Damn Yankees

In the early 1990s, Damn Yankees briefly commanded attention across the arena-rock circuit as a supergroup. Guitarist Ted Nugent joined forces with Styx’s Tommy Shaw, Night Ranger’s Jack Blades, and drummer Michael Cartellone to form the quartet just as pop-metal reached its final commercial peak. Their self-titled debut stayed squarely within that radio-friendly mold, generating multiple 1990 successes that included the Top Ten power ballad “High Enough” and the airplay favorite “Coming of Age.” Live shows drew sizable crowds, and Nugent frequently grabbed headlines for his unrestrained stage conduct, which featured launching arrows into a Saddam Hussein effigy. The follow-up album, Don’t Tread, failed to match that momentum, prompting the band’s swift dissolution. Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades maintained their partnership afterward under the Shaw Blades name.