Top 10 Rock and Metal Musicians from Different Bands Who Are/Were Friends
They don't have to be the best friends - good friends is good enough for this list.The most interesting is when two bands are seen as rivals but some members from these bands are actually friends.
Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) and Ian Gillan (Deep Purple).
Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are sometimes seen as rivals but it's probably only in the eyes of the fans.
Ian Gillan even provided lead vox for a Black Sabbath album (1983) to help Tony Iommi because Dio left and Black Sabbath didn't find a replacement quickly.
Hansi Kürsch - Blind Guardian, Demons & Wizards
Jon Schaffer - Iced Earth, Demons & Wizards
Blind Guardian and Iced Earth are often seen as rivals in the field of epic metal songs but they aren't really rivals.
They've been friends since the early 90s when Iced Earth played Germany and the two bands played in the same venue one after another. They heard each other songs and liked them and then members met backstage and liked their personalities, too.
But Hansi and Jon clicked the most - they even created a side project called Demons & Wizards and released 2 albums together. Jon wrote great songs for Hansi voice.
Every time Iced Earth play Germany, Hansi joins Iced Earth onstage and sings with them (yeah, Hansi knows their songs and lyrics).
They both are good friends, Steven even produced some Opeth albums.
Tim 'Ripper' Owens - Judas Priest, Iced Earth
Ralf Scheepers - Primal Fear, Gamma Ray
They are friends despite the awkward situation when they met - they were frontrunners for Rob Halford's replacement in Judas Priest in the mid-90s. Ralf lost out to Tim but Ralf didn't start hating on him despite the fact that Ralf left a major German band (Gamma Ray) to prepare himself for the competition.
Tim and Ralf have sung several songs together, including a song as guest musicians in 2013 - Begging for Forgiveness by Helker. Helker invited Ralf as a guest singer and Ralf accepted but also suggested to include Tim.
Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low) and Josh Franceschi (You Me At Six)
Joey DeMaio (Manowar) worked as a pyro-tech for Black Sabbath during their " Heaven and Hell " tour and Dio encouraged Joey DeMaio to start making metal music.
Jon Lord of Deep Purple even wrote a song about Dio when Dio died
Kurt Cobain from Nirvana and Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill.
Before Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain was the boyfriend of Tobi Vail, also from Bikini Kill, who often wore a deodorant called Teen Spirit. She at one point sprayed the words "Kurt smells like Teen Spirit" across the walls. The rest is history.
Michael Jackson lead singer and frontman of The Jackson 5 was a friend of Paul McCartney, a lead vocalist of The Beatles.