Randy Blythe
Blythe at Rock al Parque 2017
Blythe at Rock al Parque 2017
Background information
Birth nameDavid Randall Blythe
Born (1971-02-21) February 21, 1971
OriginFranklin, Virginia, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1995–present
Member of
Formerly ofPigface

David Randall Blythe (/blaɪ/,[1] born February 21, 1971) is an American vocalist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of heavy metal band Lamb of God and Burn The Priest. He has also performed guest vocals for Cannabis Corpse, A Life Once Lost, Overkill, Gojira, Pitch Black Forecast, Eyehategod, Eluveitie, Bad Brains, Soulfly, Clutch, Body Count, DevilDriver, Suicide Silence, Doyle, Metal Allegiance, and Voodoo Glow Skulls, and is the lead singer of side-project band Halo of Locusts.

Professional career

Blythe joined Lamb of God in 1995, when they were still known as Burn the Priest.[2] Before the band was successful, Blythe had previously worked as a cook and a roofer.[3] He also has a side project band known as Halo of Locusts, who were founded around 2004. A full-length release was planned, but has yet to be released. They contributed to For the Sick, the tribute album for Eyehategod, covering "Dixie Whiskey".[4]

Blythe at 2004's Ozzfest

In 2005, Blythe worked with the metalcore outfit A Life Once Lost on their album Hunter. He provided additional vocals on the track "Vulture" as well as helped in the vocal processing of the track. He later worked with them again in 2007 on "Iron Gag." He also appeared on the song "Skull and Bones" by the band Overkill and "Adoration for None" on Gojira's album The Way of All Flesh. He was also featured on Shadows Fall song, King of Nothing, on their 2009 release, Retribution. Blythe was featured in many of his peers' DVDs, such as Killswitch Engage's (Set This) World Ablaze and Machine Head's Elegies. Blythe was also featured in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Working Class Rock Star, Melissa Cross's The Zen of Screaming, and Suicide Silence's Ending Is the Beginning: The Mitch Lucker Memorial Show (2014).

He appears as Luke in the movie The Graves (2009), written and directed by Brian Pulido.[5]

On January 5, 2012, Blythe announced that he would be running for President of the United States via a blog entry entitled "I want to be The Big Cheese".[6] His official campaign slogan was "Fuck the dumb shit. Let's get real here." Blythe did not appear on the ballot in any of the fifty states or the District of Columbia.[7][8]

On November 20, 2014, was announced that Blythe is to star in an action movie being made by Taiwanese metal band Chthonic.[9] On July 14, 2015, Blythe's first book, Dark Days: A Memoir was released by Da Capo Press. During its first week of sales, it made the Publishers Weekly non-fiction National Best Sellers list.

In February 2016, he joined Deafheaven on stage at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles with their song "Dream House". Seven months later, in September 2016, he was recruited by Eyehategod as a replacement for lead singer Mike Williams during their US tour.[10][11]

In July 2018 he collaborated with DevilDriver on the covers of "Ghost Riders in the Sky" by Johnny Cash and "Whiskey River" by Willie Nelson from Devil Driver's country covers album.[12] In October, his voice appeared in the Soulfly song "Dead Behind the Eyes" from Ritual. On April 4, 2019, Blythe made a music video for the Black Queen song "The End Where We Start".[13]

In November 2019, Blythe was a member of the supergroup, Pigface, during the group's first tour in fourteen years. Initially, Blythe had agreed to perform with the group for the first five dates of the twelve-date tour but due to his enjoyment of it, he agreed to stay on for the remaining seven dates.[14]

In April 2020, Blythe and Scottish brewery BrewDog announced a collaboration that yielded a non-alcoholic beer named "Ghost Walker". The name is taken from the Lamb of God song "Ghost Walking" which is on their 2012 album Resolution. Blythe wrote the lyrics to the song whilst beginning his journey to live an alcohol-free lifestyle.[15]

Manslaughter charges and acquittal

Randy Blythe (left) with his defence team during his manslaughter trial

At the end of June 2012, Blythe was arrested, charged and remanded in custody by the Czech authorities in connection with an incident that had happened during Lamb of God's previous concert in Prague two years earlier. According to the prosecution, Blythe shoved Daniel Nosek, a 19-year-old fan, off stage, thus inflicting fatal wounds on him. After being released on bail, which was contended by the State Attorney, Blythe denied responsibility for Nosek's death and pledged to return to attend the trial, which began on February 4, 2013.[16]

