Anthrax’s Charlie Benante on Their Grammy Nod, Meeting Kurt Russell + Their Upcoming Covers Record
Yesterday (Dec. 5), it was announced that Anthrax's "I'm Alive" received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock/Metal Performance. The song comes off the group's 2011 mega-comeback album, Worship Music.
This is the fourth Grammy nomination for the metal legends. It's especially fitting since Worship This was singer Joey Belladonna's first album with the group since 1990's Persistence of Time.
Worship Music garnered some of the best reviews of Anthrax's career and proved that the New York veterans were still as vital today as they were during the peak of the late '80s thrash scene.
Noisecreep spoke with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante about the exciting news.
Congratulations, Charlie. I know the band has been nominated for a Grammy before, but was this one a surprise to you?
Yeah, it pretty much was a shock to me. I absolutely, 100% stopped thinking about these kind of things. I just don't think of the Grammys and us any more as something that is remotely possible. It's so much better when something like this catches you off guard with no expectations.
How did you get the news?
I was watching Dave Matthews perform here in Chicago, and I get a text saying 'congratulations 'and I'm like, 'what?' It was just so foreign to me. After the show it hit me - we've been recognized big time, it's been so long since we've been recognized with that kind of status. Obviously, it was so nice to have the hard rock magazines get behind us and the record, that was awesome, but that's who we're speaking to. But then to have the Grammys, something so prestigious, believe me, this means a lot to us - we as a band embrace this like an actor would embrace an Oscar or an Emmy.
Listen to 'I'm Alive'
You've been to the awards before, right?
I've been to three Grammys and if I tell what I remember the most you'll crack up. My favorite time was when it was held in New York in the mid-'90s. We all went to big party after. Now, one of my favorite movies is The Thing, the 1982 remake directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell. So I see Goldie Hawn and Kurt at the party. We're right near them, Goldie is talking to someone and Kurt is alone, so I go over and tell him he was in one of my favorite movies of all. And he loves hearing this. So we all get into this great conversation with him. Then Goldie comes over to us and tries to pull him away but he's like no, I'm hanging with the guys in Anthrax. You believe that?
That's crazy! So besides the Grammys, what's next for the band?
We are just finishing up something special, a record of covers from songs we grew up with. Boston, Journey, Thin Lizzy, Rush - you're gonna dig this, trust me.
Hey, maybe another Grammy nomination.
Hey, there's an idea! %VIRTUAL-newsletter%
Watch Charlie Benante and Scott Ian Talking About Reuniting with Joey Belladonna