Marcie Free | |
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| Born | April 12, 1954 South Bend, Indiana |
| Genres | Hard rock, glam metal, heavy metal, AOR |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, guitar, drums |
| Years active | 1973–1995, 2009–present |
| Labels | Now & Then, Frontiers |
 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2024) |
Marcie Michelle Free (born Mark Edward Free on April 12, 1954) is an American rock singer, best known as the lead singer of King Kobra, Signal and Unruly Child.
Free started singing professionally at the age of 19 while living in Flint, Michigan.[ citation needed ] In 1975, Free moved to Las Vegas, which eventually led to her relocating to Los Angeles in 1979.[ citation needed ]
Free met Carmine Appice in 1983, shortly before Appice was fired from Ozzy Osbourne's backing band. Appice recruited her to be the vocalist for his new project, King Kobra; while King Kobra was initially intended to be a solo project, Appice eventually decided to recruit two guitarists and a bassist to build a full band. [1] The band was signed to Capitol Records in 1984.[ citation needed ] Free recorded two albums with King Kobra, Ready to Strike and Thrill of a Lifetime , before leaving King Kobra in November 1986 to pursue other musical interests.[ citation needed ]
In 1987, producer Peter McIan began to form a solo project called The Fugitive Kind with help from Erik Scott, a keyboardist, bassist, and producer, as well as Mark Baker, a songwriter. The group also recruited drummer Jan Uvena. Free joined the group later, after which Ron Fair, then a new senior A&R representative at EMI Records, renamed the group Signal. Prior to the adoption of the name Signal, Free unsuccessfully proposed several alternate names for the group, one of which was Unruly Child, which she would use for a later group. [2] Signal released one album on EMI, Loud and Clear, in 1989. The album featured several outside songwriters, and Free did not have much involvement in the songwriting on Loud and Clear. Signal was short-lived, as shortly after the band released their only album, EMI executives dropped Signal from the label and did not spend any money to promote the album after its release. Free left Signal in October 1990, and the band broke up shortly afterwards. [2]
In 1990, Free joined up with guitarist Bruce Gowdy and keyboardist Guy Allison, forming the group Unruly Child. Unruly Child signed with Atlantic/Interscope Records in 1991 and released their self-titled debut album in 1992. In 1993, Free sang the theme song, "(To Be) The Best of the Best", for the action film Best of the Best II . Also in 1993, a solo album consisting of demos Free had sung for a mother/daughter songwriting duo named Judithe and Robin Randall was released on Now & Then Records, an independent label in the United Kingdom.[ citation needed ] The album, entitled Long Way from Love, was re-released on Frontiers Records in 1998. This album version included some of the live performances Free gave while in Manchester, England, for the first rock festival known as "The Gods of AOR" in October 1993.[ citation needed ]
Shortly after the release of Long Way from Love, Unruly Child, having lost their record deal with Atlantic/Interscope, reformed under the moniker Twelve Pound Sledge. They were writing new material in hopes of re-signing with another American label. That never happened, though songs from these sessions were later released in 1995, as a solo album Free released on independent labels in Germany and Japan, entitled Tormented.[ citation needed ]
In September 2009, Free, Gowdy, and Allison reunited as Unruly Child and signed a recording contract with Frontiers Records.[ citation needed ] They released a new album, Worlds Collide, in 2010. Unruly Child released a new album in 2014 entitled Down the Rabbit Hole on the band's own label "Unruly Records". [2] [ failed verification ]
On June 24, 1989, Free married Laurie Richardson. They have since divorced. [2]
Free came out as a trans woman in November 1993. Free experienced gender dysphoria prior to her transition and changed her name to Marcie Michelle Free. [3] Free stated that prior to her transition, she struggled with self-harm ideation and that transitioning was a "[decision] between life and death," but "very rewarding," and that "[if she] would've continued [her] life as Mark [she] would have died for sure." [2]
After Free came out as transgender, her career suffered and "[her] whole musical world quickly fell apart," and she cited her post-transition career struggles as one reason for the temporary dissolution of Unruly Child. [2] Free also stated that people in the music industry with whom she had prior connections shunned her after her transition. [4]
Between the breakup of Signal and the formation of Unruly Child, Free worked as a courier in Los Angeles. [2] In 1995, Free temporarily retired from the music business and moved back to Michigan to be close to her family.[ citation needed ] Free stated that during Unruly Child's hiatus, she "[lived] life and [worked] as a normal person does every day." [2]
Free experienced alcoholism but became sober around 2008, crediting her "close personal relationship with God" for her sobriety. [4]
Free has cited Aretha Franklin as one of her greatest inspirations and has included thanks to Franklin in the liner notes of some of her albums. [5] Some of the artists Free grew up listening and singing to include The Four Seasons, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Grand Funk Railroad, Three Dog Night, Smokey Robinson, and Led Zeppelin, as well as several big band artists. [5]
King Kobra is an American heavy metal band founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne from 1983 to 1984.
