Ross the Boss | |
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 Ross the Boss in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ross Friedman |
| Born | January 3, 1954 Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal, punk rock, proto punk |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, keyboards |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Website | ross-the-boss |
Ross Friedman (born January 3, 1954), also known as Ross the Boss, is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of both the punk band the Dictators and the heavy metal band Manowar. [1]
Friedman was born in the Bronx, New York, [2] and formed the punk rock band the Dictators with Andy Shernoff in New Paltz, New York, in 1973. Prior to this, Friedman had played in a local band, Total Crudd. After recording three albums with the Dictators, Friedman went to France and worked for one year in Fabienne Shine's band Shakin' Street. On Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell tour in 1980 (on which Shakin' Street were the support act), Friedman was introduced to bass player Joey DeMaio by Ronnie James Dio. Later in 1980, Friedman and DeMaio formed Manowar, with whom he recorded six albums before DeMaio asked him to leave the band after the 1988 album Kings of Metal . [3]
In 1990, Friedman joined Manitoba's Wild Kingdom with fellow Dictators Andy Shernoff and Handsome Dick Manitoba. With drummer J. P. Patterson the band released the album ...And You? to critical acclaim. The album was in heavy rotation on MTV. [4]
In 1994, Friedman had a blues rock band called "Heyday" and in 1999 CMC records released the Spinatras album @Midnight.com, a band whom Friedman has described as "The Dictators meet Cheap Trick". [5]
The Dictators started playing again in 1996, touring heavily. In 2001, with original rhythm guitar player Scott Kempner now back in the fold, the band released their album "D.F.F.D." which they then toured to support in the US and Europe. A resulting live album was released from the European tour, entitled "Viva Dictators".
In 2004, Friedman joined Albert Bouchard, the original drummer for Blue Öyster Cult, in his band Brain Surgeons. He also recorded an instrumental album with Dictators drummer JP Thunderbolt Patterson, called "Thunderboss"
In July 2005, Friedman joined Manowar onstage at the Earthshaker Festival; performing "Metal Daze" and "Dark Avenger" with them. At the end of the concert, he also performed "Battle Hymn", with other past and present members of Manowar.
In April 2006, he played one night of early Manowar music at the Keep It True VI Festival in Germany, backed by German Manowar cover band Men of War, featuring members of German groups Ivory Night and Divinus. That band (later changed name to Ross the Boss or "The RTB Band") went on to play some more festivals in Germany, Italy and Greece and then began working on new original material.
In August 2006, Thunderboss was released on Poptown Records. Thunderboss was written and arranged by J.P. Thunderbolt Patterson and featured Friedman on all 11 tracks. The CD met with some critical acclaim, but was not successful enough to keep Friedman interested in the project, so there was no supporting tour.
In October 2006, Friedman and The Dictators played Friday and Saturday nights of the closing weekend at punk rock venue CBGBs, one of the clubs where they got their start.
2007 started off with an eleven city tour of Spain with JP Patterson and their Spanish super-band "The Thunderbolts" which also includes members of Bummer and Sex Museum.
Friedman guested on former band-mate Fabienne Shine's 2007 LP, Wotan's LP "Epos" where he played Grand Piano on one track, and Atlantean Kodex's 2007 EP.
Friedman's 2008 included an appearance with Manitoba's Wild Kingdom at the 2008 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash, performances with Shakin' Street at the Sweden Rock Festival, and a few tour dates in Spain with The Dictators. He released a new album in August with his German Metal Band under the name "Ross the Boss" called "New Metal Leader" which debuted at #99 in the German Album charts. The following month he appeared on Inner Demons, the 2nd CD by New Jersey metallers Skullshifter, playing lead guitar on the track "Etched in Sand".
In August 2009, Friedman debuted his "Ross the Boss" band in the US at the Brooklyn, New York venue Europa, to favorable reviews. [6]
In November 2010, Friedman and his German Metal Band released the followup to "New Metal Leader", "Hailstorm", which received 4.5 out of 5 stars on AllMusic.com. [7]
In May 2011, Friedman was a special guest at the 11th Annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash in New York city, performing, among other songs, "Stop Thinking About It" with fellow Dictator Andy Shernoff. [8] In June, Friedman was invited to co-headline Venezuela's Gillmanfest. [9] In the coming months with the Ross the Boss band he performed at several festivals in Europe, including Masters of Rock in the Czech Republic.
