Ronnie Romero continues to carve out his own path with his new solo album, Backbone, released on October 24, 2025, via Frontiers. Produced by Romero himself, the record showcases his powerful vocals and features appearances from notable guests such as Kee Marcello and Russ Ballard. Known for his work with Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Lords of Black, and Elegant Weapons, Romero extends his capabilities through his solo material. Metal Insider caught up with Romero to discuss the new album, memorable moments from his career, films that inspired a few tracks, and more.

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How would you compare Backbone to Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters?

It’s a step forward not only in musicality. We took a more straightforward approach to the songwriting. The songs are more direct. We don’t play around with different styles. And instead of hard rock music, it’s like a, I think the songs make more sense altogether. But we also did better in production, with the mixing and messaging. The album sounds way better than the first one.

What track was the most challenging to finish?

Yeah, probably was the, the song we wrote together with Russ Ballard, the song called, “Hideaway.” Because obviously, you know, Russ is a legendary songwriter. He wrote songs for many artists in the past. So, when he got the demo to work on, I really struggled to reach that level of songwriting.

But also because we had an issue, actually, at the end of the production, I wanted to have a guest guitarist for the solo. And, I thought, oh, my friend, Kee Marcello. So, he took his time to finish the solo, but also, when he sent his solo for the mixing, which it was like four days before we were supposed to, deliver the master to the to the record label.

He told me that it changed the chords progression at the end. So we struggled through that during the weekend to finish, to rerecord the bass line and the keyboards or the changes he did. So, there was a little bit of stress.

 

I can only imagine. You have quite a few guest artists on this album, too. I wanted to know what actually inspired the lyrics for “Lost in Time?”

I’m not the musician who needs to take a lot of time to write things. I keep things very fresh. So normally, I write the lyrics a couple of days beforehand, even the day before, to go to the studio and make the recording.

You keep the vocals and the lyrics fresh. And when you go to the studio some ideas comes, on the table and, you know, it keeps the music more organic. So, I remember when I wrote that song, it was the morning before going to the studio.

I was writing the song like six in the morning and needed to go to the studio like eleven. I didn’t have an idea for the song, and I was actually thinking about it at that time in the morning while drinking a coffee. I was thinking about my career. The last ten years, and how sometimes you sacrifice a lot of time for the music, and you lose precious moments with family, with friends, and with your own life. So that idea came to mind, and I started writing the lyrics.

Yeah, definitely a lot of sacrifices in this industry, but I like how you write it. So last-minute. Sometimes that freaks people out, but it also works for others, especially with tight deadlines.

Every musician works in a different way, of course. And I respect all of all of them. But in my opinion, I don’t think about how the music industry and the music business are built. I don’t believe in that. I need two years to write a lyric here. And also because I believe in an organic, in-the-moment way of making music.

How are you feeling in the moment while you’re writing? So what I do normally is just write the songs. Day before or even in the same morning going to the studio, and that give me a lot of different ideas even while I’m recording. And so, in the end, it comes like a more organic song.

What song are you most excited about to perform live?

Well, actually, we did a show, couple weeks ago in Switzerland with my band. It was the last show of the year, and, we tried to do “Backbone.” And, it was cool. You know, actually, we use it as an opener for the show, and, I really liked how the people received it, because it’s a very, you know, hard rock, strong song.

And, it was very cool. But also I think, in this case and bringing the same thing like the difference between Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters and, the new album is, I think every song is worth to play live. But especially, probably, I would say, “Hideaway,” I think is a great song.

Not only because Russ wrote the song, but it’s it’s a little bit more what I told him. You know, when when we were talking about to write together, I told him, I need a I need a hard rock song. But it can be played in the radio. And as you did with “I Surrender,” and “Since You Been Gone,” you can go for Rainbow. He got the idea from the beginning, and it’s a cool song to play live.

Do you have an unreleased project or collaboration you’re working on that people might not yet know about?

Not really. I’m really focusing on my solo album right now. The only thing we still have in the bag is the new Elegant Weapons Album, which is already recorded, but because Richie Faulkner is very busy with Judas Priest right now.

We don’t know exactly when or how the album will be released, but besides that, well, there is an album I just recorded —it’s in Spanish. It’s with a Spanish band. I recorded like a main character of an opera concept. But it’s going to be in Spanish and I think, somehow the people are going to be interested also in the because, you know, because I’m from South America, I have a lot of fans from South America, from Spain, and, they always tell me to sing in Spanish. I think that’s going to be the perfect location.

You have so many projects, you’re always working. And for your other bands and collaborations, how do you separate the creative headspace between each project from your solo material?

Well, I didn’t have, I didn’t have any problem so far because normally when, when I record a collaboration or. No, or I work with other musicians, it’s I never take care much about the songwriting process and the production process. So, that’s the big difference with my solo material, because I’m in charge of everything, which is cool.

