Steel Panther | |
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| Background information | |
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| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | Actual: 1997–presentFictional:
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| Website | steelpanther |
Steel Panther is an American comedicglam metal band fromLos Angeles, California. Fronted by lead singerMichael Starr, the band formed in 1997 and in 2000 became Metal Shop and was also known as Metal Skool before adopting the name Steel Panther in 2008. The band is known for its profane and humorous lyrics,[5] and forparodying the stereotypical glam metal lifestyle.
The quartet began to gain popularity on theSunset Strip during the early 2000s under the name Metal Shop (soon changed into Metal Skool, then into Steel Panther). Their lineup consisted of lead vocalistRalph Saenz ("Michael Starr"), guitaristRuss Parrish ("Satchel"), bassist Travis Haley ("Lexxi Foxx") and drummer Darren Leader ("Stix Zadinia").[2] The band did weekly shows on Monday nights at the Viper Room, and subsequently the Key Club, playing covers of hair metal hits while sharing their passion for the bands that made the songs famous. Despite the name changes and Saenz and Parrish putting in time in theVan Halen tribute band Atomic Punks, they finally managed to gain some success.[2] In 2003, they releasedHole Patrol,[6] their self-produced debut extended play. The band appeared in aDiscover Card advertisement as Danger Kitty and in the sitcomDrew Carey Show as themselves. Also in 2003, their song "Death to All But Metal" was included in a compilation CD calledHey, That's What I Call Sludge! Vol. 1 put out by the Metal Sludge web site. Their cover of the song "Fantasy" byAldo Nova was used as the opening musical theme for theMTV programRob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory. On November 27, 2007 Metal Skool played original songs as well as covers ofKISS songs at the Gene Simmons roast; they can be seen in the background of Gene Simmons' reality showGene Simmons Family Jewels. That year, they also appeared as themselves onLas Vegas in the episode "The High Price of Gas".[7]
In April 2008, the band decided to change their name from Metal Skool to Steel Panther, making a new debut at The Rockin' Saddle Club inRedlands, California.[6] In an interview with Michael Starr, he states that the band's name wasn't inspired bySteel Dragon, the band withZakk Wylde andMark Wahlberg in the movieRock Star (in which Starr makes a cameo appearance).[8] In May 2008, the band signed a contract withRepublic Records (owned by record labelUniversal Records) announcing plans for a new studio album.[2]
Steel Panther releasedFeel the Steel on June 8, 2009 in the United Kingdom and on October 6, 2009 in North America throughUniversal Republic, making it their major record label debut.Feel the Steel debuted at No. 1 on theBillboard Comedy chart, No. 123 on theBillboard 200 chart and would eventually peak at No. 98 on theBillboard 200 chart. The record features hit singles, "Community Property" and "Death to All but Metal" as well as notable guest vocal performances fromCorey Taylor,Justin Hawkins, andM. Shadows. The track "Eyes of a Panther" is featured on the soundtrack for the video gameSkate 3.[9] Sometime collaboratorDean Cameron, also credited with co-writing "Supersonic Sex Machine" on the band's next albumBalls Out, directed and co-wrote a pilot presentation in an attempt to land Steel Panther their own television program.[10]
Steel Panther released their second albumBalls Out on October 31, 2011 in the UK and on November 1, 2011 in North America also throughUniversal Republic.Balls Out continued their revival of the heavy metal genre and debuted at No. 1 on the UK iTunes Rock chart surpassingMegadeth'sTH1RT3EN andLou Reed's andMetallica'sLulu.Balls Out also debuted at No. 4 on the US iTunes Rock chart, No. 40 on the Billboard 200 chart and at No. 1 on the Billboard Comedy chart with first-week sales of 12,000 copies in the US.[citation needed]
Due to their growing popularity, Steel Panther were invited byDef Leppard to join them and co-headlinersMötley Crüe as "Special Guests" on theMirrorball Tour in December 2011. Exactly one week after ending the UK arena tour in London withDef Leppard andMötley Crüe, Steel Panther opened forGuns N' Roses at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA on December 21, 2011.[citation needed]
On December 6, 2011, Steel Panther announced their second solo UK tour in support of their newest albumBalls Out. Tickets for the shows went on sale on December 9, 2011, with many ticket providers selling out their allocations within a month.Brazzers sponsored the Australian tour of Steel Panther in early October 2012, which sold out in Brisbane, Sydney (two shows), Melbourne, and Adelaide. Another headline UK tour took place in November 2012. In late 2012, Steel Panther's European tour was crowned a huge success. They played sold-out shows, particularly in Germany.[8]
Steel Panther released their first Live DVDBritish Invasion in September 2012.[11] The DVD was released worldwide on October 22, 2012.[12] The DVD was filmed atBrixton Academy in London and features a two-hour concert/documentary based on the band's sold-out British tour.[13][14]
