LZZY HALE Talks About Dueting With DAVID DRAIMAN On DEVICE's LITA FORD Cover

HALESTORM singer Lzzy Hale is one of many guests appearing on the self-titled debut album from DEVICE, the new industrial rock act led by DISTURBED frontman David Draiman. Hale, who duets with Draiman on a cover of the Ozzy Osbourne/Lita Ford song "Close My Eyes Forever", told Artisan News (see video report below): "David Draiman has been such an amazing mentor over the years. I've always felt like a little sister in heavy metal to him. And we had talked about doing that song for years, and we just never had any time to do it. And so I kind of thought that he had forgotten all about it. And then I got a call one day and he was, like, 'I know you're on tour, but can we make this happen?' So I literally flew to New York and got into this tiny, little studio and we did it."

She added: "[David is] an amazing man. Talk about a hard-working band. DISTURBED has been around for so long and really got us into new metal."

Draiman previously stated about his collaboration with Hale on "Close My Eyes Forever": "For years I'd wanted to re-do 'Close My Eyes Forever' by Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne. I always thought it was a fantastic idea and needed the right combination of elements and events and needed to have the right woman to play the role of Lita in this song, and Lzzy Hale, in my opinion, is the strongest, most distinctive voice, female voice in rock today. I think that she's just as good as it gets."

In addition to Hale, the lineup of guests on the DEVICE disc includes AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows, SYSTEM OF A DOWN vocalist Serj Tankian, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello, BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler and ex-DEEP PURPLE bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes.

The set is due out on April 9, with a first single called "Vilify" arrived at radio stations last month.

Lenardo will not be part of the DEVICE touring band due to previous commitments.

Other members of the live lineup include EVANESCENCE drummer Will Hunt and DOPE guitarist Virus.

In a recent video interview with Artisan News Service, Draiman spoke about how DEVICE came together. "I was first approached by Geno Lenardo, who was working on a number of tracks for the 'Underworld' soundtrack for the last 'Underworld' film that came out… and he asked me if I would be interested in being a part of one of the tracks and I asked him to send me the music that he had in mind and I was able to make a really compelling and powerful song," he said. "[I] found that working with him as a songwriting partner was very easy and fluid. He's a very strong songwriter in his own right."