Slaughter is an American

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band formed in Las Vegas by lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist

Mark Slaughter Mark Allen Slaughter (born July 4, 1964) is an American singer and musician, and one of the founders of the glam metal band Slaughter. Career Slaughter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 4, 1964. Before the formation of Slaughter, he fr ...

and bassist

Dana Strum Dana Strum (born Dana Strumwasser on December 13, 1957) is an American musician whose career spans over 45 years. He is best known as a co-founder, bass player, and one of the two primary songwriters of the US-based hard rock band Slaughter, ...

. The band reached stardom in 1990 with their first album ''

Stick It to Ya ''Stick It to Ya'' is the debut studio album by American glam metal band Slaughter (band), Slaughter. It was released in 1990 by Chrysalis Records. It sold over 2 million copies and became one of the biggest albums of 1990. "Up All Night"(#27), "F ...

'', which spawned several hit singles including " Up All Night", "Spend My Life", "Mad About You" and "Fly to the Angels.” The album reached double platinum status in the United States.

History

Slaughter formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late 1988, out of the ashes of lead vocalist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum's previous band,

Vinnie Vincent Invasion Vinnie Vincent Invasion was an American glam metal band, formed in 1984 by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent. History Forming the band in 1984, Vinnie Vincent recruited bassist Dana Strum, who had served as a talent scout in L.A., recruiting ...

. Vinnie Vincent Invasion's record company,

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

, took the $4 million contract away from Vinnie Vincent for exceeding his credit line with the label, and transferred the contract to former members Slaughter and Strum. By 1989, Slaughter and Strum completed the lineup by recruiting lead guitarist

Tim Kelly Tim or Timothy Kelly may refer to: * Tim Kelly (Alaska politician) (1944–2009), Alaska state legislator * Tim Kelly (Minnesota politician) (born 1964), Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives * Tim Kelly (Mich ...

and drummer

Blas Elias Blas Elias (born August 18, 1967) is the drummer of the glam metal band Slaughter. He also drums for the Las Vegas production of Blue Man Group. He has toured with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra since 2017. He has been a rotating cast member of th ...

. Slaughter's debut album ''

'' had three singles released that hit the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: the hit "Fly to the Angels" (US#19), and the moderate hits "Up All Night" (US#27) and "Spend My Life" (US#39). During this time, a song was released from the soundtrack to the film ''

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey ''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'' is a 1991 American science fiction comedy film, and the feature directorial debut of Pete Hewitt. It is the second film in the ''Bill & Ted'' franchise, and a sequel to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989). ...

''. That song, titled "Shout It Out", was accompanied by a music video but failed to make the US Hot 100. In 1992, the band released their second album, titled '' The Wild Life''. It reached number eight on the US Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and was certified gold, but did not produce any Top 40 hits on the US Hot 100. The only single to reach the Hot 100 was the first single "Real Love" (US#69). The band planned to record their third album in early 1994. However, in 1993 guitarist Tim Kelly was arrested for charges of drug trafficking, while bassist Dana Strum had a motorcycle accident that injured his playing hand. The delayed album was completed in February 1994 and the first single "Searchin'" was released. However, following Chrysalis Records absorption into EMI Records, Slaughter was dropped from EMI. The band subsequently signed with

CMC International CMC International was an American independent record label founded by Bill Cain and Tom Lipsky in 1991, focused mainly on classic rock, and classic heavy metal. The label was the haven of many hard rock, arena rock, thrash metal, glam metal, and ...

, a new label at the time that signed many hard rock and metal bands in the face of the new

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

popularity. The label had major distribution through BMG. In 1995, Slaughter released the album '' Fear No Evil''. The album did not have much success in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, or much of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

but performed well in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Guitarist Dave Marshall (ex-

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961), best known by the stage name Vince Neil, is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 forma ...

band) had to fill in for Kelly at times, due to his legal problems. Kelly's legal troubles ended and the band committed to their next album. In 1997, ''Revolution'' was released. The album featured a more eclectic and psychedelic sound, but failed to make an impact. On February 5, 1998, tragedy struck when guitarist Tim Kelly was killed in an auto accident in the

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

desert. This deeply affected the group, but they were committed to continue with the band. Dave Marshall briefly performed as a touring guitarist for Slaughter in Japan. In 1998, they hired

