Legendary hard rock vocalist Graham Bonnet has once again spoken out against accusations that he lip-syncs during live performances, while also taking sharp aim at the current lineup touring and recording under the ALCATRAZZ name—calling it “laughable” and declaring the band “long dead.”
Bonnet addressed the controversy during a new interview with Spain’s Stairway To Rock while discussing Lost In Hollywood Again, the latest live album from the GRAHAM BONNET BAND, released via Frontiers Music Srl. When the interviewer pointed out that the record sounds completely authentic, with no overdubs, Bonnet didn’t hold back.
“Well, I’ve had my ex band[mates from ALCATRAZZ], my ex dead band called ALCATRAZZ, they’re going out as that band. They call themselves ALCATRAZZ, and the manager of the band is singing. It’s f**king incredible,” Bonnet said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “And they’re saying I lip sync and all that kind of thing, and they’re doing anything to try to destroy me. And this is not the way it is, because you can see by [the videos that have been released for Lost In Hollywood Again] — no, there’s nothing there. I am live, I am singing. I can’t fool people with that anymore. That’s something you do when you are on [BBC’s flagship] Top Of The Pops [show] or something, or something like that, on a TV show. But live, you have to sing live, and that’s what I do. And people are saying to me, ‘How can you do this when you’re 77 years old? You sound the same as you did when you were 30.’”
The conversation then turned to the current version of ALCATRAZZ, which continues to tour and release music without Bonnet. The lineup includes Giles Lavery (vocals), Joe Stump (guitars), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards), Gary Shea (bass) and Mark Benquechea (drums)—a fact that Bonnet finds baffling.
“No, it’s ridiculous,” he said. “I wrote the songs — me and the guitar players,” he explained. “Joe Stump has nothing to do with ALCATRAZZ. And neither do the other people in the band — the band, whatever it’s supposed to be. It’s not even a good cover band. It’s terrible. I saw videos of it, and it’s laughable.”
Bonnet went on to accuse the group of exploiting the band’s legacy and image, while performing material he helped create alongside legendary guitarists Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai.
“They’re trying to do something that is not working for them. And I’m very happy it isn’t, because they’re stealing my image on t-shirts and stuff, selling t-shirts, blah, blah, blah, blah, ALCATRAZZ, yada, yada, yada, and all the songs I’ve written with [former ALCATRAZZ guitarists] Yngwie Malmsteen, with Steve Vai, they’re doing those things. It’s not their music. They are not a musical band. None of those guys in that band. It’s not even a band.”
He was particularly blunt when criticizing individual members of the lineup and pushing back against claims made about his own performances.
“There’s the keyboard player and our manager, our ex-manager, my ex-manager, their ex-manager singing. I mean, how stupid is that? It’s, like, what the hell’s going on here? And if you’ve ever seen a video of them, it’s laughable. It’s so bad. I’m embarrassed to even think that I put that band together years ago with Yngwie.”
Reflecting on ALCATRAZZ’s past highs and lows, Bonnet acknowledged the band’s peaks during the Malmsteen and Vai eras, but insists the current incarnation bears no resemblance to what once was.
“And it was a good band for a while,” Bonnet said. “And when Yngwie was gone, that’s when the band started to go downhill. And then Steve Vai came along, and we were up again. It was okay. I mean, we had some great players, but not what they are doing right now. A keyboard player who can’t play. He presses the button… He doesn’t play all [the notes]. He pretends to play it. It’s all pre-recorded.”
Bonnet also rejected the lip-sync accusations outright, turning the criticism back on those making the claims: “And I’m saying this because it’s true. And they’re telling the public that I don’t sing. Come on. If they’re saying that, I can say this, that the keyboard player can’t play and that the manager of the band can’t sing. It sounds ridiculous. Anyway, that’s my bit. And ALCATRAZZ is dead, it’s dead — long dead — and the name now embarrasses me.”
As for why the musicians continue to operate under the ALCATRAZZ banner, Bonnet said: “They [are using the name] because they can; they can do it.”
He revealed that he briefly considered reviving the name himself before deciding against it: “And I thought of putting something together and calling it GRAHAM BONNET’S ALCATRAZZ. But we decided, me and the rest of the guys in the band, ‘No, let’s just do it your name. Your name, and it’s your songs.’ Our songs, we write them together, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
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