THE BAND
Ten years ago, The Dead Daisies burst onto the music scene. Their mission, to create some good old fashioned 70’s style rock, gather some of the finest musicians in the world, and have a great time keeping rock music alive. The name was inspired by Jon Stevens and an old phrase ‘pushing up daisies’ as well as the Mexican celebration ‘Day Of the Dead’ with this theme influencing the logos and artwork throughout the years.
The Dead Daisies have gone from strength to strength since the release of their self-titled album in 2013. They have released six studio, one live and one covers album to a growing army of fans worldwide and are praised by the global media in an era where Rock has been declared dead time and time again.
The band’s DNA includes an amazing collective of players that includes David Lowy, Doug Aldrich, John Corabi, Brian Tichy, Glenn Hughes, Marco Mendoza, Richard Fortus, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Clufetos, Frank Ferrer, Darryl Jones, Charley Drayton, Deen Castronovo and Jon Stevens amongst others.
The Collective
The Dead Daisies are a collective comprised of a number of amazing musicians. Click to read about members
GLENN HUGHES
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and known to millions as the ‘Voice of Rock’, is a true original.
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No other rock musician has carved such a distinctive style blending the finest elements of hard rock, soul and funk. That astonishing voice is Hughes’ calling card. His success began in the early 70’s with TRAPEZE, followed by DEEP PURPLE, a string of top selling solo albums and most recently with critically acclaimed, rock supergroup, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION.
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Tommy Clufetos
Tommy, born in Detroit, MI has been living drums since he got his first pair of sticks at age 7.
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MARCO MENDOZA
Marco Mendoza is a well-known face around the rock music circuit. His bass playing skills have seen him hold down the rhythm section for many legendary bands like Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Dolores O’Riordan, Lynch Mob and Ted Nugent among others.
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His first big break came working with original Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward on his original solo album ‘Ward One: Along The Way’ in 1990. From there he went on to work with John Sykes and his band Blue Murder which then led him to his long standing association with Thin Lizzy. Hailing from a very musical family, Marco started guitar at an early age. With strong Mexican heritage through family, this is reflected in some of his musical projects including Casa Mendoza. He is also a prolific jazz player. Marco has been playing with The Dead Daisies since 2013 on various tours and brought his distinctive style and influence with his contribution to the latest recordings including ‘Make Some Noise’.
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JOHN CORABI
John Corabi was already an established singer in the rock world with bands like Angora and Scream before he joined Motley Crue in 1992 as their new lead singer. He recorded the critically acclaimed self-titled album before Vince Neil returned in 1996.
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John would go on to play with ex-Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulicks band Union as well as playing in current Kiss drummer Eric Singers solo project. In recent years he has played guitar with LA rockers Ratt as well as touring and recording as a solo artist.
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DIZZY REED
Dizzy Reed is a multi-talented keyboard/vocalist who played with The Dead Daisies from 2013 to the end of 2015.
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Hailing originally from Illinois, he is known for being the longest standing member of the Guns N’ Roses line-up apart from Axl Rose. He still writes, performs and records with Guns N’ Roses. He is well respected in the Los Angeles music community as a guest player with many well-known artists as well as playing with his own band ‘Hookers and Blow’. Dizzy brings a blues rock energy to the stage!
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Richard Fortus
Richard Fortus, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, is probably best know for his ‘other’ position, guitarist with legendary American rock band Guns N’ Roses where he handles both rhythm and lead duties since first joining the band 2001.
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Having had an active role with The Dead Daisies since joining them on their first set of shows in Australia, Richard had an active creative input to the material including the last album ‘Revolución’. With a background that has seen him start in his youth playing in both bands and orchestras then moving in to a professional arena playing with various bands throughout his career including the English group The Psychedelic Furs, Thin Lizzy and solo artists like Rihanna, Fiona Apple and Nena, he brought a wealth of experience to The Daisies. Richard can also be found in the credits of movies where he writes and collaborates on musical scores along with being in constant demand as a session player.
