Yesterday, I blogged about Tommy DeCarlo, a guy from North Carolina whose rock ‘n’ roll dreams came true due to his daughter posting a video of him singing on MySpace. He is now the new lead singer of the band Boston.
But, he is not the first uber-fan to fill the lead singer shoes of his favorite band. Back in the Nineties, Tim “Ripper” Owens was the lead singer of a band called British Steel. British Steel was a tribute band (that is they played primarily another band’s songs) for heavy metal pioneers Judas Priest. In fact, the band took their name from Judas Priest’s album “British Steel,” which contained some of their biggest hits such as “Breaking the Law” and “Living After Midnight.”
All his toiling as a tribute band singer paid off in 1996 when Tim, who was employed as a salesman during the day, was called by the other members of Judas Priest to be their new lead singer. The band had been inactive for a number of years after original front man, Rob Halford, left the band.
How exactly did that happen? British Steel had been playing a small club in Erie, Pennsylvania. That night, two friends of Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis just happened to be in the audience. Blown away by Tim’s vocals, they videotaped the performance and sent it to Scott and the other band mates.
The band was so impressed with Tim’s singing that they flew him to their native England for an audition. Tim only needed to belt out the first verse of “Victim of Changes” to secure the position. In 1997, with Tim on lead vocals, the band released Jugulator, their first new release in 7 years. The also launched out on a world tour to promote the album, which did fairly well.
In 2001, the film Rock Star starring Mark Wahlberg was released. It was based, in part, on Tim’s story. Later that same year, Judas Priest released its second album with Tim.
Depending on how you look at it, this story might not have a fairytale ending. Tim and the band split in 2003. However, it was not really a sad ending for anyone. Original lead singer Rob Halford and the boys made up and reunited, which thrilled Judas Priest fans. Tim went on to join the band Iced Earth (a band he had toured with while the lead singer of Judas Priest) and he also put together a new band called Beyond Fear, which has been signed to a record deal. It was just announced that he will also be the lead singer for Yngwie Malmsteen’s band Rising Force.