RACHEL BOLAN Offers Update On SKID ROW's Singer Search: 'We Have A Few People That We're Taking To The Second Phase Again'

In a new interview with Mitch Joel, host of Groove - The No Treble podcast, SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan offered an update on the band's recently launched first-of-its-kind partnership with USA company Sweetwater, the world's leading online retailer of musical instruments and pro-audio equipment, to search worldwide for SKID ROW's next lead vocalist. The collaboration invites singers from around the world to audition for the opportunity to front one of rock's most enduring and respected acts. Bolan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We have the luxury of time, which is the best possible thing, because last time we got a new singer, we were in the middle of doing an album. The time before that, we had a tour booked. And when things don't work out, they just don't work out. Sometimes you see it coming from way down the road, and sometimes you get blindsided. So, the point we're at now, we're doing this campaign with Sweetwater, and we've had over... We've watched — there's probably more; we gotta get caught up — but we've watched 300 submissions. There's been about 20 outside of the Sweetwater campaign, a situation where friends in bands will be like, 'We got a guy.' Sometimes they'll show us and it's, like, 'Is that what you really think of this band?' [Laughs]"

He continued: "But there's a lot of really, really great singers out there. Some of them just aren't right for us. But it's, like, 'Wow, this dude should be insanely popular,' or, 'This woman should be insanely popular.' But they won't work out for SKID ROW. So, what we do is we'll get four or five people through these submissions, and, all right, send them the clean tracks, and they'll sing on top of them and send them back, or put a video out or whatever they do. And it's, like, 'Wow, they're really good. They sound great. Let's get a few of them together, get them into New Jersey.' We'll get in a room over the course of a week or whatever, and we will just see if it works, see if it works in a live situation.

"Having a studio and singing in a studio is great, but you know how it is. It's, like, you could get it so perfect and it might not transfer live," Bolan explained.

After Joel noted that having a great voice is only one part of the puzzle, with one other very important part being the ability to deliver SKID ROW's vocally challenging songs night after night for weeks at a time, Bolan concurred. "Well, yeah," he said. "So that's the thing. That's the other part of getting in a room with them. It's, like, okay, we would love to do four in a row, but we're totally cool with doing three in a row. Where's your head at with that? Can you do this every night? Can you be away from home for months at a time? There's all this other stuff that people don't think about — they might not think about — when they're auditioning. It's one of those things. So, only time will tell. But we do have a few people that we're taking to the second phase again. We have another block of people we're gonna take into the rehearsal room."

Asked if he and his SKID ROW bandmates have a tentative plan as to when they plan to make their decision about a new singer or if it's "still very open" for them, Rachel said: "It's still very open. We'll know it when the four of us light up. Everyone has their tell. And it's, like, I'll look at Snake [SKID ROW guitarist Dave Sabo], and I'll see him just looking straight at a wall. Okay, that means he doesn't like the guy. Or I'll look at Scotti [Hill, SKID ROW guitarist], and he has this smirk on the side of his face. I go, 'He loves the guy.' And then Rob [Hammersmith, SKID ROW drummer] will give me a nod, like a really quick nod. So everyone has their tell."

Singer Erik 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.

Six years ago, Bolan confirmed that he and his bandmates "were entertaining the idea" of reuniting with Bach following Harnell's departure. But Rachel shot down the possibility of a rekindling of his friendship with Sebastian, explaining: "Well… Here's the soundbite for Blabbermouth. I wouldn't say we were friends [when we were in a band together]. We were bandmates. You know what I mean? We're two very different people." Bolan added that he hadn't seen Bach "in years."

Seven years ago, Bach was asked by Rolling Stone what it would take for SKID ROW to be reunited. He responded: "It would take those guys to realize that I have a lifetime manager. His name is Rick Sales. I've been with him since 2006. They don't want to deal with a guy like that. They want to give some singer who doesn't have a manager $700 to $800 bucks a week. I've got a team that's worked with me and don't allow me to get fucked around. I didn't have that team when I was 19 years old."

In response to Bach's statements about the earnings of SKID ROW's singer, Sabo told Rolling Stone in an e-mail: "I guess fact-checking isn't in his skill set… The five of us go on that stage as a band and we all get paid equally. We're in this together. There's no egos."

Sebastian went on to say that SKID ROW was "close to reuniting, but then it didn't happen. The fact that it didn't happen obviously makes me somewhat bitter, because life is only getting shorter, as the song says," he added.

"I wouldn't say 'came close,'" Bolan told Rolling Stone in an e-mail response to Bach's account of the reunion talks. "We entertained the idea. Snake and I went as far as talking with agents and promoters about money. But we quickly learned after a few text conversations, why we fired him in the first place. Nothing is worth your happiness and peace of mind."