According to a verdict delivered by the Municipal Court in Prague on March 5, 2013, it was proven that Blythe had shoved Nosek off the stage and Blythe thus has the moral responsibility for his death. Due to the circumstances, however, Blythe was held not criminally liable with most of the blame lying with the promoters and the security members.[17] The State Attorney appealed the verdict,[18] but the acquittal was upheld by the Prague High Court on June 5, 2013.[19]

Discography

Blythe at Wacken Open Air 2013

With Lamb of God

Demos (as Burn the Priest)

  • Demo Tape (1995, independently released)
  • Split with ZED (1997, Goatboy Records)
  • Split with Agents of Satan (1998, Deaf American Recordings)
  • Sevens and More (1998, mp3.com)

Studio albums

Guest appearances

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2021 Paradise City Dom TV spinoff of American Satan

References

  1. ↑ Lamb of God's Randy Blythe - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?, archived from the original on December 13, 2021, retrieved March 11, 2021
  2. ↑ "The Burn the Priest Story". Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Randy Blythe: 'For 10 of the 20 Years I Was in Lamb of God, I Was a Roofer and Restaurant Worker at the Same Time'". Ultimate-Guitar.Com. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Various artists – For the Sick: A Tribute to Eyehategod". Allmusic. Retrieved September 1, 2008.
  5. ↑ "The Graves (2008)". IMDb. Retrieved September 1, 2008.
  6. ↑ "I want to be The Big Cheese". Randonesia.tumblr.com.
  7. ↑ McKenna, Dave (January 29, 2012) "Lamb of God gives local blast before global tour", "Blythe – who announced recently via YouTube that he was bidding to become president in 2012...." The Washington Post, Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  8. ↑ Dörting, Torsten & Wigger, Jan (February 9, 2012) "The most important metal albums of the month: 4th Part: Lamb Of God – healing for hip-hop artists", "Statement: If you have even traced in part in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the U.S., suspects that it is finally time to infiltrate the political system of the United States. This man is ready: LOG singer Blythe has recently announced his candidacy.", Spiegel Online; retrieved February 8, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Randy Blythe to star in Chthonic action movie - Metal Hammer". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Eyehategod Recruit Randy Blythe in Place of Mike IX Williams". Loudwire.com. September 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Watch LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE Front EYEHATEGOD In Portland". Blabbermouth.net. October 9, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Here's Randall Blythe Doing Vocals For DEVILDRIVER's Version Of A JOHNNY CASH Song - Metal Injection". May 25, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  13. ↑ The Black Queen (official channel) (April 4, 2019). "The Black Queen - The End Where We Start(Randy Blythe DC Montage)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Lamb of God's Randy Blythe to continue as vocalist for industrial supergroup Pigface for entire fall tour". November 19, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Lamb Of God release 'Ghost Walker' non-alcoholic beer". LambGoat. April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  16. ↑ Kenety, Brian (March 5, 2013) "Lamb of God's Randy Blythe acquitted of manslaughter" CNN, Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  17. ↑ Josef Koukal (March 5, 2013). "Soud metalového zpěváka Blytha osvobodil, je nevinen" [The court has acquitted Blythe the metal singer, he is innocent]. novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Kauza usmrceného fanouška – zpěvák Blythe zproštěn obžaloby" [The case of the killed fan – singer Blythe cleared of charges]. ceskatelevize.cz (in Czech). March 5, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Czech appeals court clears Randy Blythe in fan's death". Richmond Times-Dispatch. June 5, 2013. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Lamb of God frontman to guest on new Gojira album". blabbermouth.net. Retrieved September 1, 2008.
  21. ↑ "SHADOWS FALL: New Song Featuring RANDY BLYTHE (GOD in the flesh) Posted Online". blabbermouth.net. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  22. ↑ Metalship (February 22, 2012). "Interview with John Campbell (Lamb of God bassist)". En.metalship.org. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  23. ↑ Kaufman, Spencer (September 14, 2018). "Soulfly premiere new song "Dead Behind the Eyes" featuring Lamb of God's Randy Blythe". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  24. ↑ "P.O.D. Releases 'Drop' Music Video Featuring LAMB OF GOD's RANDY BLYTHE". Blabbermouth.net. September 21, 2023. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
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