Vocalist GRAHAM BONNET Says He Would Consider Working With MSG Again

In a brand new, exclusive interview conducted by Rock N Roll Universe, legendary vocalist Graham Bonnet discusses his days in RAINBOW, MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, ALCATRAZZ and IMPELLITTERI, as well as his current activities. Also covered in the interview is Bonnet's upcoming appearance on MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP's "Tales of Rock And Roll" 25th anniversary album, for which he contributed the title track. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow:

Rock N Roll Universe: You've recently co-wrote and recorded a track for the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP 25th anniversary "Tales Of Rock & Roll" album. What can you tell us about that, and what was that like?

Graham Bonnet: "Yeah, in fact that's the title track. I just received a letter from the people putting the album together to get the words over to them. I wasn't sure if that was going to be the title track or not. Michael gave me the title and said, 'Can you think of a song around that kind of title?' So I said, 'Okay.' It kind of restricts you a bit, but I'm glad that it turned out to be the title track. I did that about four months ago, and it turned out good I think."

Rock N Roll Universe: Would you ever consider it if Michael were to ask you to sing full-time for the band again?

Graham Bonnet: "I don't think he will. I think he's kind of happy with what he's got right now. I'm not quite sure if everybody's thinking the same way I do, but I don't think he really wants to go through what we went before. (Laughs) It was a bit of a mess sometimes. That's a few years ago now. It wasn't a case of clashing personalities, it was clashing beer glasses, I think. (Laughs) It was kind of a bit too much. I'm not quite sure if Michael would want that again, I think he's very happy with the situation the way it is now, I THINK. I don't know, if it came up, I'd certainly think about it, yeah."

Rock N Roll Universe: What was the reason you left RAINBOW? Some accounts say you quit, others say you were fired. What's the real story there?

Graham Bonnet: "I left. I left because it wasn't happening. We got new personnel, Bobby Rondinelli was playing drums and everything changed. Cozy [Powell] left, Don Airey was going to leave. We were rehearsing in Copenhagen for the next album, and nothing was happening. It was just non-productive. So I came back to Los Angeles, and from there, I said, 'I don't want to come back.' They suggested getting another singer in to do songs that I didn't like, and have me sing songs that I liked. That was the story, basically. But I wasn't fired. I just left. They wanted to get me back. I don't know, I should've stayed a bit longer. I just got a bit above myself, I thought I could do it on my own. I should've hung in there a bit. That's just something I kind of feel bad about. I wish I had stayed, because Don Airey ended up staying anyway; he didn't leave when he said he was going to. So that's that. There was just no excitement anymore. Everybody looked bored at rehearsal. It was just not happy. It was like a 9-5 job. I've had that before. When it gets boring, and the work becomes labored, get out of there, so I did. [Laughs]"

To access the entire interview, go to RockNRollUniverse.com.