Ross the Boss

2025-11-02T10:16:49Z

2A06:93C2:9F:34:8E9:7D04:5446:2610: Turned the initials to lower case in "German Metal Band" as this causes confusion concerning the actual name of the band.

{{short description|American guitarist}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = Ross the Boss
| image = Death Dealer – Headbangers Open Air 2015 15.jpg
| caption = Ross the Boss performing in 2015
| image_size = 
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Ross Friedman
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|1|3|mf=y}}<br>[[Bronx, New York]], US
| death_date =
| instrument = Guitar, keyboards
| genre = [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]], [[punk rock]], [[proto punk]]
| occupation = Musician, songwriter
| years_active = 1973–present
| website = [http://www.ross-the-boss.com The Official Ross The Boss Website ]
}}
'''Ross Friedman''' (born January 3, 1954), also known as '''Ross the Boss''', is a guitarist, known as a founding member of both the [[Punk rock|punk]] band [[the Dictators]], and the [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Manowar (band)|Manowar]].<ref name="Huey">{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p13602|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: Manowar|last=Huey|first=Steve|publisher=[[Allmusic]]|access-date=August 25, 2010}}</ref>

==History==
Friedman was born in the Bronx, New York,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ross-the-boss-tells-american-jews-to-get-tough/ |title="Ross the Boss Tells American Jews to Get Tough"|last=Wengrofsky|first=Yehuda|publisher=timesofisrael.com |date=April 1, 2021 |access-date=2021-04-05}}</ref> and formed the [[punk rock]] band [[the Dictators]] with [[Andy Shernoff]] in [[New Paltz, New York]], in 1973. Prior to this, Friedman had played in a local band, Total Crudd. After recording three albums with the Dictators, Friedman went to France and worked for one year in [[Fabienne Shine]]'s band [[Shakin' Street (band)|Shakin' Street]]. On [[Black Sabbath]]'s ''[[Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)|Heaven and Hell]]'' tour in 1980 (on which Shakin' Street were the support act), Friedman was introduced to bass player [[Joey DeMaio]] by [[Ronnie James Dio]]. Later in 1980, Friedman and DeMaio formed Manowar, with whom he recorded six albums before DeMaio asked him to leave the band after the 1988 album ''[[Kings of Metal]]''.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=https://archive.today/20120729120631/http://www.bravewords.com/news/112929 |title=ROSS THE BOSS – "I Was Kinda Fired From MANOWAR" |publisher=Bravewords.com |access-date=2012-06-29}}</ref>

===Timeline===
In 1990, Friedman joined [[Manitoba's Wild Kingdom]] with fellow Dictators Andy Shernoff and [[Handsome Dick Manitoba]]. With drummer J.P. Patterson the band released the album, "...And You?" to critical acclaim. The album was in heavy rotation on MTV.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manitobaswildkingdom.com/ALBUM.php |title=ALBUM |publisher=Manitobaswildkingdom.com |date=March 14, 1990 |access-date=2011-07-06}}</ref>

In 1994, Friedman had a blues rock band called "Heyday" and in 1999 CMC records released the Spinatras album, "@Midnight.com", a band whom Friedman has described as "The Dictators meet Cheap Trick".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crushermagazine.com/features9_08/featross_the_boss.htm |title=Ross the Boss Band |publisher=Crushermagazine.com |access-date=2011-07-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929221319/http://www.crushermagazine.com/features9_08/featross_the_boss.htm |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The Dictators started playing again in 1996, touring heavily. In 2001, with original rhythm guitar player [[Scott Kempner]] now back in the fold, the band released their album "D.F.F.D." which they then toured to support in the US and Europe. A resulting live album was released from the European tour, entitled "[[Viva Dictators]]".

In 2004, Friedman joined [[Albert Bouchard]], the original drummer for [[Blue Öyster Cult]], in his band [[Brain Surgeons]]. He also recorded an instrumental album with Dictators drummer JP Thunderbolt Patterson, called "Thunderboss"

In July 2005, Friedman joined [[Manowar]] onstage at the [[Earthshaker Festival]]; performing "Metal Daze" and "Dark Avenger" with them. At the end of the concert, he also performed "[[Battle Hymn (Manowar song)|Battle Hymn]]", with other past and present members of Manowar.

In April 2006, he played one night of early Manowar music at the Keep It True VI Festival in Germany, backed by German Manowar cover band [[Men Of War (cover band)|Men of War]], featuring members of German groups [[Ivory Night]] and [[Divinus]]. That band (later changed name to Ross the Boss or "The RTB Band") went on to play some more festivals in Germany, Italy and Greece and then began working on new original material.

