HALESTORM‘s Lzzy Hale says she will “most likely” stay with SKID ROW more than four shows that are originally announced.
Last week, singer Erik Grönwall announced his decision to leave SKID ROW explaining that he wanted to “prioritize [his] health and full recovery.”
Hale was announced to step in to handle vocal duties for the four concerts on their upcoming schedule.
In a recent interview with Terrie Carr from the radio station 105.5 WDHA in Morristown, New Jersey, Lzzy was asked how her collaboration with SKID ROW came to be, to which she responded: “Well, first I’ll give a statement for the beginning, because it just goes so much deeper for me than just helping out some friends.
“I’m from PA [Pennsylvania]. I know all about you Jersey boys. And I know we talk a lot about lifting up women and that’s been very important in my life. But I can’t forget about the men who raised me. And them being the SKID ROW boys, inadvertently, by my friends from Jersey who were listening to SKID ROW.
“I was always kind of an in-betweener in my interest in music,” she continued. “So in the ’90s, and like ’96, it was BOYZ II MEN and Mariah Carey, BACKSTREET BOYS, Britney [Spears] was about to come out, that whole thing. I wasn’t interested in that. I was interested in ’80s, big hair, rock and metal. I loved Alice Cooper, BLACK SABBATH, CINDERELLA, JOURNEY, SKID ROW. And as that transition happened in the ’90s, where all of a sudden I started getting into heavier music, a lot of the bands, except for a very small group of bands, helped me with that transition.
“And SKID ROW was one of them, because they were not so in their ’80s bubble and in the time that came before that they couldn’t see what was happening in the world and they couldn’t see what the dark-seated underbelly that we were all feeling in the ’90s. So they really helped bridge that gap for me.
“I can honestly tell you right now that I would not be the rocker that I am today without SKID ROW and those albums, because not only did they have those beautiful melodies and the vocal prowess and the riffs and the loud noise that I loved, but then the subject matter they were talking about was always very real and it hit me at the right time in the right place.
“And so this is just a beautiful example of that age doesn’t matter,” she added. “Time doesn’t matter. Whenever you discover music, it doesn’t matter. It’s when it hits you. And so again, those men that raised me, the men from Jersey, the men from PA that all put these records in my hands. Then years later, I’m living in Nashville for the first time and I meet [SKID ROW bassist] Rachel Bolan and I meet [SKID ROW guitarist] Snake [Dave Sabo], and they’re, like, ‘Oh, man, there’s more to Nashville than country. Let me introduce you to this guy.’ Then I got to meet Tom Keifer from CINDERELLA and all those boys, and now I’m up playing AEROSMITH songs with all these weird guys that I grew up listening to. Then fast forward to a couple months ago when my good buddy Rachel — we were just at a birthday party, and Rachel‘s, like, ‘Hey, would you ever consider singing with us?’ And I’m, like, ‘Oh, yeah, you mean like we do all the time down at Mercy Lounge?’ He’s, like, ‘No, like actually be like our front person for some shows. There’s some stuff going on.’ And so I said, ‘Well, yeah, sure. Just let me know when.’
“And then, you know, a couple of months later he goes, ‘Hey, were you serious about that? Because this is going down now, and we’ve gotta know.’ And so I cleared my schedule and I told everybody that that is on my team, ‘Let me put up all these dates because I really wanna do this for these guys,’ And so I’m helping my buddies out and they’re helping me out and it’s all full circle. But then we announced it, and I’m hearing from people I haven’t heard from in 15 years saying, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna save my life.’ And we’re bringing these two worlds together. It’s giving everybody reason to smile and an event for someone to look forward to. And like generational gaps be damned. And it’s just all gonna be great. And it’s just wonderful.
“For me, I joked with the boys. I said, ‘Oh, so my audition tape from ’96 finally made it in the mail. Thanks for finally opening it up. My revised audition is in the mail.’ So now I have all their songs on a playlist in the order of how they’re doing their set. And I’m on the stationary bike trying to make sure I can hit the high notes. And I’m turning it like it’s an Olympic sport. It’s gonna be great.”
Concerning the potential for additional SKID ROW performances featuring her as the lead vocalist, Lzzy remarked: “You never know. I will say something that most likely will happen is that these will not be the only four dates you ever hear. I will say that. As far as me being the permanent member of SKID ROW, we’re gonna all have to find a plateau [laughs] in our schedules to do that. But you never know. Sounds like a pretty good gig for me, if I ever get to that point.”
“But, yeah, I’m just so grateful for the guys,” she added. “And then think about it coming full circle. And it all comes from the right place. I mean, Erik, what an amazing voice and what a perfect fit for them and brought them into a whole new game changer. There’s everything going on with his health, and how wonderful is it that amicably both parties can be, like, ‘Hey, we’re looking out for each other.’ ‘Hey, I can’t give you what you need.’ And also, ‘Hey, us as a band, we can’t give you what you need to look after yourself. So, hey, let’s do that.’ And ‘Hey, let’s bring in our buddy Lzzy.’ I’m helping out my buddies. Everybody’s doing it for the right reasons. And so it’s a beautiful thing.”
