Scott Ian Rosenfeld (his name has since been legally changed to drop his birth surname) was born to a Jewish family[2] in the Bayside section of the New York City borough of Queens; he has a younger brother named Jason (who was the lead vocalist of Anthrax for a brief period in the early 1980s)[3] and a half-brother named Sean. Ian attended Bayside High School, with classmates (and future Anthrax bandmates) Dan Lilker and Neil Turbin.[4]
Witnessing KISS live at Madison Square Garden in 1977 made a huge impact on Ian, who has been vocal about his love for the band (Ian appeared on an episode of Gene Simmons Family Jewels, in which he visited Simmons' home and spoke about the impact KISS has had on his life). Ian went on to be influenced by British heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Judas Priest, as well as the punk rock band Ramones. The musical style of his playing and songwriting including fast alternate picking was also largely influenced by the German metal band Accept.
Ian (right) and Joey Belladonna performing with Anthrax in 2010
As a founding member of Anthrax, Ian helped to create thrash metal in the mid-1980s alongside Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica. He came up with the idea to collaborate with the rap group Public Enemy, covering their song "Bring the Noise" in 1991. This has been considered a foundational recording of the rap/rock genre. In 2005, Ian was invited by Chuck D of Public Enemy to perform "Bring the Noise" with them as part of their induction into VH1's Hip Hop Honors Hall of Fame. He also joined Public Enemy on the Rock the Bells tour in 2007.[6][7]
Other ventures
Ian began working with music television channel VH1 in 2001, when he was asked to host the program Rock Show. During his 48 episodes as host, he interviewed guests including Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, Ted Nugent, Stone Temple Pilots, Megadeth, 3 Doors Down, Sevendust, Tenacious D, and the Cult. Ian was a regular commentator on various VH1 shows including the I Love the... series, 100 Most Metal Moments, Awesomely Bad Number One Songs, When Metallica Ruled the World, and episodes of VH1's Behind the Music featuring Metallica, Pantera and Anthrax. Ian was prominently featured in VH1's History of Heavy Metal. In June 2006, he starred in the VH1 reality series SuperGroup with Ted Nugent, Sebastian Bach, Jason Bonham and Evan Seinfeld.
In 2008, DC Comics asked Ian to write a two-issue prestige-format comics series for the character Lobo. Books one and two of Lobo: Highway to Hell were released in November and December 2009.
In 2008, Ian signed with UltimateBet, the third largest internet gaming site in the world, as one of their online professional players.[8] He joined professional poker players Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke as one of Ultimate Bet's star pros. He won Ultimate Bet's premier Sunday 200K tournament and cashed in in 2010's WSOP main event by finishing 634th out of 6494 players.[citation needed]
In 2010, Ian joined the metal supergroup the Damned Things, which released their first album on December 14, 2010. On June 21, 2011, his wife gave birth to the couple's first child, thus forcing Ian to briefly depart from Anthrax's tour. Andreas Kisser of Sepultura filled in for Scott on guitar during Scott's absence.[9]
Ian provided voice work for the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, as the character "Some Guy Who Snuck Into Dethklok's Trunk Last Night When They Were Pretty Hammered" in the "Season III: The Dead Man" opening episode "Renovationklok", as well as providing guest voices in the episode "Tributeklok".
Ian did a spoken word tour entitled Speaking Words, starting in May 2013, in the UK.[10]
In 2014, he and his wife joined former members of Mother Superior to form Motor Sister. They released their debut album, Ride, on March 9, 2015.[11]
He also toured Europe and North American with a solo spoken word storytelling act called "Speaking Words" that year.[12]
In 2015, Da Capo Press published Ian's memoir titled I'm the Man: The Story of That Guy from Anthrax.[13][14][15]
On December 12, 2017, Ian released his book Access All Areas: Stories from a Hard Rock Life, which is a follow-up to his first autobiographical book I'm the Man, published November 24, 2015.[16] The book features stories about his life including not only his adventures with Anthrax, but also with other musical celebrities such as Madonna and David Lee Roth.[17][18]
In 2018, he toured Australia on another spoken word act called "'Spoken Word Stories by Scottie'"[19] also known as "One Man Riot".[20]
In 2019, he contributed the foreword to the book King's X: The Oral History by Greg Prato, published by Jawbone Press.[21]
Appearances in films
Ian has appeared as himself, representing the character Kevin's conscience, in the 2022 American teen comedy-drama Metal Lords.[22]
Personal life
Ian was formerly married to his high school girlfriend, Marge Ginsburg, in the 1980s;[1] the marriage ended in divorce.[citation needed]
Ian is a New York Yankees fan[26] and enjoys snowboarding.[citation needed] He plays poker and is an online pro at UltimateBet; he finished 637th in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, taking home $21,365.[27] He is also a Battlestar Galactica fan and has posted numerous blogs about the show, even making an appearance for the red carpet series finale; he also played guitar on the soundtrack of The Plan, a made-for-DVD Battlestar Galactica film. He is a fan of the television series Doctor Who, as seen in "The Best of the Doctor", which aired August 13, 2011 on BBC America (numbered episode 166). Ian is a fan of hip hop and rap music, particularly Public Enemy and Run-DMC. He was known to wear Public Enemy shirts while performing gigs in the late 1980s. He has also said Run-DMC came out with the same aggression that metal bands played with (that he was listening to at the time), and that Run-DMC was the group that put rap on the map.