In August 2006, Thunderboss was released on Poptown Records. Thunderboss was written and arranged by J.P. Thunderbolt Patterson and featured Friedman on all 11 tracks. The CD met with some critical acclaim, but was not successful enough to keep Friedman interested in the project, so there was no supporting tour.

In October 2006, Friedman and The Dictators played Friday and Saturday nights of the closing weekend at punk rock venue [[CBGB]]s, one of the clubs where they got their start.

2007 started off with an eleven city tour of Spain with JP Patterson and their Spanish super-band "The Thunderbolts" which also includes members of Bummer and [[Sex Museum]].

Friedman guested on former band-mate [[Fabienne Shine]]'s 2007 LP, [[Wotan (band)|Wotan]]'s LP "Epos" where he played Grand Piano on one track, and [[Atlantean Kodex]]'s 2007 EP.

Friedman's 2008 included an appearance with Manitoba's Wild Kingdom at the 2008 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash, performances with Shakin' Street at the Sweden Rock Festival, and a few tour dates in Spain with The Dictators. He released a new album in August with his German metal band under the name "Ross the Boss" called "[[New Metal Leader]]" which debuted at #99 in the German Album charts. The following month he appeared on ''Inner Demons'', the 2nd CD by New Jersey metallers [http://www.skullshifter.com Skullshifter], playing lead guitar on the track "Etched in Sand".

In August 2009, Friedman debuted his "Ross the Boss" band in the US at the [[Brooklyn]], New York venue Europa, to favorable reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://piercingmetal.com/ross-the-boss-raven-club-europa-8282009/|title=Ross The Boss & Raven @ Club Europa (8/28/2009)|first=Ken|last=Pierce|date=November 25, 2009|website=PiercingMetal.com|access-date=September 6, 2020}}</ref>

On November 2010, Friedman and his German metal band released the followup to "[[New Metal Leader]]", "[[hailstorm 2010|Hailstorm]]", which received 4.5 out of 5 stars on AllMusic.com.<ref>{{cite web|last=Freeman |first=Phil |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/hailstorm-r2047038/review |title=Hailstorm – Ross the Boss |publisher=AllMusic |date=November 9, 2010 |access-date=2011-07-06}}</ref>

In May 2011, Friedman was a special guest at the 11th Annual [[Joey Ramone]] Birthday Bash in New York city, performing, among other songs, "Stop Thinking About It" with fellow Dictator [[Andy Shernoff]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.islpr.com/wordpress/?p=36 |title=2011 JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH DETAILS UNVEILED; 10 YEARS AFTER HIS PASSING, THE PUNK-ROCK LEGEND LIVES ON |publisher= ISL Public Relations|date=May 4, 2011 |access-date=2011-07-06}}</ref> In June, Friedman was invited to co-headline Venezuela's Gillmanfest.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gillmanfest.com.ve/cabimas/ |title=Gillmanfest Cabimas 2011 |publisher=Gillmanfest.com.ve |access-date=2011-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625141919/http://gillmanfest.com.ve/cabimas/ |archive-date=June 25, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the coming months with the Ross the Boss band he performed at several festivals in Europe, including Masters of Rock in the Czech Republic.

In early 2012, vocalist Sean Peck [[Cage (band)|Cage]], guitarists Friedman and Stu Marshall, bassist Mike Davis and drummer Rhino formed a metal supergroup, [[Death Dealer (band)|Death Dealer]]. Death Dealer began as an online collaboration between Marshall and Peck. All they needed to tell Friedman about the project to get him on board was that Rhino was on drums. Although Friedman and Rhino are both former members of Manowar, they'd only ever played together for one song at the Earthshaker Festival in 2005. They both had always meant to do something together. In June 2013, [[Death Dealer (band)|Death Dealer]] released a full-length studio album called [[War Master (Death Dealer Album)|War Master]]. The 2015 follow up release "Hallowed Ground" featured drummer Steve Bolognese from [[Into Eternity (band)|Into Eternity]].

He was a surprise guest star at the 2016 Keep It True Festival with a new all-Manowar-songs "Ross The Boss Band" that hails from his hometown of New York City. The band includes bass player Kevin Bolembach, his nephew Lance Barnewold on drums, and singer Mike Cotoia of [[Fate Breaks Dawn]] who has a six octave range.

