They are the legion you despise and the Generation Wild: Crashdïet has been bringing the 80s rock scene back wherever they go.
Since the early 2000s Crashdïet has been a name to reckon with when it comes to sleaze rock. So far they have released 5 albums and have a die hard fan base around the world who are supporting their Crashdïet shirt wherever they go.
Crashdïet was formed back in 2000 by founding members Dave Lepard, Mary Goore, Tom Bones and Mace Kelly. From the start they were able to build a cult following and released several demos that you could download from their website.
After two years of kicking ass on the Swedish rock scene the band split up in 2002. The former members joined other bands like Repugnant and SubVision. However for Dave Lepard the band wasn’t done yet. He reformed the band and on Christmas Day Crashdïet announced their new line up of Dave Lepard on vocals and guitar, Martin Sweet on guitar and Peter London on bass.
In the same announcement there was also a call for finding a drummer. In April of 2003 Eric Young was announced as the drummer. Work started on their self titled EP that came out in the same year.
Big news came in when Crashdïet was signed to Universal Music Records in 2004. Crashdïet was the first rock band in a long time to be signed again to a big label.
Crashdïet (2000-2002) with the original line-up. Left to right: Tobias Forge (as Mary Goore) guitarist, Gustaf Lindström aka GRGA (as Mace Kelly) bassist, … ah, yes the early days of TOBIAS from @thebandGHOST pic.twitter.com/DrEnrd8zDv
— Mitch Lafon (@mitchlafon) December 16, 2018
To just go back a little bit in time. Mary Goore might not say a lot at first sight, but everyone that is familiar with Ghost and Papa Emeritus knows him. His real name is ofcourse Tobias Forge, but he was once part of Crashdïet Tobias Forge history. These days he is a singer, but back in the day he was a guitarist for the band you are reading about.
The debut album of Crashdïet was released in 2005. At the time the album was well received and debuted at number 12 on the Swedish album chart. With Universal Music Records behind them the band released four singles: Riot in Everyone, Breaking the Chainz, Knokk ‘Em Down and It’s A Miracle.Over time the album became a cult classic within the sleaze rock community.
With the album released it was time to go on tour in support of the album. In their home country of Sweden Crashdïet was popular, but abroad they had to work for their money so to speak. They made their way to the United Kingdom to perform at the prestige Download Festival, before embarking on a tour later in the year.
It’s notable to mention that at the time Crashdïet was able to perform a song by Guns N’ Roses before Guns N’ Roses ever released it. Chinese Democracy had been leaked and Crashdïet performed a raw version of the song during their sets. In 2017 Crashdïet released a live album of this tour including Chinese Democracy.
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In the first weeks of 2006, it became clear that things were not going the right way within the band. Members were rumoured to be annoyed with the high amount of drugs intake by Dave Lepard. Rumours go as far that band members were on the verge of leaving or had already left the band.
Tragedy struck on January the 20th of 2006 when Dave Lepard was found dead at the age of 25. The lead vocalist and the leader of the band suffered from depression that he hid from his family, friends and bandmates. Dave Lepard or by his real name Dave Hellman, had hung himself and had been dead in his apartment for approximately 5 to 6 days before he was found. In the weeks before he cut off contact with family and friends to whom the shock of his passing was immense.
Crashdïet was disbanded as the surviving members didn’t want to continue without Dave Lepard. In February Martin Sweet, Eric Young and Peter London performed a tribute show in memory of the late singer. Several months later the surviving members decided to come back as a band. To spread the legacy that Dave Lepard left behind. With the approval of Lepard’s family they went on to look for a new singer.
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In January of 2006, a year after Dave Lepard’s passing, Crashdïet auditioned for a new singer. Simon Cruz was on top of the list, however he chose to continue with his band Jailbait, meaning Crasbdiet had to continue their search.
On the 22nd of January 2007 the band announced their new lead vocalist in the form of H. Olliver Twisted. Twisted is not unfamiliar with fronting bands as he was and till this day fronting his own band Reckless Love.
The debut of H. Olliver Twisted a month later at the Rest in Sleaze Festival in Sweden. The live performance was released to download from the bands website. Not long after Crashdïet released details of their upcoming album with their new singer.
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In September the first single with H. Olliver Twisted fronting Crashdïet was released. In The Raw is a true hard rock song, which was heavier than Rest In Sleaze. On the 3rd of October the album The Unattractive Revolution was released. It debuted at number 11 on the Swedish album chart. Apart from the current lineup there was one special guest on the album.
