STEELHEART

Norwalk, Connecticut's Steelheart ranks among the final hair metal acts to surface during the MTV-driven years of the late twentieth century. Anthemic rockers featuring chant-along choruses, soaring power ballads, and thick, compressed guitar riffs modeled after Led Zeppelin and Guns N' Roses define their approach, while frontman Michael Matijevic delivers the lead vocals through an effortlessly powerful four-octave range. The band's self-titled 1991 debut album yielded the single "She's Gone," which reached number one on the international singles charts and held that position for seventeen weeks. Observers view it as one of the final power ballads to achieve that peak before grunge and alternative rock displaced hair metal from mainstream attention. The group scored another major success across Asia with the 1992 release "Mama Don't You Cry." Following an extended break prompted by a life-threatening injury to Matijevic that demanded prolonged rehabilitation amid a shifting musical landscape, a reconstituted Steelheart lineup featuring Matijevic as its sole original member has sustained recording and touring activity well into the twenty-first century.

The quartet, initially operating under the name Red Alert and consisting of Matijevic alongside guitarist Chris Risola, bassist James Ward, and drummer Frank Dicostanzo, devoted the bulk of the 1980s to performances across the tri-state region while refining a guitar-driven, energetically crowd-pleasing style. After persistent effort, the members relocated to Los Angeles, secured a contract with MCA Records, and adopted the Steelheart moniker.

Steelheart issued its self-titled debut in 1991, distinguished by vocals spanning multiple octaves and two notable power-ballad hits: "Never Let You Go," which climbed to number fourteen on the Billboard singles chart, and "She's Gone," which dominated international singles lists for seventeen weeks. Work on the follow-up album Tangled in Reins commenced rapidly and resulted in its release the subsequent year. Disaster struck during a Halloween performance supporting Slaughter at McNichol's Arena in Denver, Colorado, when a lighting truss struck Matijevic in the head, causing him to fall face-first and sustaining damage to his skull, jaw, nose, and spine. The broader musical environment transformed substantially throughout his recuperation, leading the band to enter an open-ended hiatus.

Matijevic assembled an entirely new configuration of the group in 1996 and delivered the album Wait. Its single "We All Die Young," written by guitarist Kenny Kanowski, appeared in the 2001 musical comedy-drama Rock Star, with Matijevic supplying the singing voice for Mark Wahlberg's character. Good 2B Alive followed in 2008, introducing a fresh sonic approach that drew mixed critical response. After several years of nonstop touring, the band paused once more before resurfacing at the three-day Rockingham festival in 2016, joined on bass by Marten Andersson of Lynch Mob and Lizzy Borden. As this updated Steelheart lineup, featuring guitarist Joe Pessia, finished recording its fifth studio album Through Worlds of Stardust, word arrived of Kanowski's passing; one of his earlier recorded solos was incorporated into the track "My Dirty Girl" as a memorial. The group then embarked on worldwide touring. In 2018 the band released Rock'n Milan, capturing live documentation from European dates.