This US heavy metal band had their ‘five minutes’ of fame in 1983 with a remake of the Slade song, ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’, and a US number 1 album, Metal Health - the first metal album to reach that position in the US charts. However, they were unable to maintain that momentum with subsequent releases. The band formed in 1975 with lanky vocalist Kevin DuBrow (b. 29 October 1955, California, USA, d. 19 November 2007, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA), Randy Rhoads (b. Randall William Rhoads, 6 December 1956, Santa Monica, California, USA, d. 19 March 1982, Leesburg, Florida, USA; guitar), Drew Forsyth (drums) and Kelly Garni (b. 1957, Los Angeles, California, USA; bass), taking their name from a suggestion made by Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt. They recorded two albums that were released only in Japan, and with Rudy Sarzo (b. 1950, Cuba) replacing Garni in 1978. Rhoads left the following year to join Ozzy Osbourne and was later tragically killed in a plane crash in March 1982.
At that point, the band briefly split up with some members joining the vocalist in a band called DuBrow, and Sarzo also working with Osbourne. Quiet Riot regrouped around DuBrow, Sarzo, guitarist Carlos Cavazo (b. 8 July 1957, Orange County, California, USA) and drummer Frankie Banali (b. 14 November 1953, USA) and signed to the Pasha label for their breakthrough album and single in 1983, their musical and visual style fashioned after the harder-rocking glam acts of the 70s.
Friction within the band followed their quick success and resultant publicity affected sales of the 1984 follow-up, Condition Critical, which reached number 15 in the US charts but was considered disappointing. Sarzo was replaced by Chuck Wright in 1985. The new line-up recorded another album in 1986, which reached number 31 but showed a marked decline in creativity. DuBrow and Wright were subsequently ejected from the band and a self-titled 1988 release, with new vocalist Paul Shortino (b. 14 May 1958, USA; ex-Rough Cutt) and Sean McNabb (b. 24 September 1965, South Bend, Indiana, USA) on bass, barely scraped the charts. The band then split-up, with Banali going on to work with W.A.S.P.
In the early 90s, DuBrow, Banali and Cavazo reunited with the addition of new bass player Kenny Hillery (b. USA, d. 5 June 1996), to record Terrified, the first of a series of lacklustre new releases. Wright returned in place of Hillery on 1995’s Down To The Bone, but two years later the classic line-up was reunited when Sarzo was brought back on board. Alive And Well (1999) featured new material and re-recorded versions of some of the band’s 80s hits. A new studio album, Guilty Pleasures, was released two years later. The band broke up in February 2003 with DuBrow going on to release a solo album the following year. Quiet Riot reunited in 2005 with a line-up comprising DuBrow, Banali, Wright and new guitarist Alex Grossi, but the band’s turbulent history meant that numerous personnel passed through the ranks in the next two years. DuBrow, Banali, Tony Franklin (bass) and Neil Citron (guitar) recorded the 2006 studio album Rehab. Lead singer DuBrow was found dead in his apartment in November 2007 of an accidental cocaine overdose.
