STEEL PANTHER's STIX ZADINIA Recalls His PRINCE Encounter: 'It Was Some Serious A**holery Going On'

In a recent interview with New York's Q104.3 radio station, STEEL PANTHER drummer Stix Zadinia recalled the time his paths crossed with the legendary artist Prince. He said (see video below): "I was in a band a long, long time ago. We were doing disco covers many years ago up in San Francisco. And Prince played at the 'Shark Tank,' which is the San Jose hockey arena. After his shows, he would find a club in a nearby city and he would go in. And his deal was, 'Hey, I'm Prince. I'm gonna come play your club after hours. I'm gonna charge at the door and keep the door. You keep the bar.' And the club goes, 'Okay. Cool.'

"So word gets out," he continued. "We were the house band — just kind of a no-name house band at the time. And Prince borrows our gear. Because he doesn't wanna bring gear, and I understand it. So he goes on an hour late. We get kicked out of our own dressing room. Prince goes in there. You're not allowed to look at Prince. But he plays the guitar, and then at the end, he holds the guitar up over his head and he drops it behind him onto the ground. And my guitar player is, like, 'What the fuck?' Then he switches and he plays bass. And after the song, he takes the bass and he sets it diagonally on the floor and the drum riser, so it's just at an angle. And he takes his little tiny Prince foot and he [breaks] the neck."

Stix added: "At the end of the show, we came up to his manager and his entourage, and we go, 'Dude, what is the deal?' And the manager flips our guitar player. He goes, 'Here's a hundred bucks.' And he gives our bass player another hundred bucks. He goes, 'Here you go. Go get it fixed, guys.' And they left. And we were just standing there… It was some serious assholery going on."

Prince was 57 when he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016.

STEEL PANTHER played its second virtual concert event, "Rockdown In The Lockdown", on August 16 from the ultra-sanitized, production-filled, multi-camera Drum Channel Studio at Drum Workshop, located in Oxnard, California. The performance was streamed live globally and is now available on demand through August 31.

STEEL PANTHER's latest album, "Heavy Metal Rules", was released last September. The disc, which is described in a press release as a "heavy metal version of a self-help manual and ultimate party album combined," was once again produced by Jay Ruston, who collaborated with the band on all of its previous recordings, including 2017's "Lower The Bar".