Former Manowar, Dictators, and Shakin\u2019 Street guitarist Ross \u201cThe Boss\u201d Friedman has died, aged 72.<\/p>\n
The news was confirmed in a statement released by the Metal Hall Of Fame, and arrives just weeks after a fundraising campaign was launched to pay for the late musician\u2019s medical care following his diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig\u2019s Disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoss was a pioneering force in both punk and heavy metal, best known as a founding member of The Dictators and Manowar,\u201d\u00a0the statement read. \u201cRoss will always be the Metal Hall of Fame\u2019s \u2018Global Metal Ambassador\u2019 to the world. His powerful playing, unmistakable tone, and uncompromising spirit helped shape generations of musicians and fans around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoss\u2019s impact on music is immeasurable. From the raw energy of early punk to the epic scale of heavy metal, his work left a lasting mark on the genre and on everyone who experienced it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond his achievements on stage and in the studio, Ross was deeply respected by his peers and beloved by fans across continents. His legacy will live on through his music, his influence, and the countless lives he touched.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1973, Friedman founded proto-punk pioneers The Dictators, and after playing on their first three albums, moved to Europe to play with French hard rock outfit Shakin\u2019 Street to replace the band\u2019s original guitarist, Armik Tigrane.<\/p>\n
By the time they disbanded in 1981, he\u2019d already left to join the mythology inspired Manowar alongside bassist Joey DeMaio, singer Eric Adams and drummer Donnie Hamzik, who gained swift notoriety for their onstage outfits \u2013 namely their loincloths and fur \u2013 as well as for signing a record contract in blood to symbolise their dedication to heavy metal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to look like something never before seen in heavy metal,\u201d Friedman previously told Classic Rock. \u201cWe wanted to be wilder than just denim and leather. What would be wilder? Animal fur!\u201d<\/p>\n
After recording five albums with Manowar \u2013 including their much loved \u2018Battle Hymns\u2019, \u2018Into Glory Ride\u2019 and \u2018Hail To England\u2019, Friedman was asked to leave the band in 1988. The year\u2019s thereafter saw him play alongside several other acts, including Manitoba\u2019s Wild Kingdom, The Hellacopters, The Nomads, the Brain Surgeons, Burning Star and more, in addition to two further stints with The Dictators, who released their sixth album back in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Manowar, Dictators, and Shakin\u2019 Street guitarist Ross \u201cThe Boss\u201d Friedman has died, aged 72. The news was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,5204,128,47,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-501428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-metal","tag-music","tag-top-stories","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}