Mick Mars from Mötley Crüe flew to Sweden to write some songs together. The songs made it on the album and were called I Don’t Care and Alone.
In total the album featured 11 hard rocking songs. The album was well received by fans and critics and shortly after the band went on tour together with Hardcore Superstar. Crashdïet was back and in full swing and toured the world. However it wouldn’t be for long. In July of 2018 the band announced that H. Olliver Twisted would separate from the band. The singer wanted to focus more on his own band Reckless Love and Crashdïet felt he didn’t fit perfectly with the band.
His name was mentioned before and when H Olliver Twisted left Crashdïet it was time for Simon Cruz to take over his role. In 2009 Cruz was announced as the new lead singer and the first show took place on the Sweden Rock Cruise in October that year.
Quickly the band went into the studio to start working on their new album. The first single Generation Wild was released on the 28th of February of 2010. The song is power, true hard rock and sleaze rock and a party anthem. The video clip however was deemed too much for Swedish MTV as the video was banned for obscene images.
Before the rest of the album was released Crashdïet once again proved why they were the kings of sleaze rock and on their way to prove they should be at the top of the hard rock lists.
The album Generation Wild was released on the 14th of April.It went straight to number 3 on the Swedish album chart. The album was a big success. It is one of those albums that is amazing from start to finish and fans around the world agreed. Simon Cruz was a great addition to the musical style of the band. Some of the highlights of the album are Bound To Fall, So Alive, Chemical and Save Her.
Crashdïet was in a great momentum with going straight on tour with the album. Some of the highlights must have been opening up for Ozzy Osbourne in Sweden and performing in front of 50,000 people at the SWU Festival in Brazil.
More touring followed in 2011 in a joined European tour with Hardcore Superstar and the 69 Eyes. The band was in an absolute flow and they filmed their show at the Sweden Rock Festival for a DVD release. The DVD would not only feature their Sweden Rock performance, but also pieces from different shows around the world.
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No rest for the wicked, Crashdïet started working on their follow up to Generation Wild around Christmas of 2011. The first recording sessions took place in May and they worked together with producer Otto Welton. The connection was there and although Otto Welton didn’t work much with rock bands before he understood what Crashdïet was all about.
The style the band were aiming for was a more raw and live sound. Most of the songs were recorded playing together as a band with Peter London on bass, Eric Young on drums, Martin Sweet on guitar and Simon Cruz with his raw vocals.
The first single from The Savage Playground was Cocaine Cowboys. The song as you might have guessed reflects the experience of their recent times of life. Being in a rock band gave them access to the different chemicals and they were used. The cowboys were everywhere and the song reflects that. In December the single was released and the video clip followed a few days later.
The Savage Playground was released on the 23rd of January 2013. Reviews of the album were all very positive. The songs, the rawness and the artistic style were different compared to the Generation Wild album, yet it fitted the band. In the end it never got the success of Generation Wild which is hard to understand. Crashdïet went above and beyond with the album and celebrated the release with an extensive world tour.
The tour in support of the latest release brought the band all over the world. It started with a big tour in the United States and saw them go to South America and Europe and would take almost 2 years. Apart from the usual mayhem of being on tour tragedy struck during a show in Nottingham, United Kingdom in April of 2013.
Crashdïet’s band manager, Michael Sunden, tripped and fell down some stairs and it is believed he hit his head against a brick wall in the basement of the Rock City club. Although paramedics were directly on the scene he couldn’t be saved. Michael Sunden left behind a wife, two kids and the band he managed.
Crashdïet released a statement sending their condolences to the family of Sunden. Even Though the impact must have been incredibly big on the band the show went on.
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When Crashdïet flew to Japan in January of 2015 no one could imagine that within a few days the band would be without a lead vocalist. Work had already started on the new album and Martin Sweet later stated that they had about 4 to 5 songs, but that nothing really flew.
The months leading up to the Japanese mini tour were described by Martin Sweet as confusing. The tour in Japan was a mess before it started and they thought about cancelling the dates. However before that could be done Simon Cruz already left for Tokyo unannounced. At this point the tour was going ahead.
Tickets had been paid by Crashdïet and the dream of playing in Japan would soon be shattered. The tour would be as part of opening for Europe (Yes, the Final Countdown Europe).The first night they managed to a 10 song setlist which would be their last as well.
