XYZ is an American
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band. It was originally formed in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France, where Pat Fontaine and Terry Ilous were born and grew up. The first members were Paul Villet on drums, Uncle RV on guitars and Pat Fontaine on vocals and bass. After a few shows as a trio through western Europe and even New York's
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'', Kri ...
, Terry Ilous joined as the lead vocalist, cementing XYZ as a four-piece, and in 1984 the band moved to Los Angeles. Both Villet and RV bowed out a few months later and were replaced by Robert Pieper from New Haven, Connecticut on guitars and Joe Pafumi from Boston, Massachusetts on drums.
XYZ started off as the unofficial house band of the
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...
nightclub in Los Angeles. A tour of the US with
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 ...
followed the success of their 1989
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
-released
debut album, which includes one of their best-known songs "Inside Out", and they were signed by major label
Capitol
A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity.
Specific capitols include:
* United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.
* Numerous ...
for their 1991 follow-up ''
Hungry
Hunger is a sense, sensation that motivates the consumption of food. The sensation of hunger typically manifests after only a few hours without eating and is generally considered to be unpleasant. Satiety occurs between 5 and 20 minutes after ea ...
''. XYZ disbanded in 1992 but has reunited occasionally since the early 2000s.
History
XYZ sold more than two million records worldwide and was a staple on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
during the early 90s. The band played Hollywood clubs throughout the mid-1980s and first got a record deal in 1989 with
Don Dokken
Donald Maynard Dokken (born June 29, 1953) is an American singer and musician. He's best known for being the lead singer, occasional guitarist, and founder of the glam metal band Dokken. He is known for his vibrato-laden, melodic vocal style whi ...
(frontman of
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 ...
) as a producer.
Ilous and Fontaine then recruited Marc Diglio (guitars) and Paul Monroe (drums) to replace the departing Pieper and Pafumi, to record the debut album, simply titled ''
XYZ'', released in 1989 and containing the hits "Inside Out" and "What Keeps Me Loving You". Videos for both songs received reasonable airplay managing to reach No. 99 on the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...
. A third single from the album, "Maggy", was used in the 1990
Dolph Lundgren
Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...
movie ''
I Come in Peace''.
The next album, ''
Hungry
Hunger is a sense, sensation that motivates the consumption of food. The sensation of hunger typically manifests after only a few hours without eating and is generally considered to be unpleasant. Satiety occurs between 5 and 20 minutes after ea ...
'', released in 1991, had less commercial success, not charting at all.
Just one video was released, "Face Down in the Gutter", directed by
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
. A few months later, both Diglio and Monroe left the band and were replaced by Tony Burnett and Joey Shapiro, respectively. After the next tour (Foreigner) was finished, band members went separate ways once again.
They reunited in 2008 with the 1992 lineup of Ilous, Fontaine, Marcus and Shapiro, and still perform to the present day.
Recent events
XYZ actively continues to play festivals and shows across the US and Europe and is a regular addition to Monster of Rock Cruises out of Miami, Florida. In addition to fronting XYZ, Terry Ilous leads The Vagabonds, an acoustic outfit mixing
flamenco
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...
with classic rock.
Terry Ilous was interviewed by Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon, where the singer talked about a charity event called ''80's Rockers for Japan'', organized by Ilous to raise money for the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
from Japan, to help victims of the
2011 earthquake and tsunami. The event featured many hard rock musicians, including ex-
Toto singer
Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...
,
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 ...
,
Rudy Sarzo
Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban American hard rock/ heavy metal bassist. He remains best known for his work with Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played ...
, Michael T. Ross,
John Payne,
Carmine Appice
Carmine Appice ( , born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is also Vinny Appice's ...
,
Vinny Appice
Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice.
Career
Appice ...
,
Lorraine Lewis
Vixen is an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1980. During its most commercially successful period from 1987 to 1992, the band consisted of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Janet Gardner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Share Ro ...
, and others.
XYZ performed at
Rocklahoma Festival in 2008, the M3 Rock Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD, and Firefest, Rock City, Nottingham, England, in 2012.
In 2012, drummer Joey Shapiro purchased drumstick and guitar pick grip company Gorilla Snot, and since 2019 owns Avalanche Studios, a recording facility in Denver CO.
Pat Fontaine was featured in the opening scene of ''
The Dirt
''The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'' () is a collaborative autobiography of Mötley Crüe by the band – Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx – and ''New York Times'' writer Neil Strauss. First publi ...
'', a
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
movie about
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 ...
.
Paul Monroe, drummer from the classic lineup, was a contestant with his daughter on a 2016 episode of ''That Awkward Game Show'' on
Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The channel was o ...
.
As of March 2022, according to Pat Fontaine, new music from XYZ is in the works.
Members
;Current members
* Patt Fontaine – bass
(1980–present)
* Terry Ilous – vocals
(1982–present)
* Tony Marcus – guitars
(1991–present)
* Joey Shapiro – drums
(1991–present)
;Former members
* Uncle RV – guitars
(1980–1983)
* JP Villet – drums
(1980–1983)
* Jamie Lewis – keys
(1984–1986)
* Bill Lordan – drums
(1984–1986)
* Bobby Pieper – guitars
(1984–1988)
* Joey Pafumi – drums
(1986–1988)
* Marc Diglio – guitars
(1988–1991)
* Paul Monroe – drums
(1988–1991, 2003)
* Sean McNabb – bass
(2003)
* Tony Burnett – guitars
(1991–1993)
Timeline
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bar:Ilous text:"Terry Ilous"
bar:Fontaine text:"Pat Fontaine"
bar:McNabb text:"Sean McNabb"
bar:Pieper text:"Bobby Pieper"
bar:Diglio text:"Marc Diglio"
bar:Northrup text:"JK Northrup"
bar:Marcus text:"Tony Marcus"
bar:Pafumi text:"Joey Pafumi"
bar:Monroe text:"Paul Monroe"
bar:Shapiro text:"Joey Shapiro"
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width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Ilous from:01/01/1985 till:12/12/1992 color:lead_vocals
bar:Ilous from:01/01/2002 till:end color:lead_vocals
bar:Fontaine from:01/01/1985 till:12/12/1992 color:bass
bar:McNabb from:01/01/2002 till:01/10/2003 color:bass
bar:Fontaine from:01/10/2003 till:end color:bass
bar:Pieper from:01/01/1985 till:10/09/1988 color:guitar
bar:Diglio from:10/09/1988 till:19/03/1991 color:guitar
bar:Northrup from:01/01/2002 till:01/10/2003 color:guitar
bar:Marcus from:19/03/1991 till:12/12/1992 color:guitar
bar:Marcus from:01/01/2002 till:end color:guitar
bar:Pafumi from:01/01/1985 till:10/09/1988 color:drums
bar:Monroe from:10/09/1988 till:19/03/1991 color:drums
bar:Monroe from:01/01/2002 till:01/10/2003 color:drums
bar:Shapiro from:19/03/1991 till:12/12/1992 color:drums
bar:Shapiro from:01/10/2003 till:end color:drums
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at:17/10/1989 color:black layer:back
at:03/09/1991 color:black layer:back
at:01/06/1995 color:black layer:back
at:13/05/2003 color:black layer:back
at:14/05/2005 color:black layer:back
at:14/11/2005 color:black layer:back
at:07/10/2008 color:black layer:back
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Compilation albums
Live albums
References
External links
Official website*
{{Authority control
1986 establishments in California
Glam metal musical groups from California
Hard rock musical groups from California
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups established in 1986
Musical groups disestablished in 1992
Musical groups reestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical quartets