SEBASTIAN BACH Wishes Happy Birthday To Former Bandmate RACHEL BOLAN: 'Life Is Only Getting Shorter'

Ex-SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has wished a happy birthday to his former bandmate Rachel Bolan, who turned 53 on Saturday (February 9).

Bach tweeted yesterday: "Weird wishing Happy Birthday to someone I haven't hung out with in 23 years. But I wish to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to @rbolanbass because... life is only getting shorter. Thanks for the memories"

Bach's apparent olive branch comes less than two months after he once again accused his former bandmates of not acknowledging their legacy.

"My band are too self-absorbed to even think about our 30th anniversary or re-releasing the old records on vinyl or putting out [SKID ROW's 1990 home video] 'Oh Say Can You Scream' on Blu-ray, like, obvious shit just doesn't fuckin' happen for SKID ROW fans," he told Ultimate Classic Rock in an interview.

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 original bassist Rachel Bolan and 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.

"God bless 'em, starting your 'new' band in your fuckin' late 50s — way to go," Sebastian told Ultimate Classic Rock. "You're starting your new band in your late 50s. Most musicians, in their late 50s, are fucking playing to the fans that put them there, giving the people what they want. I didn't invent that phrase.

"The reason I get pissed off is because we still get the royalty checks and I get a tremendous sense of guilt when I get these checks because I know the fans want a fuckin' deluxe edition, just like GUNS N' ROSES," Bach said. "I can't even complete a group text with these guys. I don't understand it, because we don't even have to like each other to put out an old record. I don't get it. It's like banging your head against the wall."

Bach went on to say that he was once "very, very close" with his SKID ROW bandmates and he took issue with the widespread belief that he is hard to work with. "You've had seven fucking singers — maybe you're hard to work with," the singer said. "My [solo] band's been the same for 10 years or 15 years; same band. No problem in four Broadway shows and a cast of 70 people, 'Gilmore Girls'… they don't think I'm hard to work with. Netflix loves working with me. 'Trailer Park Boys', fucking eight seasons — they don't think I'm hard to work with. Maybe those guys are fucking hard to work with."

Bach added: "It's just a shame because our fans would like it, and there's no reason why not to."

Bach joined SKID ROW in 1988 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer Matt Fallon, who sang on demo versions of songs that were eventually re-recorded for SKID ROW's first LP.

SKID ROW's 1989 multi-platinum, self-titled effort featured the Top 10 hits "18 And Life" and "I Remember You" and was supported by a six-month tour with BON JOVI.

Following his departure from SKID ROW, Bach started performing in Broadway shows like "Jekyll & Hyde" and "The Rocky Horror Show", and appeared on television shows, including "Gilmore Girls" and VH1 reality show "SuperGroup". He also pursued a solo musical career, most recently releasing the 2014 album "Give 'Em Hell".

In a 2018 interview with Metal Wani, Bolan stated about persistent calls for a SKID ROW reunion with Bach: "There's a couple of angles to look at, like promoters, for instance — they love reunions, because that means dollars, and they think on a big scale. I get it — I don't agree with it, but I get it. Some fans just don't like change, and that's a shame. If I were like that, then I wouldn't have liked most of the lineups of RAINBOW or [BLACK] SABBATH or AC/DC or DEEP PURPLE — you know what I mean? Things change, man. And not to get all spacy and hippy, but maybe that's the Aquarius in me that I just like change, man — I'm not afraid of change. Some people are, and whatever — that's their thing."

He added: "We're gonna keep doing this as long as we can keep doing it. And it took us a long time to find the absolute perfect guy for the band, but it's all full steam ahead right now."

Photo credit: Lizzy Gonzalez