If you’ve seen Quiet Riot’s 2014 documentary, Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back, one of the main subplots of the film involves the search for a vocalist to replace original vocalist Kevin DuBrow. If they ever do a re-release of the film with more footage, it’ll have another chapter. Billboard has confirmed that American Idol alumni James Durbin will be replacing Seann Nichols as the singer of Quiet Riot, the sixth singer to take over the mic stand since Dubrow’s death in 2007. Nichols was only with the group for a few months (long enough to record their upcoming album, Road Rage) before the group decided to look for an alternative. Quiet Riot drummer and bandleader Frankie Banali told Billboard, “There were some serious creative and personal differences. I’m not the type of person who will stay in a bad marriage for the kids — the kids in this case being Quiet Riot. It was unanimous it could not go any further.”
In regards to their upcoming record, Banali also reports, “There’s no comfortable thing about this situation…I think the record turned out great. But it’s not that band anymore, so we have to deal with it. Is it troublesome? Absolutely. Is it risky? Absolutely. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely!” Durbin also says he probably won’t perform any of the Road Rage songs live, and shares,” “I think there’s some really awesome gems in the Quiet Riot catalog that are really overlooked… I’m really looking forward to putting my spin on it as a singer. I feel I’m much more melodic in my singing than some of the singers Quiet Riot has featured in the past, so I’m looking forward to soaring those vocals over the crowd.”
The California singer, who placed fourth on Idol during it’s 10th season, will make his live debut on March 18th in Wichita, Kansas at The Cotillion during the band’s North American tour. They also plan to return to the studio to start the recording with Durbin, with the writing process hopefully to start in the next month or so, according to Banali. When Durbin was born in 1989, Quiet Riot had already released six albums.
