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ANTHRAX Splits With Singer DAN NELSON; JOHN BUSH To Fill In For U.K.'s SONISPHERE

ANTHRAX's manager, Izvor Zivkovic of Split Media, has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"As announced last week, thrash legends ANTHRAX regretfully cancelled the first three dates on the second leg of their European tour due to new vocalist Dan Nelson's unexpected illness. An additional seven European dates are also cancelled, those scheduled from July 22 to July 30.

"ANTHRAX is thrilled to announce that they will play the August 1 Sonisphere festival in Knebworth, England, with their good friend John Bush [ANTHRAX's singer from 1992 to 2005] joining them for a very special one-off performance.

"The members of ANTHRAX have confirmed the departure of vocalist Dan Nelson. In light of this development, ANTHRAX's slot on the U.S. SLIPKNOT dates set for August and September, has also been cancelled. ANTHRAX is already actively considering lead singer candidates, and looks forward to hitting the road before the end of the year."

***UPDATE: According to ANTHRAX's management, the band's new album, "Worship Music", which was previously due in Europe on October 23 via Nuclear Blast Records, will now be "pushed back to a later date." It is not presently clear if Dan Nelson's tracks will be erased from the CD, which was recently mixed at a New Orleans studio by Dave Fortman (a former member of UGLY KID JOE who has also worked with artists such as MUDVAYNE, EVANESCENCE).***

Former ANTHRAX Singer DAN NELSON: 'I Was Ready, Willing And Able To Do My Job' - July 21, 2009
Former ANTHRAX singer Dan Nelson has released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET via his manager, Michael H. Nelson of MHN Management:

"On the advice of counsel, I have remained silent to the statements issued by ANTHRAX in recent days and now must address these issues to my loyal fans and others. I want to set the record straight.

"I was never seriously ill or sick at all, as reported in ANTHRAX's July 17, 2009 press release. This extremely inflammatory statement hurt me tremendously. This statement misled fans, friends and family members into believing that I was seriously ill when I was not. I was not aware such a statement was being issued and it came as a total shock to me, as I'm sure it did to all of you. It was the other band members' decision to cancel the tour dates, not mine. I was ready, willing and able to do my job.

"After issuing the press release, the other band members decided, on their own accord, that I had 'resigned' from the band. I never resigned from the band.

"Even in view of this action and stance taken by the band, as late as earlier today I made it clear that I was ready willing and able to continue to fulfill my obligations. After that offer was made, the most recent press release was issued which announced my 'confirmed' departure from the band. I was not aware of the contents of this release until after it was issued, nor was I aware that ANTHRAX was canceling the European and SLIPKNOT tours.

"I regret any disappointment and confusion this situation has caused.

"I want to thank my loyal fans, family and friends for all their support and their many messages, emails and calls.

"My counsel has been instructed to take any and all appropriate actions to address this situation."

EDDIE TRUNK Says There Were 'Serious Chemistry Issues' Between ANTHRAX And DAN NELSON - July 21, 2009
Eddie Trunk (pictured below), co-host of the VH1 Classic television program "That Metal Show" who has a long-running radio show, "Friday Night Rocks", on New York's Q104.3 FM, has posted the following commentary on his official blog:

"Just official, and no surprise, Dan Nelson out of ANTHRAX. This is really not a huge surprise to anyone who followed this story the last week.

"It was pretty clear to me at Rocklahoma that there were some serious chemistry issues off stage with the band and their new singer. I had been hearing and sensing rumblings about this the last few months from various sources. The shame of it is that he was a great singer for the band in the one show I saw, but obviously the band decided it was better to end this now before further conflicts come out.

"For band members in any group, there is on-stage and off-stage connection that needs to be reached and clearly there were issues off stage and in other areas from both ends. It's also pretty obvious to any dummy that he was not sick as the press release stated. If he was legit sick, you don't lose your gig. There were issues, and no doubt much more will come out about this story in coming weeks. It's also pretty obvious that whoever ends up with this gig will no doubt re-cut the vocals on the new album. There is no way I can imagine they would have his voice on a CD now that it is over, which is why the album is delayed now.

"Interesting that John Bush is returning for one gig. Bush is the band's best option at this point. The way I see it, things will be felt out with the one gig and if vibes are good, maybe he returns? John said on my show he would not rule out coming back to ANTHRAX at some point and clearly wants to still perform since he was doing ARMORED SAINT gigs. This is by far the best scenario for ANTHRAX and they need him.

"Obviously, I have a long history and friendship with the guys in ANTHRAX and I wish them well dealing with this crazy situation. As for Dan, he was great in the one show I saw and maybe there is a better opportunity for him down the line.

"Like I said, there will no doubt be all kinds of rumor and speculation about what really went down, but it was not working off stage and singer #4 in ANTHRAX is a very brief footnote now in the band's crazy history. But ANTHRAX has dealt with all kinds of stuff and they will no doubt come back strong."

icecab21 wrote:but he will jizz in his pants if you vouch for jorn

Ragehead91 wrote:I've infected myself with uncurable syphilis by the age of 5 years and I was suffering until I discovered Jorn! Jorn can cure syphilis, Cancer, HIV, Malaria, BirdFlu, SwineFlu, anal-herpes, fungal infestation of the penis and freezer burn! The only thing it can't do is give Paris Hilton a brain or make Uwe Boll a good director.

Former ANTHRAX Singer JOEY BELLADONNA Performs At Waterloo Wedding; Video Available - July 22, 2009
Former ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna performed at the wedding of Hank and Daphne Dressing this past Saturday (July 18) in Waterloo, New York. Watch video footage of his appearance below.

Belladonna was the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1984 to 1992, and was considered part of the band's classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Scott Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante), which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.

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Shurik wrote:What's going on with this band? Jon Bush was never officially fired, they toured with Joey Beladonna, then he was gone too, then this new guy came in and recorded an album with them, then he got fired ...

ANTHRAX Guitarist: Reunion With JOHN BUSH Would Be 'The Best Thing' For Band And Fans - July 23, 2009
U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine conducted an exclusive interview with ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian about the departure of singer Dan Nelson. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On whether Nelson was truly so ill that ANTHRAX had to cancel dates on their planned European tour or if that was a smokescreen for something altogether more cynical, as Nelson himself has publicly commented:

"We stand by every word in our official statement. Because all we've done is make public exactly what Dan told us. He certainly was not fired — he quit the band, and we accepted his resignation. As for those comments about being fit to go on the road, and that we pulled the tour for other reasons…since Charlie [Benante, drums] join us in 1983, we've only ever cancelled one gig. That was in Düsseldorf in 1987, when Charlie was running a really high fever, and we had to send him to London for treatment. When we didn't make it onto the plane to go to Sweden recently, to start our European run of dates, it went against every molecule in my body, and the same goes for the rest of the band.

"As a band, we learnt a long time ago that in these situations, it's always best to tell the truth, If you lie, then it comes back to bite you in the ass. That's why we were careful at every step to put things exactly the way Dan had told them to us. Why has he changed his story now? I can only assume it's to save his own skin, and to avoid being seen as the bad guy. I can't say that I blame him. But we have absolutely been completely truthful."