Jeff Blando Jeff "Blando" Bland (born December 6, 1964 in Flint, Michigan) is an American guitarist who played for Michigan-based cover band, KODY LEE, Left For Dead and Saigon Kick. He is currently the lead guitarist for Slaughter and Vince Neil. He has ...

as Kelly's replacement and began working on their next album. A

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

titled '' Eternal Live'' was released featuring some of the band's last performances with Kelly. In 1999, they released the album '' Back to Reality'', featuring Blando as the new guitarist. Blando was previously in Left For Dead and

Saigon Kick Saigon Kick is an American hard rock band from Miami, Florida, that formed in 1988. When they recorded their debut album and second album the band consisted of lead vocalist Matt Kramer, lead guitarist Jason Bieler, bassist Tom Defile, and drum ...

. Slaughter continues to play many rock package tours with other acts that saw prominence during the glam era of the 1980s and early 1990s. During the summer of 1999, while on the " Rock Never Stops Tour" (which included

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock an ...

and

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...

), Slaughter saw some of their previous singles on compilation albums. The

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

album "Power Ballads" included "Fly To The Angels"; "Up All Night" was included on

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

"Hard Hitters". Slaughter also took part in the Summer 2000 "Poison, Cinderella, Dokken and Slaughter" tour. In 2001, Slaughter was a part of the "Voices of Metal" tour featuring

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

, and

Vixen Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum's former Vinnie Vincent Invasion bandmate Bobby Rock played as a touring drummer for Slaughter, filling in for Blas Elias on some shows of the Rock Never Stops Tour. In April 2004, Slaughter released a DVD-A entitled ''Then and Now'' that features 12 songs and 50 photos of the band over the years. Slaughter also released a DVD that features all of the music videos and behind the scenes footage during the 2004 season. On July 13, 2007, Slaughter performed at glam metal festival Rocklahoma. However, Strum and Blando were not present during the band's performance, though they did perform with Vince Neil the following night. At the end of January 2008 Slaughter performed a show at Motley Cruise, a four-day cruise in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

with

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

Endeverafter Endeverafter (stylized as EndeverafteR) was an American heavy metal band from Sacramento, California. History Band founder Michael Grant Endeverafter was formed in 2004 by lead singer and guitarist Michael Grant. After the rest of the band was ...

, Lynam. Slaughter continues to tour and in 2017 they are scheduled to appear on the Monsters of Rock cruise and at Rocklahoma along with several other scheduled concerts.

Band members

Current members

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, piano, tambourine (1988–present) *

– bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–present) * Jeff "Blando" Bland – lead guitar, backing vocals (1998–present) *

– drums, percussion (1988–2003, 2019–present)

Former members

– lead guitar, backing vocals (1988–1998; died 1998) *Zoltan Chaney – drums, percussion (2011–2019)

Former and current touring members

* Dave Marshall – lead guitar, backing vocals (1995, 1998) *Bobby Rock – drums (2003–2004) * Timothy "Timbo" DiDuro – drums (2004–2011) *

Will Hunt William Hunt (born September 5, 1971) is an American drummer. He has been a member of rock band Evanescence since 2007, and has also played for Skrape, Dark New Day, Black Label Society, Device, Crossfade, Staind, Static-X, and Slaughter. ...

- drums (2011 - current)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

*''Stick It Live'' (1990) *''Eternal Live'' (1998) *''Ecstasy Live 1991'' (2022)

Compilations

*''Mass Slaughter: The Best of Slaughter'' (1995) *''Then and Now'' (2002) *''10 Greatest Songs'' (2011)

Home videos

* ''From the Beginning'' (1991) (Gold) * ''The Wild Life'' (1992) (Gold)

Singles

Tours

Hot in the Shade Tour The Hot in the Shade Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss (band), Kiss in support of their fifteenth studio album ''Hot in the Shade''. Background Following the Crazy Nights World Tour, Stanley had embarked on a solo club tour in 1 ...

1990 * Stick it to Ya Tour 1991 * The Wild Life Tour 1992-1993 * Fear No Evil Tour 1995-1996 * Revolution Tour 1997 * Rock Never Stops Tour 1998 * Rock Never Stops Tour 1999 * Power to the People Tour 2000 * Voices of Metal Tour 2001 * Rock Never Stops Tour 2003 * Rock Never Stops Tour 2004

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter 1988 establishments in Nevada Chrysalis Records artists Heavy metal musical groups from Nevada Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups from Las Vegas American glam metal musical groups