JUSTIN SARGENT On Becoming SKID ROW's New Singer: It's 'Surreal' And 'A Dream Come True'

During an appearance on the October 29 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo and the band's new singer, Broadway veteran Justin Sargent, spoke about Justin's addition to the group, more than two and a half years after the departure of Erik Grönwall. Regarding how he landed the SKID ROW gig, Justin — who made his stage debut in 2011 in the hard rock jukebox musical "Rock Of Ages", as well as appearing in "Bonnie & Clyde" and as the lead in the famously troubled superhero musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark" — said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Every year in New York City I do this charity event called 'Rockers On Broadway'. It's an event that was founded by Pete Townshend and my good friend Donnie Kehr. And just like every year it was a massive success. We raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the PATH Fund. And the next day I get an e-mail from [SKID ROW's] manager Robby [Hoffman], saying, 'Hey, I manage the band SKID ROW. We've been looking for a new singer. I just saw you last night at this event. I thought you killed it. Would you have any interest in meeting the guys and potentially being the new lead singer for the band?' And I was, like, 'Are you kidding me? Yes, I would love to. That sounds amazing. That's a dream come true.' And so he put me in touch with Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist]. And I went down to Rachel's and met Snake there. And we just kind of hung out for a couple days. And over the span of a week, I drove back and forth a couple times. We recorded a few of the classic tunes and sent 'em off to the other guys so they could get a listen. And we kind of went our separate ways for a few weeks and then the holidays happened and this kind of thing. And then I got a phone call asking if I would come down and come to a full band situation and play through some songs as part of this ongoing search that they had. They had kind of condensed their list of possibles and were having us all come down and meet the full band and sing through the songs with everybody. And so I was kind of put into that tranche. And I'll tell you what, man — from the second I walked into that space, into that rehearsal studio, I was just, like, 'Oh, we're gonna be buds. This is gonna be a good time.' And then here we are."

On the topic of what it has been like to finally be announced as the new singer of SKID ROW, Justin said: "It's been surreal. That's the best word I can use. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that I'm here, that this day has finally arrived. We have been working on things for the last few months, and every day leading up until today has just been another one of those 'I can't believe this is happening' days."

As for how long he has known that he was selected to be the new singer of SKID ROW, Justin said: "Yeah, it's been a couple of months. And what was a really great tactic that these gentlemen used here — we spent a lot of time getting to know each other before things became official. Nothing was rushed into. We wanted to make sure that it was a good fit, that we could all be in a room together and hang and have a great rapport. And interestingly enough, from day one it just felt solid. And so it was really important for everybody to make sure that that day wasn't just an anomaly and that this could be something that is gonna be lasting. And, like I said, the last couple months have been proof that that is certainly the case."

Asked if he was a SKID ROW fan before he auditioned for the band, Sargent said: "Oh, yeah, man. Luckily for me, I had two extremely cool parents — have two extremely cool parents — who raised me pretty much exclusively on classic rock. I mean, I grew up listening to… THE WHO's my favorite band of all time. But [from an early age I was exposed to] THE WHO and [LED] ZEPPELIN and QUEEN and THE [ROLLING] STONES. And so, as I started to kind of branch off from the music that my parents loved and finding my own music and kind of looking at other bands, SKID ROW was one of those bands that just hit me like a ton of bricks. And they became a very important band in, my early career. Doing 'Rock Of Ages' on Broadway, [SKID ROW's] '18 And Life' was the song that was playing in our pre-show that was my cue to go up on stage. So, every single night I'd be getting ready, and as soon as I heard those first chords hit, I was immediately filled with this incredible sense of joy because I get to go out there and sing the music that I love the most and some of the most incredible songs on a stage for thousands of people. And '18 And Life' was always the song that launched me into that every single night. And so it's just one of those... It just all feels like destiny manifested in a really interesting way."

Justin also talked in a bit more detail about his career on Broadway, explaining: "There is a very small faction of almost exclusively rock singers on Broadway, in the world of Broadway and of musical theater. And so what that means for us is that there's a very limited amount of shows. There's the limited shows that we can be doing. So, 'Rock Of Ages' was a big one. I did that show over 500 performances. We'd do six days a week, eight shows a week. It was a very intense time. And then 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark', I played Peter Parker in that show, written by [U2's] Bono and The Edge. And then 'Jesus Christ Superstar' — all these shows that require authentic rock voices and authentic rock personalities. And so that's really where I cut my teeth in this realm. And for a lot of actors, there's the old saying, you're an actor 10% of the time and the rest of the time you're waiting tables. And that is very true for most people. But for me, because of this kind of niche that I had found, I was singing in bands. I was singing in bands, bands in Jersey and Long Island, in New York City, in Connecticut. I'd fly all over the country. I'd do a lot of these rock symphonic shows where I'll go out and I'll sing 18 ZEPPELIN tunes in a night with the St. Louis Symphony. And so this is something that has been a part of my life for the last — ooh, gosh, 17 years I've been doing this."

