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 The
Rock World lost one of it's most outrageous and colorful
personalities over the holiday weekend. Quiet Riot vocalist
Kevin Dubrow was found dead in his Las Vegas home. Full details
of his untimely death have not yet been released.
As editor and owner of Classic Rock Revisited.com I am
particularly saddened and grief stricken to hear this news. Over
the years Kevin and I built a friendship as he was a big fan of
our website. When I was in Las Vegas we would meet and have
dinner (of which he always paid the bill). We were together at
the first Rock Honors after show party where I saw him gushing
over meeting and talking with Brian May of Queen. We conducted
many interviews over the years and Kevin even interviewed Mick
Abrahams and Glenn Hughes for Classic Rock Revisited.
While most people knew Dubrow as a loud-mouthed rock star who
made headlines when he bashed other bands on the Sunset Strip,
there was another side of him that not everyone saw. Kevin
Dubrow was first and foremost a music fan. Whether it was Humble
Pie, Blodwyn Pig or Trapeze, Dubrow would spend hours convincing
anyone who would listen as to why these bands were important to
the history of rock. It is on that level that Kevin and I based
our friendship.
In our very first interview in 1999, we found a common ground
that stayed with us until his demise. Ironically, the interview
almost never happened. I called Kevin in his hotel room during a
night off on tour. We began chatting about whatever current
Quiet Riot project that was going on. Kevin gave me one line
answers to my questions and it was quickly apparent that he was
not into the interview. I stopped the interview and said to him,
"If this is a bad time I can do this another day." He replied in
a surprised tone, "No, we can do it now." We spoke for a while
off the record about other bands that we were into. Kevin was
impressed that we had a lot of the same musical tastes and we
hit it off and stayed in touch.
I went backstage as an invited guest of Quiet Riot during the
Rock Never Stops tour and was greeted by a smiling Kevin Dubrow.
He gave me a hug and we started talking. During our conversation
a well build blonde came up to us, took off her shirt and asked
Kevin to take her back to the bus. He obliged. I printed in my
article that he got a blowjob from the girl and when he read the
article on Classic Rock Revisited I got a frantic phone call
telling me that if his current girlfriend saw that article he
was in big trouble! We laughed about it and luckily she never
saw the story. Anytime I saw him or spoke to him after that he
always brought up the story and bragged of his conquest. Kevin
always made me laugh as he was a terminal teenager always ready
to get into mischief.
Kevin cemented his musical legacy years ago. "Cum on Feel the
Noise" and "Metal Health" will always be included in any 'Best
of the 80's' or 'Best Metal Songs of All Time' polls that will
ever be conducted. His crazy interviews will also go down in
history as will the fact that he was in a band with the
legendary Randy Rhoads before Randy joined Ozzy Osbourne. But it
is important to remember that Kevin Dubrow was into the music as
much as anyone who will read this article. He was a true rock
nerd who got lucky and got to live the dream.
Dubrow was a Rock Star in the truest sense of the word. From his
leopard print fashion statements to his striped microphone stand
to his ever changing hairstyle, Dubrow always kept us on our
toes. Whether he was playing Live Aid or Nudestock,
Dubrow strutted the stage. He also threw fits, got into fights
with band members and even forgot to show up to a few gigs. He
was born to front a hard rock band and did so to the best of his
ability. Say what you will about Kevin Dubrow, one must admit
that he was 100% genuine in presenting himself to the media and
the fans -- sometimes this was pretty and sometimes it was
downright ugly but it was always exactly how he felt at the
time.
I will miss seeing Kevin out on the road. I will miss our emails
and phone calls. The next time I am in Las Vegas it will hit me
that I can't pick up my cell phone and have him pick me up and
go out to eat. I am stunned and shocked at the loss of a true
friend and a huge supporter of Classic Rock Revisited. Kevin was
there for me anytime I asked and he enjoyed both being
interviewed and conducting the interviews he did for the
website. I can only hope that Kevin is in heaven right now
smiling down upon us and jamming with Randy once again. I know
how much he loved Randy and that nothing would make him happier.
Just thinking that thought makes this sad news somehow more
bearable. If there is a heaven then it just got a lot louder and
more fun that ever before. R.I.P. Kevin. You may be gone but
your spirit burns brightly within the hearts of your friends and
loved ones you left behind.
Fly on Thunderbird.....fly.
Jeb Wright, Editor, Classic Rock Revisited
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