The Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp is an interactive musical event that takes place in various locations worldwide involving various rock stars on various dates. Attendees play, write and record music in professional rehearsal and recording studios alongside those from the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

, culminating in an event where attendees perform live on stage at a well known venue. Participants are formed into bands, each with its own rock star mentor. Over the course of the experience, campers learn band dynamics, song writing, receive instrument training, and hear from industry speakers and participate in Q&A sessions with well known musicians. The event is targeted at players of any talent level, from novice to advanced. It is geared more toward adults, with the average attendee age being between 35 and 55. Founded in 1997 by David Fishof, approximately 6,000 people have thus far participated.

Celebrity attendees

The celebrities at Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp consist primarily of "headliners" and "rockstar counselors." Rock n Roll Fantasy Camp 2011

Past headliners have included: *

Roger Daltrey Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...

(

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

) *

Jerry Cantrell Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internatio ...

(

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

) *

Mike Inez Michael Allen Inez (born May 14, 1966) is an American rock musician and bassist. Since 1993, Inez has been the bassist of the American rock band Alice in Chains. He is also recognized for his work with Ozzy Osbourne from 1989 to 1993. Inez also ...

(

) *

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

(

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

) *

Bret Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman of rock band Poison, which has sold over 65 million albums worldwide and 30 million records in the United St ...

(

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

)
*

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

(

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of lead vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer, and guitarists Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry and B ...

) *

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist of heavy metal music, heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 formation until his departure in 1992. Neil reunited with the ...

(

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

) *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

(

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

) *

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. He is the third-longest serving member of the band, having appeared on each Iron Maiden album sin ...

(

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

) *

Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist and songwriter. A seven-time Grammy nominee, he is best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the longest serving guitarist for Deep Purple. Morse also enjoyed a successful ...

(

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

) *

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

(

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

) Past counselors have included: *

Vinny Appice Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock and metal drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio (band), Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell (band), Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother ...

Phil X Theofilos Xenidis (born March 10, 1966), better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician. Since 2013, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016. Career Early bands and session wor ...

Teddy Andreadis Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis (born circa 1962) is an American keyboardist, harmonica player and vocalist, who has worked with many popular musicians, including Carole King, Guns N' Roses, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Alice Cooper, Bruce Willis, and the B ...

Nita Strauss Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American musician. She is currently a guitarist for Alice Cooper, has also been a touring guitarist for Demi Lovato and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss is regularly featured on the cov ...

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born September 19, 1958) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, and then embarked on a successful glam metal solo career tha ...

Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban-American musician. He remains best known as the bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well k ...

* Derek St. Holmes *

Sandy Gennaro Santo Michael "Sandy" Gennaro (born July 3, 1951 in Manhattan, New York) is an American rock drummer, author, musician, public speaker and mentor. He has recorded and toured with many musical artists including Blackjack, The Monkees, Pat Travers, ...

Online Masterclasses

At the start of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp launched an online Masterclass program, hosted via Zoom. In less than a year, they held more than 100 classes with musicians and music industry executives ranging from

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and record producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, a Primet ...

Jason Flom Jason Flom (born February 17, 1961) is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of Atlantic Records and Virgin Records/Capitol Music Group. He is also ...

, and numerous others.

Rock Camp: The Movie

In January 2021, a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

on the past two and a half decades of Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp was released. The film, titled '' Rock Camp: The Movie'' follows the history of the camp, its founder, and the different artists and campers who attend. The film was directed by Doug Blush, known for his work on over 100 documentaries. In April 2021, comedian

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

was quoted as saying he "loved" the documentary on

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

. Rock Camp: The Movie is available to watch on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube as well as other streaming platforms.

Rock Camp: The Podcast

In January 2024, Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp launched an official weekly podcast, called ''Rock Camp: The Podcast''. The podcast focuses on current and past camp stories and content, with new and archival interviews featuring talent and attendees who have participated in the camp over the course of its history. The podcast is hosted by Fishof,

Britt Lightning Brittany Denaro (born February 2, 1985), best known as Britt Lightning, is the lead guitarist for the band Vixen. Music career From 2004 to 2011, Lightning performed in Jaded, an all-female hard rock based in Boston. The band released two albums ...

, and Miles Schuman, and is produced by Pantheon Podcasts.

Comedy Fantasy Camp

In 2023, Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp partnered with The Adam Carolla Show to launch Comedy Fantasy Camp, the first of which featured

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

as headliner, alongside

Adam Carolla Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts '' The Adam Carolla Show'', a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by ''Guin ...

. Attendees take classes on

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

improv comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv or impro in British English, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its ...

podcasting A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

, among other comedic mediums, and perform at the Hollywood Improv in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on the final night.

In popular culture

* In the episode " How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" (2002) of the television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'',

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is the main protagonist of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' who is part of the titular family. Homer made his television debut in the short " Good Night" on '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' on April 19, ...

attends the camp and plays with

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

. * The camp was featured in the episode " Ellen Unplugged" (1997), of the television series, ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth (given name), Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena, and Helen (given name), Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: * Elle ...

''. * The camp was the setting in "Bones", episode 19 of V series. * On "Pawn Stars" Rick 'n' Roll (TV Episode 2013), Rick Harrison fulfills his fantasy by singing with Roger Daltrey of the Who. Rick states, "I sang with Roger Daltrey. I can now die". * SNL Season 22 Episode 20 - Jeff Goldlum creates the character, Vic Ocasek, who does a spoof ad for Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp on Saturday Night Live. *A television reality series, ''Rock N' Roll Fantasy Camp'', produced by Mark Burnett Productions aired on

VH1 Classic MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as "VH1 Smooth", an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It ...

for two seasons.

Kip Winger Charles Frederick "Kip" Winger (born June 21, 1961) is an American singer and bassist who is active as a member of the rock band Winger (band), Winger and as a solo artist. He initially gained notability as a member of Alice Cooper's band, contr ...

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

, Mark Hudson,

, Michael Anthony,

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

, Cory Procter, Anu Gunn, Heather Williams, Kieron Elliot and others appeared on season one of the television show. The season one premiere broke all viewing records for VH1 Classic. Season two featured

Matt Sorum Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...

, Duff McKagen,

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

Phil Collen Philip Kenneth Collen (born 8 December 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the co-lead guitarist for the rock band Def Leppard. Collen joined the band in 1982 during the recording of the ''Pyromania'' album. Before joining Def Le ...

Marky Ramone Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952), better known as Marky Ramone, is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust (band), Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell ...

and

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

. *The Seattle comedy show

Almost Live! ''Almost Live!'' is an American sketch comedy television series produced and broadcast by NBC affiliate KING-TV from 1984 to 1999 in Seattle, Washington. A repackaged version of the show also aired on Comedy Central from 1992 to 1993, and epis ...

had a 1994 skit called "Rock Star Fantasy Camp" which featured grunge band stars

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

Kim Thayil Kim Anand Thayil (born September 4, 1960)Kim Thayil Biography
Unofficial SG Homepage.

, and

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician known for being a founding member and lead guitarist of Pearl Jam. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season (band), Ma ...

. The skit predated the founding of the real Rock n' Roll fantasy camp by three years.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Music conferences Recurring events established in 1997