Chuck Billy
Charles "Chuck" Billy (born June 23, 1962 ) is an American singer and songwriter for the thrash metal band Testament . He is also the singer in the band Dublin Death Patrol (DDP), which he co-founded .
Background and style
Chuck Billy joined Testament in 1986 after Steve Souza left the band to join Exodus . Billy had previously sung with the hard rock band Guilt , Souza had recommended him as his successor. With him, Testament released the album The Legacy in 1987 . Here, the shouting of Billy's rather deep voice is a bit more raw and aggressive, but remains melodic. In the period that followed, Billy's style became clearer up to the album The Ritual . In 1990 the German Metal Hammer named him on the occasion of the Clash-of-the-Titans-Tour, the Testament with Slayer , Megadeth and Suicidal Tendenciesdisputed as one of "the best shouters in the hard field". On the albums that followed after Alex Skolnick left , Chuck Billy's vocals changed into a heavier direction and became more like Death Metal , but both styles have been used mixed since the album Low (1994). Besides Eric Peterson, Billy has been the only constant member of the band since then, and he also writes most of the lyrics.
Billy heard the Pomo - Indians and is open about its origin. He also processes the topic z. Partly in his lyrics, for example in the songs Trail of Tears on Low and Native Blood on Dark Roots of Earth .
illness
In 2001, a rare tumor was diagnosed in the chest area with Chuck Billy, a so-called germ cells - seminoma . For him and Chuck Schuldiner von Death , who was also sick, the Thrash-of-the-Titans benefit concert was held on August 11, 2001 in the Maritime Hall in San Francisco , with bands such as Exodus, Anthrax , Heathen and SOD in aid of the Sick people played. After chemotherapy and several operations, he has been completely healed since around 2003.
Other Projects
Chuck Billy took on parts of the background vocals on Mordred 's album Fool's Game in 1989 . He appeared on the solo albums by James Murphy , Convergence (1996) and Feeding the Machine (1999). In 1998 he was involved in the singing of the piece Back in the Saddle on the stucco mojo record Rising . Before his illness he started a side project with Steve DiGiorgio and Darren Travis from Sadus . A record was finished but not released because of Billy's diagnosis.
2006 Billy sang the song Crazy on the album Out for Blood by Sadus with one and is on the Iron Maiden - tribute album Numbers from the Beast at the piece of Fear of the Dark heard. In the same year he founded the band Dublin Death Patrol with musicians such as Steve Souza , Phil Demmel and Greg Bustamante as well as his brothers Eddie, formerly bassist with Vio-lence , and Andy Billy, with whom he released the album DDP 4 Life in 2007 . In 2008 he performed with Scott Ian , Jon Donais, Chris Wyse and John Tempesta Silent Night on the sampler We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year .
In 2009 Billy took over the guest vocals on the song Live My Dreams on the album Attitude by the Scandinavian black / thrash metal band Susperia . In 2019, Billy sang the song The Never on the solo album Anesthetic by Mark Morton , the guitarist of Lamb of God . Also in 2019 Billy could be heard on the song The Crownless King on the album Atonement by Killswitch Engage . A year later, Billy sang the song Routes on the self-titled Lamb of God album.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andrea Nieradzik: Clash of the Titans - Only the Strong Survive , in: Metal Hammer, No. 23/24, 1990, p. 29.
- ↑ a b www.metalupdate.com: Interview with Chuck Billy
- ↑ www.vampster.com: Chuck Billy Healed, March 31, 2003, accessed January 1, 2010.
Web links
- Chuck Billy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Chuck Billy at Discogs (English)
- Official website of Testament
- Official site of Dublin Death Patrol
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Billy, Chuck |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Billy, Charles |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer and songwriter for the thrash metal band Testament |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 23, 1962 |