You know, it’s a little stress. But but, yeah, I mean, my solo, my solo material is totally different because I’m the guy who need to write the songs, I’m the guy who need to take care of the production and checking the mixings and the masterings and, you know, the artwork and all the details. So it’s way different from any other collaboration I’ve done so far.

Here’s where some fun questions come in. If “Eternally” was turned into a horror movie, who would you cast as Dracula?

Well, probably myself. No, I don’t know. Actually, it’s funny, because the idea came from, is the same situation.

You know, I needed to go to the studio that morning to record a song. It was the last day of recording, the vocal sessions, and that was the last song I was supposed to record, and I didn’t have a lyric. And the night before, I was watching this, Dracula Untold, on Netflix, and, so I was thinking about that, but I didn’t know exactly how to write about it.

And then suddenly I was in the place where I write, which is a room here, where I have, it’s like an Irish pub. So I have all my books and music there, and, it was these, this, book Dracula from Bram Stoker that my wife gave me for my birthday. It’s a special book because it’s in Romanian.

I remember the movie I watched last night, the night before, and then I saw the book. I said, okay, I’m going to write about it, but differently, you know, because the song is about Dracula, but it’s from his point of view, like how his suffering is that character.

So, I will take the same actor. I don’t remember his name, but that’s a great movie because it shows the suffering and sacrifices Dracula has to make to be Dracula, which is very cool.

I will probably check out that show or the movie on Netflix.

It’s a movie, it’s called Dracula Untold.

Yeah, I’ll check that one out.

It’s pretty cool.

Now that we are in October, it is the spooky Halloween season. Do you believe in the paranormal, and have you had any experiences of your own?

Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I believe in everything. I mean, I’ve experienced many things in the past also. You know, I grew up in a family, in a religious family, all my family that were Protestant and they tend to deal with, spiritualism in a, in a different way, the Catholic Church, for example. So, you sometimes you have some very weird experiences and, I mean, even when I don’t believe in God, as, you know, as everybody believes, I believe in energy and I had some experiences in the past with some strange situations that I cannot explain.

This isn’t a demon or this is a ghost or this is, you know, but definitely some things around us, at least some energies that sometimes interact with us in strange ways.

Yes. There’s, definitely a lot of weird things out there. And I like how you said that. You can’t know if it’s a ghost or a demon. It’s an unexplained energy. What song in your entire career do you wish you got more recognition for?

Especially the songs I wrote, way before my solo albums —like with Lords of Black, I did like three or four songs. And, it was the that time when I was not many, I was not too much, involved in the songwriting process for the bands, but I wrote a couple of songs that, especially in the first and the second album, of Lords of Black that is kind of a concept between the two songs in two different albums.

They told the same story about Houdini and yeah, I would love the people to check that out because it’s a very interesting story. One song in the first album, the second song in the second album, and yeah, that will be one. And I would say the second one would be the song I wrote with Michael Schenker for the second album we did together, “Sail the Darkness.”

Because, yeah, I think it’s because Michael is always releasing new albums every year. So people tend to forget the previous album. But it was, it was a cool song to write together. And then also that song became in a, in a single for his album and then also bring him back to the, to the charts on the radios in Germany after many years.

It was like a kind of milestone in his career. And for me, because I wrote a song with Michael Schenker.

What was the last book or movie that inspired you to write? I know you mentioned Dracula, but any other books or films?

Oh, well, yeah. I always remember movies. If I need to write a lyric, it gives me a lot of inspiration. Actually, I wrote a song about a Denzel Washington movie called The Book of Eli. I wrote a song about that, a few years ago. These songs I was talking about with the Lords of Black is because of, a movie about Houdini, I don’t remember.

How is it called? This actor who plays Wolverine? I don’t remember his name (Hugh Jackman). He also made a movie about Houdini many years ago. And that gave me the idea to write these two songs with Lords of Black. So, yeah, I’m always watching movies and series. So, I always take inspiration from the movies.

So Wolverine from, like, the X-Men series (Hugh Jackman).

Yeah, but I don’t. How is it called the actor (Hugh Jackman)? I don’t remember (Hugh Jackman).

I know his name (Hugh Jackman), but I’m drawing a blank, too.

Yeah.

I’ll edit it for, like, in parentheses (Hugh Jackman).

He did a movie about Houdini. And I think it’s also Christian Bale in the movie.

The Prestige?

Yeah. That one exactly. Yeah.

There’s The Prestige (Hugh Jackman) and The Illusionist (Edward Norton) that came out around the same time (2006).

I wrote two songs about that movie. One, the first song is called “Smoke and Mirrors.” And the second song is called “The Art of Illusions.” The two songs are on different albums, but they relate to the same story.

Back to the album, Backbone: Is there anything else you want to say or add about the record that you want your fans to know?

Yeah, well, to say that I think the people are going to like the album, for me, it feels like it’s a big step forward in terms of, you know, songwriting and production. It’s a way better album than the previous one. Do I really like the first one? Of course. But this one is way, way better. And, just looking forward to the people listening to it.