Steel Panther played on the main stage atDownload Festival in June 2012, during which they were joined on stage byCorey Taylor ofSlipknot to play "Death to All But Metal". Taylor wore wellies on stage. They played in front of a crowd of over 100,000 people.[15] Steel Panther toured Australia in December 2013, supported byBuckcherry andFozzy. Shows were sold out in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth between December 6 and 12.:[16]
In late 2013, Steel Panther announced a new tour in the year 2014,[17] titled the "Spreading the Disease (S.T.D.) Tour".[18] They toured Europe throughout February and March 2014.[19] In support of their latest album, Steel Panther began touring North America in May 2014, their first headlining tour of America. In June, they moved the tour to Europe and continued to tour through August 2014.[19]
The band released their third studio albumAll You Can Eat on April 1, 2014 on the independent label Open E Music, viaKobalt Label Services. The album was officially announced in September 2013. The first single from the album is "Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World". The second single, "The Burden of Being Wonderful", was released January 21, 2014.[citation needed]
The third single, "Gloryhole", was released in April 2014 on Steel Panther's VEVO channel. On March 26, 2014 the album was leaked online and available for downloading on various websites, most likely after being streamed by the German tabloid Bild. The online stream was approved by Steel Panther.[citation needed]
In June 2014, the band announced a short UK Tour with 4 dates scheduled for March 2015, supported bySkindred[20] andThe Lounge Kittens.[21] The band sold out almost every venue on the tour, which included Wembley Arena, London. In April 2015, the group had a cameo in the music video for theNinja Sex Party song "Road Trip" to tell of their sexual exploits that year. Michael Starr contributes vocals to "6969" on NSP's third albumAttitude City as the head Dick Elder.[citation needed]
Steel Panther started a YouTube series called Steel Panther TV in Fall 2014[22] with segments like Science Panther, Love on the Rocks, Cineminute, World of Music, and Demolicious.
Steel Panther's acoustic albumLive from Lexxi's Mom's Garage became available for pre-order on January 7, 2016, with the new song "That's When You Came In" preceding the album's release on February 26. The band went on theAdult Swim call-in showFishCenter Live to promote the album on January 22, 2016.
In September of the same year, Steel Panther released a cover ofCheap Trick's "She's Tight" with the announcement that their fourth studio albumLower the Bar would be released on March 24, 2017.Robin Zander andBobbie Brown made cameo appearances in the music video for "She's Tight".
Their fifth albumHeavy Metal Rules was announced in July 2019, and scheduled for a September 27, 2019 release. The music video for the first single from the album, "All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight)", debuted on July 8, 2019. The second single titled, "Always Gonna Be a Ho", was released on August 9, 2019. The third single "Gods of Pussy" was released on September 6, 2019. Music videos for the title track, Fuck Everybody, and Let's Get High Tonight were also released on the band's YouTube channel though were not released as singles. In December 2020, they released "Fuck 2020" as a non-album single and music video.[23] The song is an alternative version of "Fuck Everybody" fromHeavy Metal Rules with new lyrics reflecting theCOVID-19 pandemic.[24] In March 2021, they released covers of the Van Halen classics "Beautiful Girls" and "D.O.A." as non-album singles.[25] A video was released for the songs where they are in a video meeting setup reminiscent ofZoom.[26][27]
In December 2018, the band announced that long-time bassist Lexxi Foxx would be missing the upcoming tour to go to "sex rehab".[28] Foxx's stand-in was Joe "Spyder" Lester, the band's tour manager, as well as Starr and Satchel's former bandmate from The Atomic Punks.[29] Lexxi returned to the band for the next tour, but still missed some dates, where he was filled in for by both Spyder and Tanner "T.K." Keegan.
In July 2021, it was revealed that Foxx had left the band. The band cited it was a mutual decision, jokingly stating that Foxx was pursuing his own business "Sexxy Lexxi's Prettiest Pets".[30][31] In August, the band opened up virtual auditions for a new bass player.[24][32] The band introduced new touring bassist Rikki Dazzle in October 2021,[33] though Michael Starr revealed the band were still looking for a permanent member.[34] In December, the band launched the "Road to the Road" promotion, featuring a bracket of 32 selected auditions to narrow down to a field of 10 finalists. The pre-selected finalists included Dazzle and Rikki Thrash (who would both tour with the band in November and December),[35] as well as Spyder; in September of 2022, Spyder was selected as the new full-time bassist for the band.[36]
The band's self-produced sixth studio album,On The Prowl, was released in 2023. Also in 2023, Steel Panther had a successful audition forAmerica's Got Talent.[37]
In October 2024,Feel the Steel was certified Gold in the UK, after reaching 100,000 copies sold.[38]
The band is working on a new studio album with hopes to release the material in 2026.[39]
Current members
Former members
Former touring substitutes
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