Belladonna recalls Anthrax sacking

Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna recalls his sacking from the band in 1992 – saying they wanted a vocalist with a “bit more of a growl.”

He was replaced by John Bush, but made a return in 2010 after Bush’s second spell came to an end. Asked why he thought was was ousted in the first place, Belladonna says he puts it down to the band wanting a different vocal style – but he still doesn’t quite understand why.

He tells Somewhat Legendary: “They wanted something different, that’s all I can tell you. They wanted something with a little bit more of a growl, a grunt – the 90s thing. And they just pushed aside whatever clean and tenor I had. It just didn’t fit. Whatever, what are you gonna do?

“Sometimes maybe I was a little too clean for everybody. I mean, look at the times where Anthrax didn’t feel I was right for their band, which was shocking to me, because I thought we had a cool thing. And obviously, you can see we’re carrying on now. So you get confused, what I used to do and how it wasn’t right, at one time, for them.”

Anthrax are putting the finishing touches to their upcoming 11th album. No release date has been revealed for what will be the follow-up to Worship Music.

ANTHRAX 2015 TOUR DATES

Aug 28: Denver Riot Fest And Rodeo, CO

Sep 11: Chicago Riot Fest And Carnival, IL

Sep 19: Baltimore Shindig Festical, MD

Sep 28: Motorhead’s Motorboat 2015, USA

Oct 10: Tokyo Loud Park, Japan

Oct 25: Tilburg Theaters, Netherlands

Oct 26: Paris Zenith, France

Oct 30: Bilbao Santana 27, Spain

Oct 31: A Coruna Coliseum, Spain

Nov 01: Madrid La Riviera, Spain

Nov 03: Barcelona Razzmatazz, Spain

Nov 05: Milan Alcatraz, Italy

Nov 07: Vienna Planet TT Bank Austria Halle Gasometer B, Austria

Nov 08: Leipzig Hause Auensee, Germany

Nov 10: Munich Zenith De Kulturhalle, Germany

Nov 12: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany

Nov 13: Bochum RuhrCongress, Germany

Nov 14: Ludwigsburg MHP Arena. Germany

Nov 16: Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany

Nov 17: Brussels AB Main Hall, Belgium

Nov 19: Esch Sur Alzette Rockhal, Luxembourg

Nov 21: Newport Centre, UK

Nov 22: Plymouth Pavilions, UK

Nov 24: Manchester O2 Apollo, UK

Nov 25: Glasgow O2 Academy, UK

Nov 27: Birmingham O2 Academy, UK

Nov 28: Leeds O2 Academy, UK

Nov 20: London O2 Academy, UK

Dec 04: Oslo Sentrum Scene, Norway

Anthrax release 2nd bourbon

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.