GRAHAM BONNET Shoots Down 'Lip Sync' Accusations, Calls Current ALCATRAZZ Lineup 'Laughable': 'It's Terrible'

In a new interview with Spain's Stairway To Rock, legendary rock vocalist Graham Bonnet spoke about "Lost In Hollywood Again", the latest live album from his own group, the GRAHAM BONNET BAND, which is out on now via Frontiers Music Srl. After the interviewer noted that the LP sounds "absolutely real with no overdubs", Graham responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I've had my ex band[mates from ALCATRAZZ], my ex dead band called ALCATRAZZ, they're going out as that band. They call themselves ALCATRAZZ, and the manager of the band is singing. It's fucking incredible. And they're saying I lip sync and all that kind of thing, and they're doing anything to try to destroy me. And this is not the way it is, because you can see by [the videos that have been released for 'Lost In Hollywood Again'] — no, there's nothing there. I am live, I am singing. I can't fool people with that anymore. That's something you do when you are on [BBC's flagship] 'Top Of The Pops' [show] or something, or something like that, on a TV show. But live, you have to sing live, and that's what I do. And people are saying to me, 'How can you do this when you're 77 years old? You sound the same as you did when you were 30.'"

After the interviewer noted that it makes "no sense" for ALCATRAZZ to carry on without Bonnet, a reference to the fact a band calling itself ALCATRAZZ is recording and touring under that name with a lineup that includes Giles Lavery (vocals),Joe Stump (guitars),Jimmy Waldo (keyboards),Gary Shea (bass) and Mark Benquechea (drums),Graham concurred. "No, it's ridiculous," he said. "I wrote the songs — me and the guitar players. Joe Stump has nothing to do with ALCATRAZZ. And neither do the other people in the band — the band, whatever it's supposed to be. It's not even a good cover band. It's terrible. I saw videos of it, and it's laughable. They're trying to do something that is not working for them. And I'm very happy it isn't, because they're stealing my image on t-shirts and stuff, selling t-shirts, blah, blah, blah, blah, ALCATRAZZ, yada, yada, yada, and all the songs I've written with [former ALCATRAZZ guitarists] Yngwie Malmsteen, with Steve Vai, they're doing those things. It's not their music. They are not a musical band. None of those guys in that band. It's not even a band. There's the keyboard player and our manager, our ex-manager, my ex-manager, their ex-manager singing. I mean, how stupid is that? It's, like, what the hell's going on here? And if you've ever seen a video of them, it's laughable. It's so bad. I'm embarrassed to even think that I put that band together years ago with Yngwie. And it was a good band for a while. And when Yngwie was gone, that's when the band started to go downhill. And then Steve Vai came along, and we were up again. It was okay. I mean, we had some great players, but not what they are doing right now. A keyboard player who can't play. He presses the button… He doesn't play all [the notes]. He pretends to play it. It's all pre-recorded. And I'm saying this because it's true. And they're telling the public that I don't sing. Come on. If they're saying that, I can say this, that the keyboard player can't play and that the manager of the band can't sing. It sounds ridiculous. Anyway, that's my bit. And ALCATRAZZ is dead, it's dead — long dead — and the name now embarrasses me."

Regarding why the aforementioned musicians are touring and recording under the ALCATRAZZ moniker without him, Graham said: "They [are using the name] because they can; they can do it. And I thought of putting something together and calling it GRAHAM BONNET'S ALCATRAZZ. But we decided, me and the rest of the guys in the band, 'No, let's just do it your name. Your name, and it's your songs.' Our songs, we write them together, and that's what we're doing right now."

Back in January 2024, the members of the current ALCATRAZZ band released a statement in which they claimed that "between January 2017 and the split with Graham in mid-2020 nearly every song in every live performance was lip synced to pre-recorded vocal tracks." They added in various Facebook posts that they "went along with it" and "even encouraged it" on some nights. "It was a drag," they claimed. "We felt trapped. We couldn't work without the tracks. We couldn't even get through a gig without the tracks. We are sure this wasn't fun for Graham either, but his voice is toast and has been for a long, long time... Three or four songs a night he was fine, but more than that it was impossible. We tried to be supportive and get through it together. Then he threw us all under the bus in the end and has continued to needlessly slander us in interviews... The most recent comments regarding the songwriting is the final straw."

Waldo claimed that as a member of the GRAHAM BONNET BAND he was responsible for recording, pitch correcting and putting into a Pro Tools session the tracks for Graham to "mime" to live. "I did what I needed to do to be a team player and help Graham however possible work through this," Waldo said.

The comments came in response to Graham suggesting in an interview that no one in the current ALCATRAZZ band ever wrote any music for ALCATRAZZ, and that "any songwriting credit given to these musicians was simply a gesture on Graham's part," according to the January 2024 statement issued by the current lineup of ALCATRAZZ.

"Lost In Hollywood Again" was released on December 12 via Frontiers Music Srl. The LP was recorded on August 29, 2024 at the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, California.

Bonnet is a hard rock legend with a pedigree to back that statement up. His solo offerings and stints with RAINBOW, MSG, ALCATRAZZ and IMPELLITTERI prove he is one of the finest rock vocalists and songwriters of his generation. From his late 60s into his 70s, Graham has written and recorded some of the best albums he's ever done, including an album with GRAHAM BONNET'S ALCATRAZZ called "Born Innocent" in 2020, along with three records with his GRAHAM BONNET BAND: 2016's "The Book", 2018's "Meanwhile, Back In The Garage" and 2022's "Day Out In Nowhere".

In 1979, Bonnet auditioned for the frontman position in RAINBOW. With his James Dean image, the choice of Bonnet to replace Ronnie James Dio was subject to some questions. However, once the band heard Bonnet sing, they knew they had their man. With Bonnet at the mic, they recorded the "Down To Earth" LP, which became one of RAINBOW's most successful releases.

Graham moved on from RAINBOW in the early '80s to work on his solo career. He also played with MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, recorded several albums with ALCATRAZZ and had a short stint with IMPELLITTERI.