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Jon Stevens
Jon Stevens’ remarkable career as a singer, songwriter and performer has spanned over 20 years and reaped many achievements, including ARIA (Australia Record Industry Charts) chart-topping success as the front man of legendary Australian bands Noiseworks and INXS. Read more
Following the many successes and demise of Noiseworks in 1992, Stevens decided to pursue opportunities on a different kind of stage – starring as Judas in the highly acclaimed and successful Australian Musical Production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. A studio collaboration in 2000, saw Stevens become part of rock band INXS as a guest vocalist and embark on a global tour, including a 55-day engagement with the legendary Night of the Proms throughout Europe. Shortly after he was officially announced as the “seventh member” of INXS. Returning to his solo career, Stevens then forged ahead with new material in the studio, unleashing a further two solo albums – “Changing Times” and then “Testify” in 2011 as well as touring again with a reformed Noiseworks. Stevens returned to a new Jesus Christ Superstar Production in July 2013 for a sold-out Arena Tour where his role of Pontius Pilot was met with critical acclaim. Most recently, Jon contributed the title track “Fly”, to the animated Disney movie “Planes”, a number one film at the box office. With The Dead Daisies he has realised the opportunity of working with a group that is steeped in the kind of music he grew up on like Free and Bad Company. Working with music legends like Slash on the first single ‘Lock ‘N’ Load’ released in 2013 was a great debut for both Jon and the band. Less
Damon Johnson
Damon Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, entertainer and songwriter from Geraldine, Alabama (current resident of Nashville, TN), best known for his work as frontman for Brother Cane, guitarist for Alice Cooper and Thin Lizzy, and currently as guitarist for Black Star Riders. Johnson’s list of other writing and recording credits include John Waite, Stevie Nicks, Carlos Santana, Sammy Hagar, Queensryche, Faith Hill, Skid Row, and The Temptations. He has also been a member of several high profile side projects, including Whiskey Falls and Slave To The System.
Jackie Barnes
Heavy-hitting Australian drummer Jackie James Barnes is one of the top drummers to come out of Australia in recent times. He has toured for the last 12 years with his father and rock legend Jimmy Barnes’ band. Jackie graduated “Cum Laude” in 2010 from the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. At such a young age Jackie has already appeared on over 60 releases including 6 DVDs and has toured worldwide and worked with such artists as The Ten Tenors, Heaven and Earth, Reece Mastin, Cold Chisel, Glenn Hughes, Steve Morse, Andrew Roachford, Jonathan Cain, Neal Schon, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Van Zandt, Keith Urban and Diesel. Jackie can be heard playing drums, percussion and backing vocals on The Dead Daisies’ upcoming album “Revoluciòn”.
Dave Leslie
Dave is an amazing rock player extraordinaire from the Baby Animals.
John Tempesta
In a career spanning two decades, drummer John Tempesta has built a body of work that’s deservedly earned him a place among metal’s most popular and well-respected players. Perhaps best known for his tenure with Rob Zombie – both in White Zombie and with Rob’s solo project – John worked his way up through the drumming ranks, always looking for his next challenge and never resting on past achievements.
John’s extensive professional resume includes gigs with Exodus, Testament, Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society, Tony Iommi, Helmet and Scum of The Earth (which features John’s brother, guitarist Mike Tempesta). Presently, John can be found touring the world behind the drum throne of The Cult.
Darryl Jones
Darryl Jones is an American bass guitarist who began his notable career as a session musician, where he gained the experience and confidence to play with some of the most highly regarded recording artists, in jazz, blues, and rock music. Most recently, he has been best known in his role as bassist for The Rolling Stones since Bill Wyman’s departure in 1993.
Charley Drayton
Charley Drayton is a multi-instrumental musician and producer who has played as a drummer and bassist with various artists including Australian rock bands Divinyls and Cold Chisel.
Alex Carapetis
Australian born drummer and songwriter, Alex Carapetis, has been living in Los Angeles and New York since the end of 2005 after much success in Australia. He has since recorded/toured with the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Robbie Williams, Phoenix, Perry Farrell, and many more. He is also the drummer for Julian Casablancas’ (The Strokes) solo project.
Frank Ferrer
Frank Ferrer is an American rock drummer and session musician. In October 2006, Ferrer became an official member of the American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses after serving as the band’s emergency substitute drummer for Bryan Mantia on several occasions during the band’s summer 2006 European tour. Ferrer is also a member of The Psychedelic Fursas well as a former member of Love Spit Love. He has recorded and worked with several high profile musicians including The Beautiful, Robi “Draco” Rosa, and Sarah Clifford.
Clayton Doley
Clayton Doley is Australia’s finest Hammond organist and is quickly gaining international recognition as one of the top new players on the world stage. He is constantly in demand for touring projects, even with his own busy touring commitments he manages to tour with artists such as Harry Manx (Canada) and Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges (USA), and has in the past toured with Steve Cropper and Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn (USA), David Garibaldi (USA), Nigel Kennedy (UK), A Camp (Sweden), Silverchair (Australia), The Divinyls (Australia), and Jimmy Barnes (Australia).
Alan Mansfield
Alan Mansfield is an American keyboard player who previously worked for Robert Palmer (including guitar for the “Johnny and Mary” single from Palmer’s album “Clues”) and Bette Midler in the late 1970s. By 1982 Mansfield was living in Sydney and producing tracks for Marc Hunter. Marc Hunter convinced Mansfield to also produce Dragon’s single “Rain”. He has since been a regular member of Dragon and has also been involved with various musical projects with some of Australia’s finest musicians.