Eric Young texted Martin Sweet the following day saying that Simon Cruz had left the country. Disaster struck again. After 10 years of rocking the world they found themselves without a singer for the 3rd time. The rest of the mini tour was performed as a 3 piece band. Peter London, Eric Young and Martin Sweet had to pull themselves together and finished what they started.
After Japan, the band held a band meeting and it was obvious there was no way they could continue working together. Simon Cruz officially departed the band via a statement released in February of 2015. Peter London, Eric Young and Martin Sweet still stated they would continue to work on the new album, but it turned out the band went into a hiatus and there was no effort done to search for a new singer.
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With Simon Cruz out of the picture Crashdïet put all activities on a low. Martin Sweet started a new band called Sweet Creature. An album was released in 2016 by the name of The Devil Knows My Name. Martin Sweet joined forces with his brother Michael from ToxicRose, Tin Star from Gemini Five and Linys Nirbrant from The Ending.
On the critically acclaimed album Peter London from Crashdïet makes an appearance on 2 songs. Next to that Peter London has been the bass player of RAC/pop-rock band Bedårande Barn. Since the band started in 2015 they have released several (live) albums.
Eric Young was not involved in other projects during the Crashdïet hiatus. Apart from one or two Crashdïet shows nothing happened with the band.
Crashdïet hiatus officially ended on the 6th of December when the band announced their new singer: Gabriel Keyes. Bassist Peter London, guitarist Martin Sweet and drummer Eric Young once again came back as a four piece band.
Earlier that year Gabriel Keyes was informed via Facebook that Crashdïet was looking for a new singer. He recorded a Skid Row song and sent it to Martin Sweet. The recorded demo song was well received by guitarist Sweet and they met up for coffee. From there the ball started rolling and Keyes and Martin kept meeting and started writing music. The chemistry between the pair was good from the start and around April of 2017 the foundations of the new line up were well established.
However news of the new singer would be a secret until December the 6th of 2017 when the Crashdïet officially announced their return to rock n roll. Gabriel Keyes later stated in interviews he found it really hard to keep the news a secret, because he was so excited. The same can be said for Peter London, Eric Young and Martin Sweet.
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The writing sessions from April of that year would result in the single We Are The Legion that would be released on New Years Eve of the same year. The song was written by Sweet and Keyes and produced by Eric Brazilian. The American singer and songwriter is famous for his collaborations with international bands like Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Cindy Lauper and Journey.
Most of the writing was done before Crashdïet headed into the studio in December. The song can be described as a fight song relevant to everyone that ever faced setbacks. Apart from the acoustic intro, which has been provided by Eric Brazilian, the song was mixed by Chris Lane who previously worked on the Rest In Sleaze album.
With the first single out, the reviews came in. Although the style was quite a difference compared to the material with Simon Cruz, the single was well received by fans and critics alike. We Are The Legion captures the attitude of Crashdïet and their fans, it’s punchy, full of rock and just a great song to make a return to the music scene.
Shortly after the single was released tour dates were published. Apart from a handful of shows as a 3 piece band it would be the first time Crashdïet would be reunited with Peter London on Bass, Eric Young behind the drumkit and Martin Sweet on guitar.
The first show happened in Stockholm Sweden on the 30th of March with Shiraz Lane as a support act. You could see the different era of Crashdïet shirts in the crowd as everyone had a favorite era. During the show fans, friends and family gathered to see the new incarnation of Crashdïet.
After an amazing start of the tour a few difficult nights followed. Most of the nights didn’t sell out and unfortunately I witnessed a concert in Uden, the Netherlands, where only around 50 showed up. When it comes to the performance it wasn’t the band’s fault, they gave it all.
Vocal wise some of the songs like It’s A Miracle never sounded better than with Gabriel Keyes. The voice suited the band. The band was on fire and apart from some small mistakes (bare in mind it was only the 2nd night of the tour, they gave everything in front of the small crowd.
The big return of Crashdïet might have been their comeback to Sweden Rock. The legendary festival they know so well welcomed them with open arms.
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After the first tour Crashdïet kept building their momentum. A new single was released on January the 1st 2019 called Reptile. A music video was released at the same moment. The heavy sound we saw previously with We Are The Legion continued.
