LORRAINE LEWIS Collaborates With DEE SNIDER On Cover Of DAVID BOWIE's 'Heroes'

Lorraine Lewis of FEMME FATALE recently joined Mark Strigl on his long-running independent "Talking Metal" podcast, where she discussed her recent collaboration with BLACKLIST UNION, her upcoming European tour with FASTER PUSSYCAT, working with TRIXTER guitarist/producer Steve Brown, her departure from VIXEN, an upcoming David Bowie cover recording with Dee Snider of TWISTED SISTER, and much more.

The interview appears in episode 1001 of "Talking Metal", one of the world's longest-running hard rock and heavy metal podcasts, which has been delivering artist interviews and music coverage since 2005.

Speaking about her collaboration with Snider, Lorraine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have a new single coming out. I'm hoping to get the video done within the next few weeks. But I'm just gonna say it. [My record label] Cleopatra might get mad at me, but I don't know. I'm gonna say it. I have a new song coming out. I recorded the song 'Heroes' by David Bowie. I recorded that with Dee Snider. And I just got chills, 'cause I know it's truth, and I was just, like, 'Ooh, did I really let the cat out of the bag?' I think I just did, and I'm just gonna own it right now. And I'll tell you why I'm owning it, because we do have plans to do a video together, which is amazing. Dee is an amazing singer. And then Cleopatra wants to release a collector item. So I just autographed 150 inserts for the pink vinyl that is coming out for the single, and 50 for the white vinyl that's coming out. So we're gonna be releasing 100 collector items of the song 'Heroes' with Dee Snider and [me]. And it is badass. It's a huge thing. It's a really big thing."

Lorraine continued: "I had originally recorded the song with Lou Gramm [FOREIGNER], and then Lou and his son decided they didn't want to release it, and so they let me know. And I said, 'Okay, fine.' And then Dee got on board. And I will say I loved working with Lou. It was amazing, but it had more of a bluesy feel to it. And then when I sent the track over to Dee, and he laid down his vocal and sent it back, I was, like, 'Oh, shit. Whoo, I gotta bring it.' Dee just does Dee. And so Dee did him, and I did me, and it's an amazing collab. It is big. It is loud. It is in your face. I harmonize over him, those lines, 'I will be king,' and then I get to say, 'And I will be queen,' I mean, chills. The song turned out great. Joel Hoekstra plays guitar on it, Sean McNabb on bass, Jason Sutter on drums. I mean, the track is smoking. So, [I'm] really excited to get the video done and really excited to get the song out. So, boom. There you go."

This past March, Lorraine spoke to 80s_METAL_HEADZ about some of the other projects she has coming up for later in 2026 after the recent release of two singles, "Bad Love" and "Living Like There's No Tomorrow", from her long-running band FEMME FATALE via Cleopatra Records. The singer said:  "I feel really lucky to be signed to Cleopatra Records. We've released two singles so far. We're gonna release a whole album by the end of the year… And then I've got more stuff coming out. I will say we have a new version of [FEMME FATALE's] 'Falling In And Out Of Love' that was re-recorded with [TRIXTER guitarist and acclaimed producer] Steve Brown and him doing the solo work on it and it's really, really kick-ass. Also [a new version of FEMME FATALE's] 'Waiting For The Big One', waiting to drop that as well. I actually did a duet on that song with Leather Leone from CHASTAIN, so it's both of our vocals, and she really brought it. I'm really excited for people to hear that. There's a song, a co-write with Tommy Henriksen from Alice Cooper's band — me and Tommy and Steve Brown. It's a song called 'Somebody'. It's so hooky. It's so great… And then I am working on a song that was written by Michael Caruso, who did some things for the VIXEN band years ago. And he presented me with a song that, I'm telling you, it's a Grammy-winning song, so I'm gonna be laying down a vocal for that as well… And then in addition, I've been working with a production company in the U.K., doing a documentary about me. I'm writing a book. I have no date when it's gonna come out. I was talking to my publishing editor, and he said, 'No rush. We're going to release it when we're gonna release it.' But that's a lot of time. I don't know if you've ever tried writing a book, but I have a lot to say and there's a lot of stories. So that's gonna take another year probably. So documentary, a reality show called 'Lorraine Rocks', which is about me and my crazy life. [And I also have my recently launched] podcast, 'Dangerously Honest'."

