Joey Belladonna Says ‘It’s Hard’ to Be Back With Anthrax
Joey Belladonna admits that it's difficult being a member of Anthrax knowing that they once disliked him – because he never felt that way about them.
He was dismissed in 1992, and returned in 2005 for a reunion attempt that didn’t work out. Belladonna returned again in 2010 and has been in place since then, fronting the band for both Worship Music and For All Kings.
“I didn’t quit anything,” Belladonna tells the Beer, Rum & Rock ’n’ Roll podcast. “I don’t want anybody thinking that, 'cause I wouldn’t even have the heart to do that.” Still, he added, “some people are like, ‘Why the hell are you back with them? Why would you go back? That’s stupid, man. You’re an idiot. She cheated on you twice, dude. Don't go back with her. Come on, man. She's just gonna go out with that other guy tomorrow night.’”
Belladonna said things changed after an honest exchange. “It took them a long time to go, ‘You suck. We didn’t like you that much. And now you're all right,’” he said. “Every day I walk in their presence in the room knowing that these people felt that way, 'cause I never felt that way about them.”
Drummer Charlie Benante admitted in 2018 that Anthrax had been “arrogant” and “ignorant” in their dealings with the singer before his return.
“I don’t feel that way about those people,” Belladonna added. “I respect and I highly recommend everything that they do – and obviously I’m back, and I dig what we’re doing right now. … But it’s hard. It’s hard. You get a complex, you know?”
Belladonna also discussed The Sound of White Noise, the Anthrax album that introduced replacement John Bush in 1993. “I could have been on that record regardless of what they came up with,” Belladonna asserted.
“Let’s just pretend they didn’t even write that record yet. That record would have been cool too, regardless of what you’re already familiar with. I’m not saying whatever was on there wasn't right,” he said. “I was in that car that rode into that record. I got sideswiped out of there.”
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