Asked if he will continue to do Broadway when he can or he will focus exclusively on SKID ROW for the time being, Justin said: "I'll tell you what, man — [SKID ROW] is the priority. This band is the priority. This is what I'm gonna be focusing most of my energy on, if not all of it. If an opportunity comes along, we'll have a discussion about it. If it makes sense for the band, yeah, I'll do it. If it doesn't, then this is what I'm doing."

Sabo also talked about SKID ROW's singer search, explaining that "one of the biggest things for us, as it's kind of always been, is we need to get along with the people that we're sharing the stage with and sharing a bus with and sharing hotels with and so on and so forth. I mean, you're living together every moment of every day, basically. And so, for us, we wanted to make sure that we could laugh and could have conversations without feeling, like, 'I gotta get out of the room right now 'cause I can't stand this guy already.' And so all of those things are... I mean, obviously you want the person to be a great performer and great musician and whatnot, but, man, being able to get in a room with a person and sit down and talk about their family or talk about whatever, but just be able to talk and get along and laugh, because this whole process is... Why we do this is because it's a joyful experience. That's why we're in a band, because we love to make music and we love to create music and to perform music for people, and you wanna do that in an environment where the smile on your face is for real. It's not bullshit. It's for real. And so having spent a bunch of time, all of us together, we realized pretty quickly that if this didn't work out musically, that we could still all hang with each other and still be buds. And so that was a really easy thing to get past very quickly. And then you get in a room and you're jamming and stuff, and then right off the bat [Justin is], like, 'Let's do the whole set.' And we're, like, 'We're only prepared to do, like, three or four songs.' He's, like, 'I learned the whole set, man. Let's go.' And so we started right off in the beginning, 'Slave To The Grind' on through to 'Youth Gone Wild'."

Snake continued: "Look, everybody says, 'Oh, it felt great since day one,' and all that. But the truth of the matter is it wasn't a struggle. It wasn't pulling teeth. It was, like, 'Wow, this is really cool.' I'm looking forward to going down and jamming at Dave DiPietro's place in Hazlet and running through the set as if we had been doing it for quite some time. And, again, to have the joy in doing what you do is really... Especially at this stage of our careers, man, you just wanna be happy. You just wanna go out and have fun, and hopefully that's infectious and that translates to the audience. And I think it will. I hope it will. I mean, we'll obviously do our very best, but so far it's been a great experience. This whole process has been... There's been nothing tedious about it. There's been nothing that's been gut-wrenching or anything. It's just been a lot of fun. And so to be able to have that sort of feeling 40 years into a band's career, that's pretty humbling, man. Pretty special. And I can speak for everybody when I say we're all very, very thankful for the moment that we're living in right now."

Snake also addressed SKID ROW's touring plans, saying: "We've been idle for a long time — too long. But it was well worth the wait. This whole process, we were very meticulous. We met with a lot of great people. But we wanted to make sure that we weren't just jumping into something, and that's kind of one of the reasons why we've been gone for as long as we've been gone. But it was well worth it. And so we're just looking forward to getting back and doing what we do, which is play live and create music."

Asked when fans can expect a new album of original SKID ROW material with Justin on vocals, Snake said: "It won't be out before the dates start. We wanna get out and play, but we continually are writing. And we also wanna see what Justin brings to the table as well. At the end of the day, it's 'best idea wins'. That's the way it's always been. It's just very much five guys throwing their ideas into the middle of the room, and whatever works best works best. And, obviously, Rachel and I have this partnership that we've had since the very beginning, and it's worked out great, obviously. We're very fortunate in that respect. And, again, we still have so much fun doing what we do, creating together. So this whole process is going to be a little bit different because Justin's in the band now, and let's see what he brings to the table. And I'm sure he'll come up with some great stuff. But, again, we just wanna make sure that it's the best material that we could possibly put out there. We don't wanna rush into anything. We're just dying to play, is really what it comes down to. We're dying to go out and jam."

SKID ROW announced Sargent as the band's new singer on Thursday (October 29) via a cover of THE WHO's "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Born in Murphysboro, Illinois and raised in Florida, Justin has been performing since high school. Since he graduated, he has been lucky enough to make a living doing what he loves. He has performed alongside music legends like John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles, Dee Snider, Kip Winger, Graham Russell, and has been a guest singer with the band AIR SUPPLY. Justin has toured the country singing everything from QUEEN to Andrew Lloyd Webber. His TV/film appearances include "Jesus Christ Superstar: Live" on NBC, "Law & Order: SVU", "Mr. Robot", "Delocated", "Royal Pains" and more.

Justin's addition to SKID ROW followed an extensive worldwide search that attracted overwhelming interest from singers across the globe. Earlier this year, SKID ROW partnered with leading music retailer Sweetwater to further extend the search and engage the global music community.

Grönwall exited SKID ROW two and a half years ago. The now-38-year-old Swedish-born musician, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021, announced his departure from SKID ROW in March 2024, saying that it had become increasingly "difficult to prioritize" his health and full recovery as the lead singer of the group.

Erik was SKID ROW's fourth frontman since Sebastian Bach's departure.

Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave "Snake" Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I. Theart was fired from SKID ROW in February 2022 and was replaced by Grönwall, who was previously a member of the Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T