Scott Ian says he was wrong to fire Joey Belladonna from Anthrax in the 90s

Anthrax co-founder and guitarist Scott Ian talked in an interview with Naked Lunch, about firing the lead singer Joey Belladonna in 1991 over creative and stylistic differences. The musician said it was a wrong move. The band is currently promoting their new album “Cursum Perficio”, the seventh with Joey and the 11th of their career.

Scott Ian says he was wrong to fire Joey Belladonna from Anthrax in the 90s

“It wasn’t just me (who felt that getting rid of Joey in 1991 was the right move). It was a band decision back then. Whether we made the right or wrong decision, it’s easy to… And I talk a lot about it in my book (‘I’m The Man: The Story Of That Guy From Anthrax’). But at the time, it’s a decision that had to have been made. And it sucks. Any time like that, you’re going through something like that in a band where you’re making that kind of change, it’s the hardest, worst, stressful — just heartbreaking. At that time, in ’91 going into ’92, we felt like the band was moving musically in a direction that we felt like Joey couldn’t be there with us anymore.”

“And in hindsight, I’ve said it, I said it in my book that I was wrong, that if we would’ve really taken the time, there’s no reason why… And this is no knock on John either, of course, ’cause I love John Bush, and John is a great singer. But 30 years go by, and you’ve had time to think about stuff, especially when you’re writing a book. And, yeah, if we would’ve really just taken the time, there probably… There is a world where Joey could have sang on that record (‘Sound Of White Noise’) and it would’ve been a great album. And I don’t mean that in any negative towards anybody.”

He continued:

“Joey came back in 2010. He rejoined. We jumped right back out on the ‘Big Four’ shows, which were the shows that was… What they, at some point, somebody coined the phrase the ‘Big Four’ in maybe the late ’80s or something — Metallica, us and Slayer and Megadeth. We were the four bands of American thrash. But, yeah, we asked Joey to rejoin in 2010, and he said yes. And it’s been 16 years since Joey rejoined, and we’ve done the best work we’ve ever done. And the band’s, it’s better than it’s ever been. And, yeah, everything just kind of took a turn and everything’s just been on this path ever since. It’s been incredible.”

“We had never lost 100% contact over the years. We had done a reunion thing in ’05, ’06, and even before that, here and there we would bump into each other or something would come up. But anyway, in 2010, it literally happened where I’m pretty sure it was Charlie who reached out to Joey and said, ‘Hey, we’re all gonna be in the city.’ I was actually on tour with my wife’s band at the time, Pearl, and she was playing at Webster Hall in New York. And so I was gonna be in town, so Charlie reached out to Joey and said, ‘Hey, we’re all gonna be in the city. You wanna come down and have coffee. Let’s talk about stuff.'”

Scott Ian continued:

“And (he said), ‘Sure.’ So he came down, and we met that day. That night Pearl was playing, and that afternoon we literally — me, Charlie, Frankie and Joey — got together and had coffee. And Charlie just said to him, ‘We want you back in the band. Do you wanna do it?’ And Joey said, ‘Yes, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.’ It was that simple, that quick and easy. And we picked up right where we left off.”

“The first time we got in the room and started jamming again, and especially playing the old songs and hearing Joey sing songs like ‘Madhouse’ and ‘Medusa’ again, I had the chills… We did a reunion thing with him in ’05, ’06, but it felt right in 2010 when he came back,” Scott Ian said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).

These days Anthrax is formed by Scott Ian (Guitar), Joey Belladonna (Vocals), Charlie Benante (Drums), Frank Bello (Bass) and Jon Donais (Guitar).