Johnny Rod

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Johnny Rod
Birth nameJohn Tumminello
Born (1957-12-08) December 8, 1957 (age 65)
Origin St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Bassist
Years active1983–present
Member of King Kobra
Formerly of W.A.S.P.

John Tumminello (December 8, 1957), better known as Johnny Rod, is an American musician, best known as a former bassist of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P.

Biography

Tumminello grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. According to his own statements, he started performing at the age of 11. [1] One of the bands he played with was King Kobra from 1983 to 1986.

In 1986, Rod received an offer to join W.A.S.P. His main bass at that time was a yellow B.C. Rich Ironbird. He played on the albums Inside the Electric Circus (1986), Live... in the Raw (1987) and The Headless Children (1989) [2] and accompanied the band on their 1992 farewell tour. Later attempts for a reunion of the classic lineup failed, mainly due to singer Blackie Lawless, according to Rod, as well as the rest of the members of W.A.S.P. during that era. [3]

In 2010, Rod reunited with King Kobra. The band went on hiatus after two album releases in 2013, and reunited again in 2016 for several live performances. [4]

In 2017, Rod collaborated with Carmine Appice on "Monsters and Heroes", a tribute cover song to Ronnie James Dio. [5]

Rod has used both Fender and B.C. Rich basses during his career. He lists the Fender Precision bass is his all-time favorite guitar.

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References

  1. Milligan, Glenn (May 31, 2014). "Two-part interview with Johnny Rod". metalliville.co.uk. I played in bars for many, many years. Man when I was 11 years old I was playing in a bar.
  2. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Biography-W.A.S.P." AllMusic . Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  3. "Johnny Rod reveals Blackie Lawless turned down proposed W.A.S.P. 1987 era reunion a few years ago". sleazeroxx.com (published October 1, 2021). October 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  4. "Johnny Rod (King Kobra / ex. W.A.S.P.) Interview". Duke TV. October 26, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2022 via youtube.
  5. "APPICE – "Monsters & Heroes"". YouTube . October 27, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2022.