Kevin DuBrow, the lead singer for glam metal band Quiet Riot, was found dead at his Las Vegas home on Sunday, November 25; He was 52. The cause of death is currently unknown.
"All of us are in shock trying to deal with this," former Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo told Headbangers Ball Blog. "The last thing you expect when you get up in the morning is something like this. He was somebody who really loved life. He loved to have fun and have a great time. Every day to him was like a party -- that's what it was like when I played with him."
"I can't even find words to say [anything]," wrote Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali in a statement. "Please respect my privacy as I mourn the passing and honor the memory of my dearest friend Kevin DuBrow."
DuBrow performed with Quiet Riot on the band's most recent album, the blues-oriented Rehab, which came out October 31, 2006. He was scheduled to play at the Sauk Center in Minnesota on December 13.
In a January interview with Classic Rock Revisited, DuBrow discussed his disenchantment with the music Quiet Riot were known for and his interest in exploring the roots of rock and roll.
"When I did my solo album, In for the Kill [in 2004], I realized that I could do a lot more than 'Bang Your Head,' he said. "In between all of those cover takes we would do things that were more blues based... We wanted to reach way back to those roots, so in that way, it was totally conscious. We wanted to avoid anything that sounded like anthem rock of the early 1980's."
Of course, without that early '80s anthem rock, Quiet Riot probably wouldn't have sold millions of albums and become international celebrities. Not only were they one of the first commercial metal bands from Los Angeles to ignite Sunset Strip, Quiet Riot was also the launching platform for guitar god Randy Rhoads, who formed the band in 1973 with DuBrow, bassist Kelly Garni and drummer Drew Forsyth.
Quiet Riot released two albums in Japan with Rhoads, 1977's Quiet Riot and 1978's Quiet Riot II, before the guitarist quit to join Ozzy Osbourne. DuBrow and Forsyth kept the band together with other members, but changed its name to DuBrow in 1980. Then in 1982, after Rhoads died in a plane crash, guitarist Carlos Cavazo and Ozzy Osbourne's ex-bassist Rudy Sarzo joined, as did Sarzo's friend Banali and the QR moniker returned.
With this lineup, Quiet Riot recorded their breakthrough disc, 1983's Metal Health, which featured the Slade cover "Cum on Feel the Noize" and the raucous title track. The album shot up the charts, landing at number one and selling over five million copies. The combination of arena-ready choruses and a flamboyant stage show, turned Quiet Riot into MTV superstars for a while.
in 1984, Quiet Riot followed up Metal Health with Condition Critical, which included another Slade cover, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now." While the album was structurally similar, it lacked the immediacy and originality of its predecessor and was a commercial and artistic failure.
"I am ashamed of that album because it shows how cheesy Quiet Riot could be," DuBrow told Classic Rock Revisited. "We were rushed into it. The songs were leftovers and the singing was ridiculously overdone. There is a song on the album called "Scream and Shout" that is the epitome of what I hate about that era. I didn't want to ever do anything like that again."
Along with the band's dip in popularity, DuBrow -- who had never been subtle -- became more belligerent and obnoxious and Quiet Riot became more volatile. Sarzo quit in 1985, in part because of the incessant fighting. The next year, the band released QRIII, which also flopped. Soon after, DuBrow was fired from Quiet Riot and replaced with ex-Rough Cutt singer Paul Shortino.
"In America, people do not like someone who is ungrateful for their success," DuBrow told Classic Rock Revisited. "When I started complaining about things and started saying things about other bands, then America said, 'Kevin DuBrow, you are an ungrateful piece of sh-- and we are going to take all of this away from you.' I insulted groups that we shared a common fan base with. By doing that I insulted our own fans and that is where I screwed up."
Quiet Riot continued without DuBrow and released two more poorly received records while fighting a battle with DuBrow for rights to the band name. Ultimately, DuBrow won, and Quiet Riot dissolved for a while. Then in 1991, DuBrow began working with Cavazo again in Heat, and by 1993 Quiet Riot were back together with DuBrow and Sarzo -- which didn't help their ailing record sales. The band limped along, releasing three more records and a live album, and playing clubs and amusement parks until 2003, when they broke up again and Sarzo joined Dio.
In 2004, DuBrow released his first solo album, In For the Kill, but he found playing with Quiet Riot more enjoyable, so in 2004 the band reformed yet again, this time with Banali, bassist Chuck Wright and guitarist Alex Grossi. Quiet Riot played the Rock Never Stops reunion tour in 2005 with Ratt, Cinderella and FireHouse. Following another lineup shakeup, DuBrow and Banali decided to take the new, bluesier direction, which led to Rehab. On September 19, Quiet Riot performed a free show for soldiers at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.
"I think he'll be remembered for being a hell of a rock singer," Sarzo said. "He was definitely one of the best singers of the '80s."
Katherine Turman, a music journalist who produces Alice Cooper's radio show, "Nights With Alice Cooper," praised DuBrow's dynamic state presence. "I was in high school the first time I saw Kevin at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, and I remember loving their song 'Slick Black Cadillac.' Kevin was a super energetic performer and listeners need to know there was more to Quiet Riot than Slade covers."
Former Rip magazine editor and Life on Planet Rock author, Lonn Friend, who was good friends with DuBrow, told Headbangers blog that the singer refused to dwell on the past and lived to the fullest. "He was never without a smile on his face or a bounce in his step. It didn't matter what rug he plopped on his head or what folks might be saying about the guy he was in the spandex-clad past, Kevin didn't give a f--- anymore. He was content playing his own rock, venturing out to see his musical peers shred it loud and hard and totally enjoying the second half of his life."
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