Journeyman vocalist John Corabi had already been cutting his
teeth in the hard rock world for nearly a decade when he landed
the high-profile gig of replacing Mötley Crüe frontman Vince
Neil in 1992. Although his tenure with the group proved to be a
brief one, Corabi earned a reputation as a go-to frontman and
collaborator, amassing a solid résumé as a singer and guitarist with
acts like The Eric Singer Project (ESP), Union, and The Dead
Daisies.
Born on April 26, 1959, in Philadelphia, Corabi, like many
musicians from his generation, was drawn into music by
seeing The Beatles on television as a child. After graduating high
school, Corabi worked various odd jobs while singing lead for his
band, Angora. A visit to Los Angeles during the height of the ’80’s
metal scene convinced him to relocate there in 1986, and soon
Angora had joined him. The band managed to attract a following
but, aside from some interest from Gene Simmons, internal
dissension wrecked the group before it could land a recording
deal. With guitarist Bruce Bouillet and bass player John
Alderete, both from the recently defunct Racer X, Corabi
formed The Scream in 1989. They released Let It Scream through
Hollywood Records two years later and managed to garner airplay
on rock radio with the track “Man in the Moon.”
In early 1992, Corabi accepted an invitation to replace the
fired Vince Neil in the platinum-selling Mötley Crüe. With
Corabi on vocals, Mötley Crüe released the eagerly awaited
follow-up to their career-making Dr. Feelgood; however, in the
wake of grunge and with Corabi not embraced by the band’s
faithful, Mötley Crüe was an unmitigated bust despite a Top Ten
placement on the album charts. When Neil returned to the fold,
Corabi was left on his own and formed the band Union with ex-
Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick. Although not a major commercial
success, the pedigrees of the band’s members ensured a following
in the hard rock world, and their self-titled 1998 release did well
with its limited audience. Corabi would unite with drummer Eric
Singer (Kiss) and guitarist Karl Cochran (Kiss, Ace Frehley) to
release an eponymous album under the moniker ESP in 1999 and
would also tour with an incarnation of Ratt in the following years.
After two more outings with Union, he joined
with Ratt drummer Bobby Blotzer to form the short-lived
project Twenty 4 Seven, which released one album in 2002.
Throughout the remainder of the decade, Corabi largely split his
time between playing with Ratt, Union, and ESP, releasing live
albums with the latter two in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Corabi
made his solo recording debut in 2012 with the acoustic
set Unplugged. In 2015, he joined Australian musician David
Lowy’s hard rock supergroup, The Dead Daisies, as lead vocalist,
recording their second album, Revolución. Following several
tours supporting Kiss throughout Europe and Australia, the band
followed up with 2016’s Make Some Noise, which made a strong
showing globally and reached number 11 in the U.S. on
Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart. Corabi’s career
renaissance continued as The Dead Daisies remained highly
visible, turning out a 2017 concert set, Live & Louder, and a
studio follow-up, Burn It Down, a year later.
On August 30th, Corabi will be releasing his brand new single
“Cosi Bella,” produced and co-written with Marti
Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne). “Cosi Bella” is the
first of several new singles coming