Friedman also owns and manages a small business called "The Cage Baseball NYC." He runs "The Cage" with his wife and son. His son teaches classes at "The Cage," while his wife runs the clinics and manages the business when Friedman is on tour.
In early 2012, vocalist Sean Peck Cage, guitarists Friedman and Stu Marshall, bassist Mike Davis and drummer Rhino formed a metal supergroup, Death Dealer. Death Dealer began as an online collaboration between Marshall and Peck. All they needed to tell Friedman about the project to get him on board was that Rhino was on drums. Although Friedman and Rhino are both former members of Manowar, they'd only ever played together for one song at the Earthshaker Festival in 2005. They both had always meant to do something together. In June 2013, Death Dealer released a full-length studio album called War Master. The 2015 follow up release "Hallowed Ground" featured drummer Steve Bolognese from Into Eternity.
He brought down the house[ citation needed ] as the surprise guest star at the 2016 Keep It True Festival with a new all-Manowar-songs "Ross The Boss Band" that hails from his hometown of New York City. The band includes bass player Kevin Bolembach, his nephew Lance Barnewold on drums, and singer Mike Cotoia of Fate Breaks Dawn who has a six octave range.
On January 18, 2017, Ross was inducted into the Hall of Heavy Metal History for his contributions to speed metal while in Manowar. [10]
In 2022, Ross was featured in the song Armpits of Immortals by Italian comedy heavy metal band Nanowar of Steel. [11]
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal".
The Dictators are an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth."
Donnie Hamzik is an American musician and a former drummer for heavy metal band Manowar.
Into Glory Ride is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Manowar and the first to feature drummer Scott Columbus. The album's title is a reference to the title track from the band's previous album Battle Hymns. After 'Into Glory Ride' released, Manowar became one of the most influential bands to the development of this "epic" style of heavy metal and had a critical influence on the genre.
Battle Hymns is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1982 by Liberty Records. It has an eponymous song, and a song with narration from actor Orson Welles. The album is considered highly influential for the power metal genre, despite its minor sales. It was re-issued in 2010.
Kings of Metal is the sixth album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released on November 18, 1988 by Atlantic Records. The album was the last to feature guitarist and founding member Ross "The Boss" Friedman, who later went on to rejoin punk band The Dictators. Drummer Scott Columbus left the band after this album as well, but rejoined for 1996's Louder Than Hell and remained with the band until 2008.
Albert Bouchard is an American musician. He is a founding member and the original drummer of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult and current drummer of The Dictators. He is the older brother of former Blue Öyster Cult bassist Joe Bouchard.
Thor is a Canadian heavy metal band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Scott Columbus was an American drummer, best known for his long period of collaboration with heavy metal band Manowar.
Andy Shernoff is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and keyboards, and sang backing vocals and occasional leads. He has been involved with a variety of other musical projects, most notably the heavily Dictators-populated Manitoba's Wild Kingdom and Joey Ramone's first studio album, Don't Worry About Me. He additionally co-wrote four Ramones songs with Joey.
Andrew "Duck" MacDonald is an American heavy metal/hard rock guitarist, who has played in several bands, the most well-known of which being Blue Cheer.
Louis Marullo, known professionally as Eric Adams, is an American singer who has been the frontman of the heavy metal band Manowar since its inception in 1980. Previously, he sang for the group Looks, which also included childhood friend and future Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio. His stage name is a combination of the names of his sons, Eric and Adam.
Fabienne Shine is a French musician. She was raised in Paris.
The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! is the debut album by American punk rock band The Dictators. It was released in March 1975 and is considered one of the first examples of punk rock.
Manifest Destiny is the second album by the Dictators and their first after switching to the Asylum label.
Manitoba's Wild Kingdom were an American heavy metal and punk rock band based in New York City. They were formed in 1986, and most recently performed in 2008.
Hailstorm is the second album recorded by guitarist Ross "the Boss" Friedman and his German band under the moniker, "The Ross the Boss Band".
New Metal Leader is the debut album recorded by guitarist Ross "the Boss" Friedman and his German band under the moniker, "The Ross the Boss Band". It was released on August 22, 2008 on Candlelight records in the US and A.F.M. Records in Europe.
Bloodbrothers is the third album by the Dictators, and their second after switching to the Asylum label. "Faster and Louder" features an uncredited guest appearance from Bruce Springsteen.
KK's Priest are an English heavy metal band, formed by former Judas Priest guitarist, K. K. Downing in 2020.
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