King Kobra III, released in 1988 on New Renaissance Records, was the first and last album by the Edwards, Michael-Phillips, Northrup, Hart and Appice line-up of King Kobra. After the demise of the original line-up, remaining members Carmine Appice and David Michael-Phillips teamed up with Johnny Edwards, Jeff Northrup and Larry Hart, all 3 members of the Sacramento, CA band Northrup at the time.
Blue Murder were an English rock band led by guitarist-vocalist John Sykes. The group was formed in 1987 following Sykes's dismissal from Whitesnake. The initial line-up was rounded out by bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. In its nascent stage, vocalist Ray Gillen and drummer Cozy Powell were attached to the project. In 1989, Blue Murder released their self-titled debut album, which cracked the Billboard 200 chart and spawned a minor hit with "Jelly Roll". By the early 1990s, however, Blue Murder's music had fallen out of fashion with the popularity of grunge. Franklin and Appice left the band, while Sykes put together a new line-up and released Nothin' But Trouble in 1993. After a live album the following year, Blue Murder were dropped by their record label and broke-up. Since then there have been numerous attempts to reunite the band to no avail.
Carmine Appice is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's older brother. Appice was inducted into the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2014. He is also a more than capable (fretless-) bass player, as can be heard on the "Guitar Zeus" albums, for example.
William Wyman Sherwood is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, record producer and mixing engineer. He is best known for his tenures in the English progressive rock band Yes as guitarist and keyboardist in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 and as bassist since 2015, following the death of original bassist Chris Squire. He is also known for working with former and current Yes members on other projects.
Rolling Stones Records was the record label formed by the Rolling Stones members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman in 1970, after their recording contract with Decca Records expired. The label was initially headed by Marshall Chess, the son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. It was first distributed in the United States by Atlantic Records subsidiary Atco Records. On April 1, 1971, the band signed a distribution deal for five albums with Ahmet Ertegun, acting on behalf of Atlantic Records. In the US, the albums were distributed by Atlantic until 1984. In the UK, Rolling Stones Records were distributed by WEA from 1971 to 1977 and by EMI from 1978 to 1984. In 1986, Columbia Records started distributing it in the United States and CBS for the rest of the world until 1991. It was discontinued in 1992 when the band signed to Virgin Records, but the tongue and lips logo remains on all post-1970 Rolling Stones releases.
Vivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish guitarist. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as a member of Dio and has been a member of Def Leppard since 1992. Campbell has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs and Shadow King.
Icon is an American rock band that formed in 1979 and initially disbanded in 1990. Icon has fully reformed as of 2008, currently consisting of three-fifths of the classic lineup: Dan Wexler (guitar), Stephen Clifford, and John Aquilino (guitar), along with Dave Henzerling (bass) and Gary Bruzzese (drums).
John Douglas Edwards is an American rock singer who sang for the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, King Kobra, Wild Horses, Northrup, Royal Jelly and is best known as the second lead singer of the rock band Foreigner.
Joe Lynn Turner is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple.
Jay Schellen is an American drummer who is best known as the current drummer of English progressive rock band Yes, having toured with the band as an additional drummer since 2016 before becoming an official member in 2023. Schellen has also worked with a number of other heavy rock and progressive rock bands, including with Hurricane, Asia, World Trade, Circa, and Unruly Child.
Guy Allison is an American musician. He was the touring keyboardist for the Doobie Brothers from 1996 to 2015 and was featured on their 2000 release Sibling Rivalry.
Marcie & The Cookies were an Australian musical ensemble, made up of Marcie Jones and the three Cook sisters. The all girl, vocal only group, were a rarity in Australia's "mod" music scene of the 1960s, dominated as it was by all male rock bands and solo artists.
Ready to Strike is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band King Kobra, released in 1985 by Capitol Records.
Thrill of a Lifetime is the second album by the American hard rock band King Kobra, released in 1986 by Capitol Records. The album features "Iron Eagle ", the theme song of the 1986 film Iron Eagle. The music video of the song features Louis Gossett Jr. as Charles "Chappy" Sinclair from the film as the band members going through vigorous boot camp training.
Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples.
Black Roses is a 1988 horror film directed by John Fasano and starring John Martin, Ken Swofford, Julie Adams, and Carla Ferrigno. The film's soundtrack features many bands of the era, including King Kobra, Tempest, Hallow's Eve and Lizzy Borden, among others. Most of the music for the band Black Roses was performed by the members of King Kobra, with Marcie Free on vocals and Carmine Appice on drums.
David Philip Henzerling, a.k.a. David Michael-Philips, is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He has been a member of numerous hard rock bands including Schoolboys, Keel, King Kobra, Lizzy Borden, Geronimo!, Liquid Black, Big Cock, Icon, Tunnel, Steelshine and Kelly Keeling & Friends. He is the older brother of Dan Henzerling, also a musician and has two sisters. David was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and moved to Phoenix, Arizona with his family in December 1969. He claims to have been blessed with the good fortune of "...growing up in the 60s, being a teenager in the 70s, living my 20s during the big-80s and starting a family in the 90s...I think I benefited from the best that each decade had to offer..."
Unruly Child is an American hard rock band, founded in 1991.
King Kobra II is a 2013 album by the hard rock band King Kobra. It was the second release by the band King Kobra since its reformation by founding member Carmine Appice.
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