Show of hands: how many of you think most rock stars are self-centered jerks? I've got someone today who will change your mind.Terry Illous has always been the lead singer of XYZ and is also the current lead singer of Great White. He's also a badass because he's enlisted the help of some major hard rock players (members of Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Dokken, Whitesnake, Sabbath,etc.) to put on a charity benefit and record a charity single for the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief efforts. How cool is that?
And to prove how charitable he is, Terry was kind enough to sit down and talk with us about the benefit concert and single, the glory days, fronting someone else's band, and whether or not hair bands are making a comeback.
The following is an edited transcript of our conversation:
How are you doing today?
Today's a great day so far. How about yours?
Can't complain. Tell me about '80s Rockers For Japan.
'80s Rockers For Japan started when I was watching the news on the Internet. Basically, I was touched by what was happening over there: a lot of kids without parents, a lot of people in disarray. I saw a little kid that kind of reminded me of my daughter because my daughter is Asian. She was looking for her Dad, for her family. It touched me really deeply because I thought about my own daughter and I said, "Wow. This is so sad. What can I do to help?" I thought, "Well, I can send a little bit of money." Which is a good thing, you know? And then I said, "What else can I do?"
Well, I can sing and I have a lot of friends so maybe I can organize a little get-together and can do a benefit. So I called a few friends and said, "Hey you guys wanna play?" Most everyone said yes right away. I found a club, a small club [Harper's] that would do that. The club owner said, "Yeah, we can give 100% of the door. No problem."
