Skid Row

Skid Row is a US hard rock and heavy metal band from Toms River, New Jersey, active from 1986 to the present. The group’s classic line-up features bassist Rachel Bolan, guitarists Dave “The Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill, drummer Rob Affuso, and vocalist Sebastian Bach. The current line-up includes Bolan, Sabo, Hill, and drummer Rob Hammersmith.

Career and recordings

The band builds its reputation on a run of commercially successful albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Its debut album, Skid Row (1989), and second album, Slave to the Grind (1991), both achieve multi-platinum status, with Slave to the Grind reaching number one on the Billboard 200. These records produce some of the band’s best-known songs, including “18 and Life”, “I Remember You”, “Youth Gone Wild”, “Monkey Business”, “Slave to the Grind”, “Wasted Time”, and “In a Darkened Room”. “18 and Life” and “I Remember You” both reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

The third album, Subhuman Race (1995), receives generally positive reviews but does not match the commercial reach of the earlier releases. By the end of 1996, the band has sold 20 million albums worldwide. Later in 1996, Bach is dismissed and Affuso leaves, after which the band goes into a three-year hiatus.

Skid Row reforms in 1999 with Johnny Solinger on vocals. Solinger, formerly of Solinger, records two studio albums with the band: Thickskin (2003) and Revolutions per Minute (2006). He also appears on the EPs United World Rebellion: Chapter One (2013) and Rise of the Damnation Army – United World Rebellion: Chapter Two (2014). Solinger leaves in 2015, followed by a short period with former TNT singer Tony Harnell, and then former DragonForce vocalist ZP Theart, who becomes the official singer in 2017 after a year as a touring member.

Erik Grönwall joins in 2022 and sings on The Gang’s All Here, the band’s first studio album in 16 years. Grönwall leaves in 2024 because of health reasons related to leukemia treatment, and Lzzy Hale of Halestorm fills in for live performances for a period afterwards.

Line-up changes

Across its history, Skid Row includes a long list of members and touring contributors, among them Rob Affuso, Shawn Mars, Phil Varone, Johnny Solinger, Timothy DiDuro, Dave Gara, Tony Harnell, ZP Theart, Alex Grossi, Rob Halford, Keri Kelli, Ryan Spencer Cook, Charlie Mills, John Ratkowski, Jr., Jim Yuhas, Kurtis Jackson, Matt Fallon, Steve Brotherton, Cody Howell, and Rachel Bolan, Dave Sabo, Sebastian Bach, Scotti Hill, and Rob Hammersmith.