William Shatner has been making records for more than half a century, and just last month he announced a spoken-word album, Love & Other Mysteries, co-produced by Brad Paisley.
This weekend he went somewhere much louder. On Saturday, Sept. 19, the 95-year-old fronted a heavy metal band for the first time, at a Riot Fest after show at Park West in Chicago.
The Covers He Chose
The set included covers of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Shatner also reworked songs from his own catalog and previewed tracks from an upcoming heavy metal album.
“I have explored space. I have explored time. Now … I explore distortion,” Shatner wrote on social media.
The band behind him is led by guitarist and musical director Marcus Nand, who has worked with Mike Tramp and Candice Night. Phil Soussan plays bass, Britt Lightning of Vixen plays guitar and Fred Aching of Kings of Thrash and Dead Groove plays drums.
From Park West to Douglass Park
Saturday was a warm-up. On Sunday night he played Riot Fest itself at Douglass Park, and the festival posted video from the set to Instagram.
It had taken a while to get him there. Riot Fest said booking him took “years of persistent letter writing,” and its July announcement teased that his rider was demanding. When the news went public, Shatner promised a Black Sabbath cover.
Chicago may not be the last stop. During a CNN appearance this summer, anchor Elex Michaelson asked whether the band would play the big desert festival, and Shatner and his daughter answered together: “Coachella.” The festival has not announced its 2027 lineup.
A Very Different Anniversary Year
All of this is happening in the 60th anniversary year of Star Trek. Shatner has spent part of it looking back, reuniting with George Takei and Walter Koenig for the show’s birthday and revisiting the detail NBC wanted gone.
He flew to space at 90. At 95, he found distortion.
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