Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach isn’t a fan of American Idol style shows
The YouTube channel “Melvin Zoopers” has recently shared a video featuring Sebastian Bach‘s live performance on August 25th at the Sideouts Sports Tavern located in Island Lake, Illinois. Feel free to watch the video clips provided below.
Just before performing the SKID ROW classic “18 And Life“, the former SKID ROW frontman told the crowd: Everything I say, people put words into my mouth. They say, ‘Well, Sebastian said this about this guy, said this about this guy.’ And then I never said nothing about no guy.
“I think these ‘American Idol’ shows fucking suck, because America picked this fucking idol, not some bullshit TV show,” he continued. “I’m not just putting one person down; I’m putting them all fucking down. Carrie Underwood‘s pretty good. So who else is from that? I’m waiting.” When one person shouted out Kelly Clarkson‘s name, Bach said: “Kelly Clarkson? Is it that amazing? Anyways, you can sing this [song] on your ‘American Idol’ show all you want. This song was picked by America, by you people. Thank you so much for 35 years of rock and roll. This song is for you. This is called ’18 And Life’.”
Bach held the position of lead singer for SKID ROW until 1996, at which point he was dismissed from the band. Rather than giving up, the remaining band members decided to take a break and briefly performed together under the name OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW regrouped and, after some changes in the lineup over the years, settled on a formation consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave “Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill, along with drummer Rob Hammersmith and vocalist Johnny Solinger.
Solinger‘s tenure with SKID ROW came to an end in April 2015 when he was let go via a phone call. Shortly thereafter, the band introduced Tony Harnell, formerly of TNT, as his replacement. However, Harnell‘s stay with the band was short-lived, as he departed eight months later. This led to the recruitment of ZP Theart, a singer hailing from South Africa and based in the UK, who had previously fronted bands such as DRAGONFORCE, TANK, and I AM I.
SKID ROW experienced another change in February 2022 when Theart was relieved of his duties, subsequently being succeeded by singer Erik Grönwall. Prior to joining SKID ROW, Grönwall had been a member of the Swedish hard rock group H.E.A.T.
Back in March 2022, SKID ROW guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo joined us on THE LOADED RADIO PODCAST and was asked by Scott Penfold he feels about people still calling for a reunion with Bach. He said: “Well, it’s been 23 years [since SKID ROW reformed], so to say that I’m over it would be an understatement. We attempted [a reunion] slightly [back in 2016]. We dipped our toes in the water and realized that it didn’t feel so good. It’s just one of those things where we still could not see eye to eye; we couldn’t even get past the point of simple texting.
“I am really, really happy where we are,” Snake continued. “I’m very proud of our past, and all due credit to everybody who’s been involved in every aspect of our career, whoever that may be, ’cause it all led to where we are now.
“I’ve been asked a thousand times: ‘What about the payday [of a reunion with Sebastian]?’ And that’s all well and good, but if that’s why I did this — if that’s why we did this; I can speak for everybody — we probably wouldn’t be doing it,” Sabo explained. “I wanna be happy, and I am very, very happy. And so are the guys; everybody’s really happy.
“The music climate is what it is, and we’re a classic rock band, and I’m proud of that. And we’re still able to make music. I mean, Jeez — I live a very, very blessed life, man,” Snake added. “I have nothing but gratitude and humility for what we have achieved and for what we’re able to continue to do. So while there may be people out there who are flashing dollar signs with a lot of zeroes, I still have to be happy doing it, and I am. And that’s what’s most important.
“I need to be happy being in a band with the people I’m in a band with. A lot of other bands can go out and they don’t see each other till they’re on stage and travel on separate buses and all that stuff, and that’s all well and good, but I don’t wanna live my life like that. I don’t wanna be up onstage and kind of living a lie; it just doesn’t feel good. So, while I’m thankful for people’s interest and whatnot, I’m even more thankful that we still get to play music for a living under our terms.”