Ross the Boss

Ross the Boss
Background information
Birth name	Ross Friedman
Born	3 January 1954 (1954-01-03) (age 55) The Bronx, New York, NY USA
Genres	Power metal, heavy metal, punk rock, proto punk
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1973 - present
Associated acts	Manowar, The Dictators, Brain Surgeons, Fabienne Shine, Shakin' Street,
Website	Ross-the-Boss.com Official website

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Ross Friedman (born 3 Jan 1954), also known as Ross Funicello or Ross The Boss, is a guitarist best known as a founding member of both the punk band The Dictators and the heavy metal band Manowar.

History

Friedman joined the New York based proto-punk band The Dictators as guitarist in 1973. After recording 3 albums with them Friedman went to France and worked for one year in Fabienne Shine band Shakin' Street. On Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell tour in 1980 (on which Shakin' Street were the support act) Friedman met bass player Joey DeMaio. Later in 1980 Friedman and DeMaio formed Manowar with whom he recorded six albums before leaving the band after the 1988 album Kings of Metal.

He returned to his old friends to play in a band called "Manitoba's Wild Kingdom" which eventually evolved back into The Dictators. All the members of the Dictators continue to do side projects.

In 1994 he had a blues rock band called "Heyday" and in 1999 he vowed to put the fun back in Rock-N-Roll with "The Spinatras".

2004 saw him join 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. He's always writing and recording new music and reuniting with his old bands and former band members for special shows and projects.

Manowar fans have expressed their desire to see Ross rejoin the band and write new material with them again.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2005, Ross joined Manowar onstage at the Earthshaker Festival. The songs he performed with them were "Metal Daze" and "Dark Avenger". At the end of the concert he also performed "Battle Hymn" along with all past and present members of Manowar.

In April 2006 he played one night of early Manowar Music at the Keep It True IV Festival in Germany backed by German Manowar cover band Men Of War, featuring members of German groups Ivory Night and Divinus. The band, now known as The RTB Band, went on to play some more festivals in Germany, Italy and Greece and then began working on new original material.

In October 2006 he reunited with The Dictators to play Friday and Saturday nights of the closing weekend at punk rock venue CBGBs, one of the clubs where they got their start.

2007 started off for Ross The Boss 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.

Ross guests on former bandmate Fabienne Shine's 2007 LP, Wotan's LP "Epos" where he plays Grand Piano on one track, and Atlantean Kodex's 2007 EP.

He did a few NYC area "Early Manowar" shows with local guest musicians before deciding he wasn't going to play those songs anymore without his German metal band The RTB Band, signed to AFM Records.

Ross' 2008 included a few guest appearances with Manitoba's Wild Kingdom at the 2008 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash, 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.

External links

• Ross-the-Boss.com - Ross The Boss' Official Web Site
• 2005 Ross the Boss Interview with Brian D. Holland