Steve Grimmett: "I Nearly Sung for Maiden, Priest…And Sabbath!"

Forostar

Ancient Mariner
Remember this song?

This good ol' chap tells he nearly sung for all these 3 legendary acts !

(source)

Vocalist Steve Grimmett has told Classic Rock how he nearly joined not one, not two…but three legendary bands.

Says Grimmett (who made his name with Grim Reaper, Onslaught and Lionsheart): “When Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden, I sent them a demo. But never heard anything back from them, and then heard that Blaze Bayley had the job. But a while afterwards, their manager Rod Smallwood told me that I’d made the top five on their short list.”

The singer also went for the Judas Priest job, when Rob Halford left. “I did get a letter back, thanking me for my interest, but they didn’t feel I was quite right for them.”

Finally, he was actually being lined up by Black Sabbath.

“Drummer Bobby Rondinelli called and asked if I’d like to join the band. I was committed to doing the second Lionsheart album (Pride In Tact), but told him that, if they could wait, then I’d love to do it. But by the time I was ready, the original line-up was back together, so that was out of the window.
 
For once a random comment from me - the guitarist on the left is using the same guitar I started out with (Crafter Cruiser CJ400)  :yey:
 
Steve Grimmett would not really have given Maiden much of a different direction than what they took with Bruce, I would have thought. And as much as I rate him highly as a singer, he was only in Onslaught because of the insistence of the bands record company at the time and although they produced a superb album in "In Search of Sanity" (with the greatest power ballad ever...), the stuff was originally recorded with Sy Keeler on vocals and, according to the band, really sounded superb.

Here are two comparisons - both the same track, a cover of AC/DC's Let There Be Rock:

Sy Keeler.
Steve Grimmett.

Maiden did well to opt for Blaze, in my opinion.
 
Albie said:

Nice song in deed, yet the production is flat & weak, imo

Albie said:
Maiden did well to opt for Blaze, in my opinion.

I prefer a 1000 times Blaze than him or James LaBrie, but yet I'm surprised that they didn't manage to find a really powerful voice,
like Priest did with Owens... This Grimmett is just an ok voice, but just too little for Maiden; seriously, top5 choice ??  :blink: Where the world goes to ?
Let alone his physical appearance...
 
Quetzalcoatlus said:
Nice song in deed, yet the production is flat & weak, imo

I prefer a 1000 times Blaze than him or James LaBrie, but yet I'm surprised that they didn't manage to find a really powerful voice,
like Priest did with Owens... This Grimmett is just an ok voice, but just too little for Maiden; seriously, top5 choice ??  :blink: Where the world goes to ?
Let alone his physical appearance...

Blaze's physical appearance wasn't that good in his later years with Maiden either...  ::)
 
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