Rudy Sarzo has rejoined Quiet Riot for a third time, with current bassist Chuck Wright “graciously stepping aside to continue his recent solo efforts.” Wright will also work on his award-winning residency show, Ultimate Jam Night, at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go.
Rudy featured on Quiet Riot’s breakthrough Metal Health album, which sold over ten million copies and spawned the hits Cum On Feel The Noize and Metal Health.
In an interview with MetalTalk last year, the legendary bassist explained how their record label at the time, Epic, did not appreciate the new Heavy Metal music and expected Metal Health to fail, allowing them to exit their distribution deal.
“I think when you do something honestly, the audience gets it,” Sarzo said. “The record label at the time wanted so many compromises from us. They even wanted us to cut our hair. They had no clue about the new wave of Metal that was in their own backyard.
“In fact, I’ve heard a reliable rumour that Epic chose to put out the Metal Health album because they thought it would flop, and they wanted out of the distribution deal they had.
“But things came together in a way nobody could have imagined, and by November 1983, we made it to number one and beat Thriller to do it.
“Nobody thought that band was going to accomplish anything.”
Sarzo will record and tour with Quiet Riot in 2022.
All photography in this episode is from the internationally famous photographer Mark ‘Weissguy’ Weiss, author of the new book ‘The Decade That Rocked: The Music and Mayhem of ’80s Rock and Metal’.
www.thedecadethatrocked.com/shop/
Catch our earlier interview with Mark, here:
Quiet Riot statement
Quiet Riot is set to welcome Rudy Sarzo back into the band after an 18-year absence. Rudy was one of the original founding members of the legendary Metal Health lineup.
He played bass on the Metal Health album, which sold over ten million copies and spawned the hits Cum On Feel The Noize and Metal Health and on the follow-up record Condition Critical. He appeared in the most notable music videos in the MTV age and toured with the band until 1985 and again from 1997 to 2003.
During his years out of the band, Rudy Sarzo was a member of Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Queensryche, and The Guess Who. Rudy is looking forward to recording and touring with Quiet Riot beginning in 2022.
With the move, longtime Quiet Riot bassist Chuck Wright is graciously stepping aside to continue his recent solo efforts while heightening his role with his award-winning residency show, Ultimate Jam Night, at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go, which all the members of Quiet Riot fully support.
The band and their management would like to formally thank Chuck Wright for his many years of dedication and perseverance and, most importantly, his distinguished talent. Wright has served off-and-on with Quiet Riot for nearly 40 years, appears on nine albums, and is known as the bassist for Quiet Riot’s mega-hit Metal Health (Bang Your Head) and Don’t Wanna Let You Go. He was a contributing songwriter on 1986s QRIII and appeared in the band’s video for The Wild And The Young, among others.
Wright has been one of the band’s longest touring and recording members and will continue touring with the band through the end of 2021. Chuck is and will always be an invaluable member of the Quiet Riot family.
Rudy Sarzo said, “I’m excited to be back home and celebrate the Quiet Riot Legacy, which began 40 years ago next year with the recording of Metal Health, the first heavy metal album to reach #1 on the Billboard top 200 albums chart.”