In January, Lorraine told Rev. Tom Brice of Sportzwire Radio that there were plans to release a new full-length album from FEMME FATALE later this year: "Yeah, absolutely," she said. "We've been dropping singles and videos."

Lorraine continued: "I'm so fortunate, I'm so lucky to be working with Steve, 'cause Steve knows everybody. And he brings in [a lot of guest musicians] to work on the tracks. And I'm just so grateful, I can't even tell you. But, yeah, sometime this year after we have dropped all of the singles and videos, we will gather everything up and a full album will be released on Cleopatra Records."

Last November, Lewis told George Dionne of The Rock Is George podcast about her plan of releasing several singles prior to the arrival of a full-length album: "Look, we could have done it a bunch of different ways. We could have done it old school, recorded an album and released it, and then you've got, like, four to six weeks to make a splash and hope that something catches fire. So, the way we are doing it, Steve and I, we decided, and Cleopatra agreed, is that we just kind of stay in the news. So every eight to 10, 11 weeks, we drop a single and a video, and it's, like, 'Oh, there's FEMME FATALE again.' … We have another single to drop that is ready to go, which actually… I'm gonna say what it is. It's the FEMME FATALE 'Falling In And Out Of Love' that has been re-recorded. And it's in the same key. It's badass. Steve just brought it. It's so huge sounding. It's massive. And I do wanna say Bruno Ravel has mixed and mastered all of the tracks. And I was thinking about that this morning. I was on my walk this morning, and I was thinking about the mixes and how they're mastered. And Bruno just has this thing that they're crunchy. The traps are crunchy and there's this frequency that sounds so radio to me. No matter what the tracks are, there's this thing that he does. I don't know how he does it. I just know when I listen to 'Bad Love' or 'Living Like There's No Tomorrow', it's there, this crispness, and it's yummy. It's radio to my ear, and I just want more of it. So shout-out to Bruno — great at mix and master."

She continued: "So that is the plan — dropping this stuff so that I stay in your face, if you will, as we go along. And then we gather everything up, and we'll drop an album [in 2026]."

The official music video for "Bad Love" was directed by Vicente Cordero and shot by David Hernandez.

Written by Lorraine, Brown and guitarist David Julian, "Bad Love" also features the rhythm section of Joey Cassata on drums and Sean McNabb on bass, plus what Lorraine described as "a slaying guitar solo" from former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.

Regarding her collaboration with Brown, Lewis told Rev. Tom Brice of Sportzwire Radio: "A lot of people are working with Steve, because Steve is an amazing producer. It was [in 2024] that Steve reached out to me. He was just coming off the success of [Ace Frehley's] '10,000 Volts' album. [The '10,000 Volts' title track is a] great, great song. That and 'Cherry Medicine' I loved off the album. Classic Ace but in 2024. It was great."

She continued: "I'm just so lucky that Steve reached out to me. Steve and I were labelmates back in the day on MCA. We've also done the cruises together. We've known each other a long time. And so he reached out to me and said, 'Hey, let's do an album.' And I said, 'Let's go.' So the first song was 'Living Like There's No Tomorrow'. He had the chorus ready to go. I immediately was, like, 'Oh, this is such a great anthem.' And it just spoke to me then with everything that had gone on in the previous months before we started working together."

"Living Like There's No Tomorrow" was written by Lewis and Brown, who also produced the song at his Mojo Vegas 6160 studio in New Jersey. The track was engineered by Brown and Scott Gutierrez and was mixed by Bruno Ravel.

"Living Like There's No Tomorrow" features Brown and David Julian on guitars, with the guitar solo played by R.J. Ronquillo, and drums played by Kent Slucher.

FEMME FATALE released a self-titled MCA album in 1988 which produced two big rock singles and MTV videos: "Waiting For The Big One" and "Falling In And Out of Love".

Lewis was fired from VIXEN in May 2024 and was replaced by Rosa Laricchiuta.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

A collection of demos for what was supposed to be FEMME FATALE's second album, "One More For The Road", was released in 2016 via FnA Records. The demos were recorded back in 1989/1990 with the original bandmembers and had never seen the light of day until more than a quarter century later.

"One More For The Road" contained 14 tracks, including a version of Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart".

FEMME FATALE released a live album in April 2024, "Demos + Live", that also included five demo tracks and a cover of AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top".