Ross Friedman (born January 3, 1954), also known as Ross the Boss, is a guitarist, known as a founding member of both the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band the Dictators, and the heavy metal band Manowar.

History

Friedman was born in the Bronx, New York, and formed the punk rock band the Dictators with Andy Shernoff in

New Paltz, New York New Paltz () is an incorporated U.S. town in Ulster County, New York. The population was 14,003 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The town is located in the southeastern part of the county and is south of Kingston. New Paltz contains a village, also wit ...

, 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 Fabienne Shine is a French and Jewish model, actress and musician, born in Tunisia, North Africa in 1944 and raised in Paris. She started writing songs and composing her own music at an early age. She went travelled the world with her guitar an ...

's band Shakin' Street. On

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define ...

's '' Heaven and Hell'' tour in 1980 (on which Shakin' Street were the support act), Friedman was introduced to bass player

Joey DeMaio Joey DeMaio (born March 6, 1954) is an American musician who is the bass player and main songwriter for the heavy metal band Manowar which he founded in 1980. He is also the founder and CEO of Magic Circle Music. Biography He is a childhoo ...

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 ''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 r ...

''.

Timeline

In 1990, Friedman joined Manitoba's Wild Kingdom with fellow Dictators Andy Shernoff and

Handsome Dick Manitoba Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba (born Richard Blum; January 29, 1954) is an American punk rock singer and radio personality, best known as the original lead singer of New York City-based band The Dictators and the reunion singer of MC5. Backg ...

. With drummer J. P. Patterson the band released the album ''...And You?'' to critical acclaim. The album was in heavy rotation on MTV. 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". The Dictators started playing again in 1996, touring heavily. In 2001, with original rhythm guitar player

Scott Kempner Scott "Top Ten" Kempner (born February 6, 1954, Bronx, New York, US) is the American rhythm guitarist with The Dictators since they formed in 1974 (only leaving the band for a few years starting in 2002). He is also a founding member of The Del-L ...

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 Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * V ...

". In 2004, Friedman joined

Albert Bouchard Albert Thomas Bouchard (; born May 24, 1947) 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 brother of former Blue Öyster Cult ...

, the original drummer for

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla". The band ha ...

, 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 Earthshaker may refer to: Poseidon, a god in Greek mythology. In music: * ''Earthshaker'' (album), an album by Y&T *'' The Earthshaker'', an album by Koko Taylor * Earthshaker (band), a Japanese metal band In games: * '' Earthshaker!'', an acces ...

; 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 Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

and

Divinus Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout history ...

. 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

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

s, 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 A sex museum is a museum that displays erotic art, historical sexual aids, and documents on the history of erotica. They were popular in Europe at the end of the 1960s and during the 1970s, the era of the sexual revolution. Since the 1990s, thes ...

. Friedman guested on former band-mate

's 2007 LP,

Wotan (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

's LP "Epos" where he played Grand Piano on one track, and

Atlantean Kodex Atlantean Kodex is a German heavy metal band from Vilseck in Bavaria. The band is under contract with Ván Records and has released three studio albums so far. History Early years (2005–2010) The band was founded in 2005 by Manuel Trummer (g ...

'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 metaller
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. On November 2010, Friedman and his German Metal Band released the followup to " New Metal Leader", "

Hailstorm Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

", which received 4.5 out of 5 stars on AllMusic.com. In May 2011, Friedman was a special guest at the 11th Annual

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American musician, best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. His image, voice, and his tenure with the R ...

Birthday Bash in New York city, performing, among other songs, "Stop Thinking About It" with fellow Dictator Andy Shernoff. In June, Friedman was invited to co-headline Venezuela's Gillmanfest. 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 A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayin ...

, 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 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. In 2022, Ross was featured in the song ''Armpits of Immortals'' by Italian comedy heavy metal band Nanowar of Steel.

Discography

; The Dictators * '' The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!'' (1975) * '' Manifest Destiny'' (1977) * '' Bloodbrothers'' (1978) * '' Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke'' (1981) * ''New York City'' (1998) * '' DFFD'' (2001) * '' ¡Viva Dictators!'' (2005) * '' Everyday is Saturday'' (2007) ; Shakin' Street * '' Shakin' Street'' (1980) * '' Live and Raw'' (1989) * ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music * Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of album ...

'' (2004) * '' 21st Century Love Channel'' (2009) ; Manowar * '' Battle Hymns'' (1982) * '' Into Glory Ride'' (1983) * '' Hail to England'' (1984) * ''

Sign of the Hammer ''Sign of the Hammer'' is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1984 on 10/Virgin Records. Reception In 2005, ''Sign of the Hammer'' was ranked number 418 in '' Rock Hard'' magazine's book ''The 500 ...

'' (1984) * '' Fighting The World'' (1987) * ''

'' (1988) ; Manitoba's Wild Kingdom * '' ... And You?'' (1990) ;Heyday * ''Heyday'' (1994) ; The Hellacopters * '' Payin' the Dues'' (1997) ; David Roter Method * '' Find Something Beautiful'' (1997) ; The Spinatras * '' @Midnight.com'' (1999) ; The Nomads * '' Showdown, Vol. 2: The 90's'' (2002) ; Thunderboss * '' Thunderbolt Patterson with Ross the Boss'' (2004) ; Majesty * '' Sword and Sorcery'' (2002) ; The Brain Surgeons * '' Black Hearts of Soul'' (2004) * '' Denial of Death'' (2006) ; DawnRider * '' Fate is Calling, Pt 1'' (2005) ; The Thunderbolts * '' The Thunderbolts'' (2006) ;

* ''

Epos The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...

'' (2007) ; Fabienne Shine and the Planets * '' Fabienne Shine and the planets'' (2007) ;

* '' The Pnakotic Demos'' (2007) ; Burning Starr * ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the L ...

'' (2011) ; Ross The Boss * '' New Metal Leader'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * '' By Blood Sworn'' (2018) * ''Born of Fire'' (2020) ; Death Dealer * '' War Master'' (2013) * '' Hallowed Ground'' (2015) ; Bloody Times * '' Alliance (Single)'' (2018) * '' On A Mission (Album)'' (2019) ; Burning Witches * '' Battle Hymn (from the Dance With the Devil album)'' (2020) ; Nanowar of Steel * '' Armpits of Immortals'' (2022)

References

External links

Ross-The-Boss.com The Official Ross The Boss Website
with Brian D. Holland {{DEFAULTSORT:Boss, Ross the 1954 births 20th-century American guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American punk rock guitarists Jewish American musicians Jewish heavy metal musicians Living people Manowar members Musicians from the Bronx Protopunk musicians The Dictators members