Ira Black (born March 23, 1971) is an American heavy metal guitarist. He has played in over 60 bands since the early 1980s and is best known for his work with I Am Morbid, Westfield Massacre,

Metal Church Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San Francisco, California in 1980 and then relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly using the name Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurd ...

Vicious Rumors Vicious Rumors are an American power metal band, originally formed in 1979 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was conceived by founder and guitarist/vocalist Geoff Thorpe, and has been actively recording and touring worldwide since their ...

, Heathen, Lizzy Borden and

Dokken Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as " Alone Again", " In My Dreams", and " Burn ...

. Black has been a strict vegan for 20 years. While in LA County jail in 2009 on a traffic violation, Black garnered national media attention by going on a 10-day hunger strike when he was refused vegan meals.

Career

Black joined Lizzy Borden with

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

, and played

Dean Guitars Dean Guitars, commonly referred to simply as Dean, is an American importer and maker of stringed instruments and musical products with its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Its products include solid-body electric guitars, bass guitars, and acous ...

. He played guitars on the album ''Appointment with Death'' in 2007, with writing credit on half the songs. He recorded "Send in the Clowns" for Carrot Top's Stage Show at the

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

in Las Vegas with singer

Paul Shortino Paul Shortino (born May 14, 1953) is an American rock singer and musician who has sung for Rough Cutt/The Cutt, Quiet Riot, Bad Boyz, and Shortino. He briefly recorded with J.K. Northrup as the duo, Shortino/Northrup. He has also recorded as a ...

, Tyler Burgess and drummer

Vinnie Paul Abbott Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, 'Dimebag' Darrel ...

with Tom Parham. Black was recruited to cover

Phil Demmel Phil Demmel (born April 2, 1967) is an American musician who played lead guitar in the heavy metal band Machine Head between 2002 and 2018, making him their longest running member in that position. He has also performed in other bands such as V ...

's guitar parts for the

Vio-lence Vio-lence is an American thrash metal band formed in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout its existence, they released demo tapes, one EP and three studio albums. Vio-lence is best-known for their association with the 1980s Bay Area ...

touring schedule beginning in August 2022. Demmel had a greater obligation to tour with

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

, and will return to Vio-lence as he becomes available.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Ira 1971 births Living people American heavy metal guitarists Musicians from Sacramento, California American male guitarists Guitarists from California 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians Heathen (band) members