Three months after it was announced that Rudy Sarzo would be rejoining Quiet Riot, the bass guitar player has made his first live appearance with the band in almost 20 years.
New fan-shot footage shows the bassist joining the veteran rock group – which currently consists of Sarzo, guitarist Alex Grossi, vocalist Jizzy Pearl and drummer Johnny Kelly – at The Groove Music Hall in Woodford, Virginia on Saturday (November 6). Check it out below.
Sarzo announced his return to Quiet Riot – the band formed by Randy Rhoads in 1975 – earlier this year. The move meant the departure of longtime bassist Chuck Wright, who subsequently stepped aside to focus on his solo career.
But Sarzo's return comes slightly earlier than he had originally promised. When he announced the news during an appearance on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk back in August, he said that he would be “returning home to Quiet Riot in the beginning of 2022, next year.”
He continued: “Next year marks 50 years of my journey with Quiet Riot, because that's when I met and I started playing with Frankie Banali, another founding member of the Metal Health version of Quiet Riot. That was a turning point [for me] as a musician,” he says.
Metal Health was the name of Quiet Riot's third studio album, released in 1983. It featured hits including Cum on Feel the Noize and Metal Health (Bang Your Head). Sarzo also appeared on the album's followup, Condition Critical (1984), before leaving the band in 1985. He later rejoined in 1997 for a six-year stint, leaving again in 2003.
During his time away from the band, Sarzo worked with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult, Geoff Tate's Operation: Mindcrime, The Guess Who and Whitesnake.
In a recent interview with Adika Live! (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Sarzo discussed his return to the band.
“My decision, in addition to [it] being [late Quiet Riot drummer] Frankie [Banali's] request that I return to the band, was a decision that I had to meditate on, because it is that important. Not meditate whether it was the right decision to make or not, [but rather] to meditate about the timing of it. Because it could not be an abrupt decision that you drop everything you're doing and you change the band.”
Continuing on the Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk podcast in August, Sarzo added: “After Frankie passed away, I went over to [his wife] Regina's house, and we talked, and she expressed to me that Frankie wanted me to come back to the band, that he wanted to have a founding member there.”
He added that his decision took “a lot of time to think about” because he was “already traumatized by Frankie's passing."
He continued: “So, the time came when I was ready to accept the reality, that it's our responsibility, of us left behind, to carry on with the legacy and celebrate it. So that's when I decided. I said, ‘Okay, it's time for me to come home.’”
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