He is one of the best-known guitarists in the thrash metal scene and one of the founding members of "Anthrax", in which he is a member to this day.
(Photo: Tone Deaf - The Brag Media)
Here are some interesting facts about Scott Ian:
1. He was born on December 31, 1963, in New York as Scott Ian Rosenfeld, to a Jewish family.
2. In the context of his Judaism, Ian noted that as a child they would travel every Passover and Rosh Hashanah to his grandparents who were Orthodox Jews to make the "Sedder" and receive the Jewish New Year.
3. One of the great musical influences on him as a child, was a "Kiss" live show he attended at Madison Square Garden in 1977. Years later he would express his admiration for the band and note that it was a defining moment for him.
4. Ian was later influenced by British Heavy Metal bands such as "Black Sabbath", "Iron Maiden", "Motörhead" and Judas "Priest", and the Punk band "The Ramones". Ian also noted that his playing was influenced by the German Metal band "Accept".
5. He likes "AC/DC" because the faces of Angus Young and Malcolm Young are tattooed on his arms.
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6. In 1981 he formed "Anthrax" together with bassist Dan Lilker. He chose the name of the band after reading a biology book.
7. Initially Ian served as the band's lead guitarist and singer, but later moved on to the role of rhythm guitarist, citing Malcolm Young, Rudolf Schenker, and Johnny Ramone as his role models.
8. From then until 1982, Ian's brother - Jason Rosenfeld, served as "Anthrax's" lead singer.
9. The band will change their lineup several times, even before the recording of their first album. In 1982 Dan Spitz will join the band as lead guitarist. Spitz was also a descendant of the Levi tribe. He came from the band "Overkill" and became the band's lead guitarist.
10. In 1983 the band will be joined by drummer Charlie Benante, who along with Ian will be the only member of "Anthrax" to have participated in all of the band's albums, with Ian being the only member to accompany it since its inception.
11. Ian and "Anthrax" helped shape the sound and style of Thrash Metal in the early 1980s and were among the first bands of the genre to come from the East Coast of the United States.
(Photo: Music for Nations)
12. "Anthrax" is one of "The Big Four" Thrash Metal bands, along with "Metallica", "Megadeth" and "Slayer".
13. Ian also serves as one of the band's lead writers who are responsible for writing the lyrics throughout their albums.
14. From 1984 until today, Ian has released 11 studio albums with "Anthrax", including masterful albums in the Thrash Metal genre - "Spreading the Disease" from 1985 and "Among the Living" from 1987.
15. Ian is a fan of the writer Stephen King. Some of the songs he wrote were influenced by King's writings, including "Among the Living" influenced by "The Stand", "A Skeleton In The Closet" influenced by "Apt Pupil", the songs "Lone Justice" and "Breathing Lightning" influenced by the series "The Dark Tower" and more.
16. In 1985 Ian formed "Stormtroopers of Death", together with his "Anthrax" bandmates, bassist Dan Lilker and drummer Charlie Benante, as well as with singer Billy Milano. The band was among the first to combine Hardcore Punk with Thrash Metal.
17. The idea for the band came from a character that Ian painted called Sargent D, on which he based no less than 63 different songs.
18. The band has released three studio albums to date, the first being "Speak English or Die" from 1985. Ian is the lead writer in this band as well.
19. In 1991 Ian performed with "Public Enemy" in a version of their song "Bring The Noise" from 1987 and thus became one of the influencers in a combination of Rap and Metal.
20. This is not the first time Ian has combined Rap and Metal. "Anthrax" did so back in 1987 with the song "I'm The Man" from their second EP. It's the theme song and it's kind of a parody of the "Beastie Boys" style, with its main guitar riff based on the tune of "Hava Nagila". Guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz, as well as all the members of "The Beastie Boys", are Jews.
21. In 1992 Iשמ appeared with "Anthrax" in an episode of the mythological series "Married With Children" starring the character of Al Bundy. See here:
22. In 2001, Ian was asked by the music channel VH1 to host the show "Rock Show". Spanning 48 shows he recorded for the channel, Ian hosted many good artists including Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, Ted Nugent, "Stone Temple Pilots", "Megadeth", "3 Doors Down", "Sevendust", "Tenacious D", "The Cult" and more.
23. In 2005 he sat down at a "Sedder" table with other Jews: Leslie West guitarist of "Mountain", JJ French guitarist of "Twisted Sister" and singer Dee Snider whose father is Jewish. This "Sedder" night was filmed for the "VH1 Classic" channel and can be watched here:
24. In 2008 Ian formed the supergroup "The Damned Things", together with Joe Trohman from "Fall Out Boy". To date, the band has released two studio albums - "Ironiclast" from 2010 and "High Crimes" from 2019.
25. Ian also plays guitar in the band "Pearl", which also includes his wife Pearl Aday, who is the adopted daughter of Meat Loaf. The band released its debut album in 2010.
26. In 2014 he joined the ex-"Mother Superior" band members and form the band "Motor Sister" with his wife. The band will release its debut album "Ride" in March 2015.
27. Ian was one of the owners of the "Dead Man's Hand" bar in Las Vegas, along with Jerry Cantrell of "Alice in Chains".
28. He played a zombie in one of the episodes of the series "The Walking Dead". He was eliminated by Carl son of Rick Grimes - the main character in the series.
29. This is not Ian's only "affair" of Ian with "The Walking Dead". In 2016 actor Norman Reedus who plays Daryl in the series took the stage with "Anthrax" as a guest bass player.
30. Ian joined the reunion performances of "Mr. Bangle" (Mike Patton's band) in 2019 and participated in the recording of their fourth album, released in October 2020, and in their live album "The Night They Came Home" released In 2021.