William Shatner Takes Riot Fest by Storm, Previews Album What the F Is Heavy Metal?
The Star Trek icon and his back band The *uckers performed classics by Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead, and Metallica. William Shatner Takes Riot Fest by Storm, Previews Album What the F Is Heavy Metal? Spencer Kaufman
William Shatner, the 95-year-old Star Trek icon, took the stage at Riot Fest in Chicago over the weekend, delivering a metal performance that previewed his upcoming album, What the F Is Heavy Metal? The star of the show was his band, The *uckers, which included seasoned musicians Marcus Nand on guitar, Phil Soussan on bass, Britt Lightning on guitar, and Fred Aching on drums.
Shatner began his set by performing Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train," Motörhead's "Ace of Spades," Metallica's "Enter Sandman," and his original song "Rage." He introduced each song with theatrical flair, often referencing Ozzy's well-known "All aboard" line. Shatner told the audience he was approached by Cleopatra Records to record a metal album, and his response was "What the fuck is heavy metal?" which became the title of his new project.
He admitted to being somewhat apprehensive about the performance, acknowledging that he was "stumbling around in total ignorance" but drawing on years of experience to entertain his audience. The album will feature contributions from prominent metal musicians such as Queen's Brian May, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo.
Written by urgent.news from Consequence's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
