T
HE BIGGEST NAMES IN ROCK AND COUNTRY JOIN FORCES FOR
THE COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH,
BRIAN MAY OF QUEEN,
BRANTLEY GILBERT & KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
RELEASE MAINSTREAM COUNTRY ROCK SINGLE
WORLDWIDE TODAY
ARTISTS AND LABELS TO DONATE ALL PROCEEDS
FROM THE SONG TO:
IN SUPPORT OF FIRST RESPONDERS
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Above photo clockwise: Five Finger Death Punch, Brian May of QUEEN, Brantley Gilbert and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Download photo:
HERE
.
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Los Angeles, CA, April 12, 2019
- The multi-platinum rock group
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
has teamed up with the legendary
BRIAN MAY of QUEEN
and two of the biggest names in country and blues rock,
BRANTLEY GILBERT
and
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
to record a special version of the song
“Blue On Black”
mixed by
Kevin Churko
(Ozzy Osbourne, Shania Twain, Disturbed).
Titans in each of their respective genres, the artists came together to merge
country and mainstream rock
to
re-create the classic song originally recorded and co-written by
SHEPHERD
. Taking
Country Rock
to the next level,
“Blue On Black”
is out today worldwide via
Prospect Park
(North America) and
Eleven Seven Music
(ex. North America). The song is available
HERE
and the artists also premiered an official music video
HERE
for
“Blue On Black”
showing the creation of the song.
The artists and their respective labels are donating all proceeds from the collaboration version of
“Blue On Black”
to the
GARY SINISE FOUNDATION
which honors
America’s defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
guitarist
ZOLTAN BATHORY
states
:
“To raise awareness for and support First Responders is a cause that’s always been close to our hearts. These brave men and women leave their homes every morning not knowing if they’ll ever see their families again. Yet they make a conscious choice to do so for the greater good. What better way to make a difference than to join forces with some of our friends in country, blues and classic rock who happen to be some of the biggest names in those genres and together celebrate these heroes.”
“Blue on Black is a song my band and I have covered off and on for years... songs are certified timeless when you can come back to them,”
says
BRANTLEY GILBERT
. “It’s always a staple each night and one of my favorite songs to perform. When the opportunity came up to sing on
Five Finger’s
version, with both
Kenny Wayne
and
Brian May
of
Queen
, I jumped at the chance... Who wouldn’t?! It incorporates so many different musical perspectives, but our collaboration just works brilliantly.”
GARY SINISE
, the
Golden Globe
and
Emmy Award
winning actor and
Founder of the
GARY SINISE FOUNDATION
expresses his gratitude to the artists saying
: “I want to send my thanks to
Five Finger Death Punch
,
Brian May
of
Queen
,
Brantley Gilbert
and
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
for their support of
The Gary Sinise Foundation
and our efforts to give back to our Nation’s First Responders. I’m so grateful to have all of these incredible artists from different genres coming together to support our mission with this great song, 'Blue On Black'. I believe while we can never do enough to show our appreciation and gratitude to our Nation’s defenders and the families who sacrifice right alongside them we can always do a little more. And you all are doing just that. So I salute you, and I thank you all. God bless.”
Watch
Gary Sinise
speak about
“Blue On Black”
HERE
.
Blues rock legend
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
adds:
"When
Five Finger Death Punch
approached me about teaming up with them to do a special version of 'Blue On Black', I was thrilled to do it. When they told me
Brantley Gilbert
and
Brian May
were also going to be part of it, I was honored. This is a powerful collaboration of rock, country and blues artists and a true testament to the commonalities these musical styles share, and I think the fans will appreciate and enjoy it as much as we do.”
Allen Kovac, CEO of Eleven Seven Label Group, Tenth Street Entertainment and Five Finger Death Punch’s manager
for close to a decade adds
: “From
Johnny Cash’s
'I Walk The Line' and
The Rolling Stones’
'Honky Tonk Woman' to
The Eagles
and
Willie Nelson
, country and rock have shared an audience, and created some of the biggest and most successful records of all time. It’s time to bring it all back again for First Responders. Let’s tear down the walls!”
“
We are proud of our nearly 12-year legacy with
Five Finger Death Punch
,”
adds
John Bowen
,
General Manager
of
Prospect Park
, the band’s North American label
. “We are excited to release a single that will open new eyes and ears to what we believe is an incredible song, interpreted with phenomenal skill by all of the artists involved. We are also proud of the conscientious nature of this release, in support of the
Gary Sinise Foundation
.
Rock is dead? We don’t think so.”
Big Machine Label Group
-- home of country superstar
BRANTLEY GILBERT
and
one of the biggest labels in country music -- is also fully supportive of the country-rock single.
Founder and CEO Scott Borchetta
offers:
“Maybe you didn’t see this coming… or maybe you did… Two American super-powers come together to create a megaton track that will have both the
Brantley Gilbert Nation
&
Five Finger Death Punch Fans
screaming for more. Unleash the beast.”
Brian May
of
QUEEN
loved the song
“Blue On Black”
and set up a special recording session and video shoot to be featured on it all in between his work as a
producer
and
executive music producer
with
Roger Taylor
of the
Queen biography film
Bohemian Rhapsody.
Brian
and
Roger
are responsible for
one of the highest grossing films of all time ($900,000,000+) across the world and the winner of Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards
.