During one of the best performances of Gabriel Keyes to this date at Sleaze Fest in Germany, Crashdïet played a new song called Rust for the first time. It was well received by the crowd, but we had to wait till September before the new album Rust was released.
Released by Diet Records and Frontiers Music, Rust finally gave us an insight on how the new reincarnation of Crashdïet looked and sounded. The album had it all, heavy rock songs like Rust and Into The Wild, but also more power ballads like In The Maze. At the time the band stated it might be their heaviest album to this day and it feels they might be wrong on that. That said Rust did well in the charts and fans voted it the number one album released in 2019 according to SleazeRoxx. Shows around Europe followed with their Idiots On Tour tour.
Due to Covid-19 the world came to a standstill in 2020. Bands were not able to perform anymore and all the dates of the planned Crashdïet world tour had been cancelled. In May of 2020 the band did a live stream concert by the name of Quarantine Thrills, on the video platform Youtube that included a Q&A in which fans could ask the band questions. At the time of writing the concert has over 40.000 views.
The streaming concert was well received and included hits like Riot In Everyone, Generation Wild and songs of the latest record called Rust and Idiots. Apart from the earlier mentioned Idiots on Tour shows, most people never saw the new material live and it was great to see how people got excited for it.
After that the band went into a radio silence. Every once in a while news came that Crashdïet was working on a new record. However no information came out on when the record or first single will be released. The band did however sign a new management deal. With the Inspired Artists Agency they will be represented for worldwide bookings.
One thing is for sure, Crashdïet has a legacy they can trust! During all the era’s and different incarnations of the band they always crashed down before building it up again. The music is here to stay and so is the band. Whenever you have the chance go so the kings of Sleaze rock live and you won’t be disappointed.
Crashdïet is here to stay!
Yes, the band Crashdïet is still very active. With current vocalist Gabriel Keyes the band has been very active with releasing records and touring.
Dave Lepard suffered from depression in the months leading up to his death. Rumours went that members of the band were not happy with the chemical intake of Dave Lepard and threatened to leave the band. The exact reasons why someone takes his life are always unknown. In the end Dave Lepard struggled with depression and didn’t see a way out.
Yes, Eric Young played in Swedish metal band Pandemonic.
In the early days the singer behind Ghost played in the band. At the time the name Crashdïet was there but Tobias Forge didn’t use his own name. He went under the name of Mary Goore. That’s why you don’t see the names Crashdïet Tobias Forge together.
At the 2019 release of their 5th studio album Rust the inner notes suggest that Crashdïet disbanded after Simon Cruz’s departure. The band thanks manager Sven Morén in the inner notes of the album for “getting Crashdïet back together”. Currently Crashdïet is rocking around the world and still together as a band.
Crashdïet announced via their own website that they and H. Olliver Twisted came to an agreement to go both their separate ways.
Although the real reason has never been revealed it can be argued that the drug use within the band made tensions to the point of no return. Martin Sweet stated that Simon Cruz changed in the months upon leading the departure. Simon Cruz closed the Crashdïet chapter and hasn’t done any interviews since leaving. There are rumors however that Simon Cruz is working on new rock material.
For Dave Lepard Crashdïet was his main soul of inspiration and creative outlet. When Lepard passed away the surviving band members were not sure what to do.
When Olli Hermann or better known as H. Olliver Twisted joined Crashdïet, Olliver was already part of Finnish band Reckless Love. After Olliver left Crashdïet he focused on Reckless Love and became part of the Sleaze rock scene releasing multiple albums over the last few years.
Simon Cruz had been in several bands before joining Crashdïet including Foxey and the most notable band Jailbait. After Simon Cruz left Crashdïet he briefly started a project called Savage Animal with his ex-girlfriend Tåve Wanning.
On the 6th of December the band Crashdïet announced their new lead vocalist Gabriel Keyes. At the end of the same month the first single We Are The Legion, their first single with Keyes on vocals, was released. Till this day he is the lead vocalist of the band Crashdïet.
Gabriel Keyes was in a band called Perfect Crime. The band was formed by him, his brother and another guitarist. In 2014 they released an EP called Wanted, which isn’t available anymore. Keyes left the band because they couldn’t get along with each other.
In 2019 Crashdïet released Rust via their own Diet Records and Frontiers Music label.
At this point in time it is unknown what the new Crashdïet album will be called and when it will be released. When more information is available we will keep you posted.
