one inspired some of the best musicians out there, from Henry Rollins to Metallica. And it’s not every dude who can carry off that Chippendale’s hairstyle for over three decades and remain one of the most badass vocalists in rock history.
5. RIVERS CUOMO – WEEZER
This former Tower Records Sunset clerk not only fronts one of the best L.A. bands to ever surface from the Sunset strip scene, Weezer, but he also played a pivotal role in showing the world that heavy metal fans are smarter than Tipper Gore ever gave us credit for by earning a degree in English from Harvard in 2006! He may look just like Buddy Holly, but he’s also as smart as Stephen Hawking!
6. GARY CHERONE – EXTREME AND VAN HALEN
Because, as frontman for Extreme, Gary Francis Caine Cherone also gave us killer metal anthems like “Kid Ego,” “Mutha (Don’t Wanna Go to School Today),” “Get the Funk Out,” “Hip Today” and, of course, “More Than Words,” it’s easy to forgive him for Van Halen III.
7. GERARD WAY – MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
Even before starting up one of the coolest art-rock bands of the 2000s, MCR’s Gerard Arthur Way had already earned piints with us after revealing that his stellar music career was inspired by his love of fellow Italiano Bon Jovi. Also, like smartie Rivers Cuomo, Gerard and his younger bro Mikey helped up respect for metalheads everywhere by naming their band after a respected novel, Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance. Plus, 2006’s The Black Parade and its successive music videos remain some of the most awesome art-rock to ever hit the charts.
8. DAVEY HAVOK – AFI
Even if the former David Paden Passaro didn’t front one of the best ’90s bands out of NorCal, we’d still give him a two-handed devil’s horn salute just for his role as a straight-edge and vegan activist. In addition to AFI’s “Silver and cold” and “Love Like Winter,” Davey Havok also dropped some of our favorite guest vocals on timeless tracks by some of our other fave bands, including The Transplants’ “Quick Death” and The Dance Hall Crashers’ “I Don’t Wanna Behave.”
9. RICHIE SAMBORA – BON JOVI
Although we are still feeling a bit angsty about Richie Sambora’s split from Bon Jovi and his recent maybe/maybe not trashing of Jon Bon Jovi in his latest song, we’re still man enough to admit that we kind of liked his three solo outings, especially 1991’s Stranger in this Town. While Sambora is no JBJ, his backup vocals and co-songwriting duties definitely made Bon Jovi the band that it became. And, hey, Italians can be a bit too passionate with their emotions sometimes, so we’re gonna give his feud with Jon some time to cool down because we think these two rock icons will eventually patch things up. In fact, we’ve already said a couple prayers to the patron saint of forgiveness, St. Maria Goretti, in hopes that they reunite soon!
10. NIKKI SIXX – MOTLEY CRUE AND SIXX: AM
OK, we know it’s sort of a stretch to include Nikki Sixx in the vocalist category, but we didn’t want to have a chart about Italian rockers without somehow including its most badass addition to the heavy metal scene, the former Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr. Plus, Nikki’s backup vocals on Motley Crue’s classics give the timeless tracks an extra edge, and we totally dig his lead on “Rocketship,” too.
Detroit (Rock City)-born designer John Varvatos is giving KISS Army members a good reason to trade in their uniforms and step-up their style by using KISS to showcase his latest menswear collection. The front windows of Varvatos’ West Hollywood store at 8800 Melrose Ave at Robertson feature likenesses of the iconic band members donning the designer’s Spring 2014 fashions.
While we have never personally owned a man purse, we have to admit that no one looks more manly with one than the Demon himself.
As much of the country is facing a snowstorm and L.A prepares for a rainy week, we decided to take advantage of Tuesday’s brief break of decent weather and take a stroll to Greystone Mansion Park, just around the bend from Doheny and Sunset Boulevard and bridging the rock and roll excess of the Strip with the exotic indulgence of Beverly Hills. It was cool to see the famous location’s generally empty interior sporadically decorated with Christmas decorations (for whatever reason). The room above was used in The Bodyguard and us where Whitney Houston is first introduced to Kevin Costner in front of the fireplace.
The Greystone Mansion and its rolling grounds provide a public oasis for the locals and offers an incredible view of Los Angeles. The mansion has famously been used as an example of indulgence in countless music videos and every classic film from the Toby Maguire-era Spiderman trilogy and The Big Lebowski to Austin Powers: Gold Member and X-Men.
Orion 2013 is set for June 8 and 9. However, unlike other major rock fests like Indio, California’s Coachella and Chicago’s Lollapalooza, Orion is heading out on the road and shifting locations to the Motor City.
Sony Pictures has debuted a full trailer for Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker director Katheryn Bigelow‘s hotly anticipted new flick Zero Dark Thirty, which follows the international manhunt for Osama Bin Laden. And the best part of the explosive clip? It rocks a Metallica cover track!
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