Ian is an avid fan of Stephen King and has collected first and limited editions of his books. A number of Anthrax's songs were inspired by King's stories such as "Among the Living" (based on The Stand), "A Skeleton In The Closet" (Apt Pupil), "Lone Justice" and "Breathing Lightning" (the Dark Tower series).[29]
Scott Ian uses his signature Jackson guitars and signature Randall MTS Series heads and cabinets. He is known to use Dimebag Darrell tribute Deans and previously endorsed Washburn.[31][32][33] During the mid 1980s, he used ESP guitars for a while, also getting Kirk Hammett his ESP endorsement. Scott uses a DigiTech signature Black 13 distortion pedal, and a DigiTech chorus pedal for his clean sounds.[34] Many of his guitars have been equipped with custom made Seymour Duncan "El Diablo" pickups,[35] but can also be seen using standard Seymour Duncan SH-4's and '59 pickups on several guitars, including his newest signature Jackson. He also recently began endorsing Evertune bridges.[36]
In late 2009, Ian ended his endorsement with Washburn and went back to Jackson guitars. He was seen using custom made Soloist and Randy Rhoads guitars during the 2009 Sonisphere Festival. On March 27, 2010, Ian announced the production of a new signature guitar by Jackson via Twitter and YouTube. He said it would be based on his Soloist from 1987. It has a silverburst finish, a single Seymour Duncan J.B. humbucker, lightning bolt inlays, and a string-thru/tune-o-matic bridge. A dual-humbucker version with a Floyd Rose tremolo will also be released. He stated, "I am so stoked to be back with Jackson." He was seen using this guitar while playing with Brian Posehn at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards and with the Damned Things at the 2011 Download Festival.
Gibson "Thunderhorse" Explorer (Used at Download Festival 2011 with the Damned Things)
Jackson JJ1 (USA-made, Seymour Duncan JB And Jazz pickups, Alder or Korina body with maple neck)
Jackson JJ2 (USA-Made, Seymour Duncan El-Diablo pickups and a killswitch, alder body with maple neck or mahogany body with mahogany neck)
Jackson JJ4 (Lower-end model, Asian-Made, with Duncan Designed pickups and a killswitch)
Jackson JJ5 (5-string Baritone)
Jackson Custom "NOT" Telecaster
Charvel Surfcaster (with Seymour Duncan Humbucker in the Bridge Position and the stock Chandler Lipstick pickup in the angled Neck position: Main guitar for the Sound of White Noise era)
Jackson Randy Rhoads (1982)
Washburn SI75TI (Used Washburn from 2004 to 2009)
Washburn WV540VASI
Washburn WV40VASI
Washburn SI60MW
Washburn SI61G
ESP M-100FM
ESP Custom M-II and Telecasters (1985–1989)
ESP TE-230SI (Signature model based on Scott Ian's red ESP Telecaster in the mid-to-late 1980s. Japan only)
Seymour Duncan J.B. pickups
Seymour Duncan El Diablo (Scott Ian custom shop pickups)
Marshall JCM 800 2203 (Early years of Anthrax, and used for leads on "We've Come For You All". Used by both Scott and Rob Caggiano for recording Worship Music, and by Scott for For All Kings)
Kirk Lee Hammett is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2003, Hammett, along with bandmate James Hetfield, was ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.
Anthrax is an American thrash metal band from New York City, formed in 1981 by rhythm guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. The group is considered one of the leaders of the thrash metal scene from the 1980s and is part of the "Big Four" of the genre, along with Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. They were also one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast. The band's current lineup consists of Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello, vocalist Joey Belladonna and lead guitarist Jonathan Donais. Anthrax's lineup has changed numerous times over their career, leaving Ian as the only constant member of the band. Ian and Benante are the only two members to appear on all of Anthrax's albums, while Bello has been a member of Anthrax since 1984, replacing Lilker.
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References
1 2 "[Class of] 1982". Alumni News. The Bronx High School of Science. January 1989. p.7.
↑ Flint, David (October 25, 2017). "Review Access All Areas". Reprobate Press Com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
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