Tim "Ripper" Owens' (DIO DISCIPLES, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, BEYOND FEAR, JUDAS PRIEST, ICED EARTH) will embark on a solo tour of Australia/New Zealand in May/June. Confirmed dates are as follows:
May 17 - Melbourne, Australia - The Hi Fi
May 18 - Hobart, Australia - The Brisbane
May 19 - Brisbane, Australia - The Hi Fi
May 20 - Adelaide, Australia - Fowlers - All Ages
May 24 - Newcastle, Australia - The Cambridge
May 25 - Canberra, Australia - The Basement
May 26 - Sydney, Australia - Venue TBC tomorrow
May 27 - Wollongong, Australia - The Patch
Jun. 01 - Wellington, New Zealand - Bodega
Jun. 02 - Auckland, New Zealand - Kings Arms
Released in May 2009, "Play My Game", the first solo album from Owens, landed at position No. 66 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200. The CD was released via SPV/Steamhammer. The offering consists of around a dozen brand-new tracks that Owens composed himself or together with renowned friends, such as Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery (SAVATAGE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA), Mike Callahan (ex-EARSHOT) and John Comprix (BEYOND FEAR, RINGWORM).
Owens is without doubt among the most important metal vocalists of the past ten years. When he succeeded Rob Halford, joining JUDAS PRIEST in May 1996, the press rubbed their eyes, surprised as well as impressed: Owens had previously been a fairly unknown quantity to international music journalists and only a few new of him from the band WINTERS BANE, but he recorded his first PRIEST album, the Grammy-nominated "Jugulator" (1997) with more aplomb than even insiders had expected. Following successful tours with the British metal legends, the strong studio recording "Demolition" (2001), and the live recordings, "Meltdown - 98 Live" (1998) and "Live In London" (2003), and the movie "Rockstar" that was loosely based on Tim's experience with JUDAS PRIEST, Halford's return put an end to Owens' stint with JUDAS PRIEST. More or less immediately, he was enlisted by Jon Schaffer to team up with ICED EARTH and sang on "The Glorious Burden" in spring 2004. Three years later, Owens followed suit with the ICED EARTH album "Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Pt. I)", which succeeded the self-titled highly praised debut by his own band BEYOND FEAR. Spring 2008 saw Owens move on to join one of the world's best guitar players Yngwie Malmsteen, debuting with a sensational vocal performance on "Perpetual Flame".
I'm not that familiar with his stuff, might have to check out the solo album.