Brian May
will perform with
QUEEN + Adam Lambert
throughout 2019 and 2020.
Additionally,
Five Finger Death Punch’s
original cover version of
“Blue On Black”
has already generated
over 50 million on-demand streams in the U.S.
, and is one of the most-consumed songs on the band’s current album (averaging over 1 million U.S. streams per week). The song features distorted guitars, pummeling percussion and a swaggering chant that marks a surprising outlier on
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s
current and seventh studio album,
AND JUSTICE FOR NONE
.
In the U.S. alone,
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
have sold
4.5 million albums
,
10 million digital songs
and
over 3 billion streams
total.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH – lead vocals, guitars, bass, drums (original cover version taken from the album
AND JUSTICE FOR NONE
)
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD - original songwriter, guest vocals and guitar
BRANTLEY GILBERT - guest vocal
BRIAN MAY - guest guitar
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Download cover artwork for “Blue On Black”:
HERE
.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH:
BRANTLEY GILBERT:
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD:
BRIAN MAY of QUEEN:
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About Five Finger Death Punch:
2018 was a massive year for
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH who became the #1 most-played artist on U.S. Rock Radio
in year-end radio reports. The group which
Billboard
described as “
a revitalized band with a renewed focus,”
released their seventh studio album,
AND JUSTICE FOR NONE
which debuted at
#4
overall on the
Top 200 Chart
and
KERRANG!
hailed as “…
an album that delivers, ticking the boxes of
what a modern metal album should be
."
AND JUSTICE FOR NONE
has generated
225 million U.S. on-demand streams
, over
360,000 U.S. digital song sales
and became the
#1 streaming Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album
of 2018
.
AND JUSTICE FOR NONE
marked the group’s
fifth consecutive Top 5 album release
. The album also had
four #1 placements
on other charts including:
Top Digital Albums, Top Rock Albums
,
Top Hard Music Albums.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
wrapped the biggest North American co-headlining rock tour of 2018 with
Breaking Benjamin
. With their Summer and Fall tours combined, the bands
donated over
$250,000
to charities in 2018. Purchase
or stream
AND JUSTICE FOR NONE
by clicking on the link.
Five Finger Death Punch
have amassed
over 3 billion streams
to date.
About Brantley Gilbert:
BRANTLEY GILBERT
has penned and recorded
six No. 1 songs
, including the
CMA Song Of The Year-nominated “Dirt Road Anthem.” GILBERT
has also earned
consecutive platinum albums
fo
r
Halfway to Heaven
, and
Just As I Am
.
About Kenny Wayne Shepherd:
Twenty years into his recording career
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD
continues to create genre-defining blues-infused rock n' roll.
SHEPHERD
, who co-wrote “Blue On Black” with Tia Sillers and Mark Selby, has sold millions of albums worldwide. He has received
five GRAMMY® nominations
, two
Billboard Music Awards
, as well as a pair of
Orville H. Gibson awards
, the
Blues Foundation's Keeping The Blues
Alive
award
and two
Blues Music awards
. He's had seven #1 blues albums and a string of #1 mainstream rock singles. His newest
album The Traveler
, will be released worldwide on
May 31
st
on
Concord Records
and
Provogue Records
(Europe).
About Brian May of QUEEN:
Brian May, CBE, PhD, FRAS
is a founding member of
QUEEN
, a world-renowned guitarist, songwriter, producer and performer, also a Doctor of Astrophysics, 3-D stereoscopic photographic authority and a passionate advocate and campaigner for animal rights. The following four decades have seen
QUEEN
amass a staggering list of sales and awards and sees
QUEEN remain the most successful albums act in UK chart history
.
Brian has penned
22 Queen top 20 hits
, among them
“Who Wants to Live Forever,” “No-One But You” and “Save Me,” along with anthems “The Show Must Go On,” “I Want It All” and “We Will Rock You.”
Brian
most recently returned to his essential rock roots attending the
2019 Rock Hall of Fame
to present
Def Leppard
with their induction into the
Hall of Fame
and to perform an all-star jam through
Mott The Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes”
with
Ian Hunter
. Next for
Brian
is a return to live performances with
Queen + Adam Lambert
. He will perform throughout North America
summer of 2019
followed at the start of 2020 with tours throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as dates across East Asia. As a
producer
and
executive music producer
with
Roger Taylor
of the
Queen biography film
Bohemian Rhapsody,
Brian
and
Roger
are responsible for
one of the highest grossing films of all time across the world and winner of Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards
.
The
Gary Sinise Foundation
honors
America’s defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need
. Through its
R.I.S.E.
program
(
Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment
)
, specially adapted smart homes are being constructed for severely wounded veterans nationwide. Each one-of-a-kind home is customized to ease the everyday burdens of a wounded hero, their family, and caregivers. Other programs include
Relief & Resiliency
Outreach
,
Invincible Spirit Festivals
,
Gary Sinise &
the Lt. Dan Band
,
Arts & Entertainment Outreach
,
Serving Heroes
,
First Responders Outreach
, and
Soaring Valor
.
Snowball Express
serves the children of our fallen military heroes, surviving spouses, and Gold Star families. For more information, please visit
The Gary Sinise Foundation
.
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For publicity, contact
PRIME PR GROUP, INC.
:
Libby Coffey
PRIME PR GROUP, INC.
O: 626-676-4993
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