On January 18, 2017 Ross was inducted into the [[Hall of Heavy Metal History]] for his contributions to Speed Metal while in [[Manowar]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/scorpions-metal-blade-records-nominated-to-hall-of-heavy-metal-history-109710/|title=Scorpions Among Nominees for Hall of Heavy Metal History|first1=Althea|last1=Legaspi|website=Rollingstone.com|date=December 22, 2016|access-date=September 6, 2020}}</ref>

==Solo band members==

===Current Members===
*Ross "The Boss" Friedman – guitar {{small|(2006–present)}}
*Marc Lopes – lead vocals {{small|(2016–present)}}
*Kenny "Rhino" Edwards – drums {{small|(2016–2017, 2024–present)}}
*Dirk Schlächter – bass {{small|(2022–present)}}

===Former members===
*Patrick Fuchs – lead vocals, guitar {{small|(2006–2011)}}
*Carsten Kettering – bass {{small|(2006–2011)}}
*Matze Mayer – drums {{small|(2006–2011)}}
*Mike Cotoia – vocals {{small|(2015–2016)}}
*Kevin Bolembach – bass {{small|(2015–2016)}}
*Lance Barnewold – drums {{small|(2015–2016, 2017–2018)}}
*Mike LePond – bass {{small|(2016–2022)}}
*Steve Bolognese – drums {{small|(2018–2024)}}

===Timeline===
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== Discography ==
;[[The Dictators]]
* ''[[The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Manifest Destiny (The Dictators album)|Manifest Destiny]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Bloodbrothers (album)|Bloodbrothers]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke]]'' (1981)
* ''New York City'' (1998)
* ''[[DFFD]]'' (2001)
* ''[[¡Viva Dictators!]]'' (2005)
* ''[[Everyday is Saturday]]'' (2007)

;[[Shakin' Street (band)|Shakin' Street]]
* ''[[Shakin' Street (album)|Shakin' Street]]'' (1980)
* ''[[Live and Raw]]'' (1989)
* ''[[Live (Shakin' Street album)|Live]]'' (2004)
* ''[[21st Century Love Channel]]'' (2009)

;[[Manowar]]
* ''[[Battle Hymns (Manowar album)|Battle Hymns]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Into Glory Ride]]'' (1983)
* ''[[Hail to England]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Sign of the Hammer]]'' (1984)
* ''[[Fighting The World]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Kings of Metal]]'' (1988)

;[[Manitoba's Wild Kingdom]]
* ''[[... And You?]]'' (1990)

;Heyday
* ''Heyday'' (1994)

;[[The Hellacopters]]
* ''[[Payin' the Dues]]'' (1997)

;[[David Roter Method]]
* ''[[Find Something Beautiful]]'' (1997)

;[[The Spinatras]]
* ''[[@Midnight.com]]'' (1999)

;[[The Nomads (Swedish band)|The Nomads]]
* ''[[Showdown, Vol. 2: The 90's]]'' (2002)

;[[Thunderboss]]
* ''[[Thunderbolt Patterson with Ross the Boss]]'' (2004)

;[[Majesty (band)|Majesty]]
* ''[[Sword and Sorcery]]'' (2002)

;[[The Brain Surgeons]]
* ''[[Black Hearts of Soul]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Denial of Death]]'' (2006)

;[[DawnRider]]
* ''[[Fate is Calling, Pt 1]]'' (2005)

;[[The Thunderbolts (band)|The Thunderbolts]]
* ''[[The Thunderbolts (album)|The Thunderbolts]]'' (2006)

;[[Wotan (band)|Wotan]]
* ''[[Epos (album)|Epos]]'' (2007)

;[[Fabienne Shine and the Planets]]
* ''[[Fabienne Shine and the planets]]'' (2007)

;[[Atlantean Kodex]]
* ''[[The Pnakotic Demos]]'' (2007)

;[[Burning Starr]]
* ''[[Land of the Dead]]'' (2011)

;[[Ross The Boss]]
* ''[[New Metal Leader]]'' (2008)
* ''[[Hailstorm (Ross the Boss album)|Hailstorm]]'' (2010)
* ''[[By Blood Sworn]]'' (2018)
* ''Born of Fire'' (2020)

;[[Death Dealer (band)|Death Dealer]]
* ''[[War Master (Death Dealer Album)|War Master]]'' (2013)
* ''[[Hallowed Ground (Death Dealer album)|Hallowed Ground]]'' (2015)

;[[Bloody Times]]
* ''[[Alliance (Single)]]'' (2018)
* ''[[On A Mission (Album)]]'' (2019)

;[[Burning Witches]]
* ''[[Battle Hymn (from the Dance With the Devil album)]]'' (2020)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://ross-the-boss.com/ Ross-The-Boss.com The Official Ross The Boss Website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060822231812/http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/001265.html 2005 Ross the Boss Interview] with Brian D. Holland

{{The Dictators}}
{{Manowar}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boss, Ross the}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:American heavy metal guitarists]]
[[Category:American punk rock guitarists]]
[[Category:Jewish American musicians]]
[[Category:Jewish heavy metal musicians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Manowar members]]
[[Category:Musicians from the Bronx]]
[[Category:Protopunk musicians]]
[[Category:The Dictators members]]

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Ross the Boss