Blyth, Randy

Childhood

Randy Blyth was born on February 21, 1971 in Fort Mead (Maryland) in a military family. When Randy was still very young, his parents broke up and the boy, along with his younger brothers, remained with his father. When young Blythe was in fourth grade, the family moved to Franklin, Virginia , and for several years Randy lived on his grandmother's farm ^[2] .

When Randy was 12 years old, a friend gave him to listen to the Never Mind the Bollocks cassette, the album The Sex Pistols . Blythe later said that it was this cassette that caused the world to know about it a quarter century later. As a teenager, Blythe wore a green Iroquois and military boots. In Franklin, Virginia, this was not accepted. “In the city where I grew up, if you are not like others, be prepared for a fight every minute. It was very, very serious. Nobody joked at all ” ^[2] , - he recalled.

Randy Blythe, who was constantly persecuted for his appearance, was forced to physically assert his right to dissimilarity. The school teacher nicknamed him an “ iconoclast ” for this; Blythe liked this nickname so much that he characterizes himself to this day. The Blythe iconoclast is one who "questions the established beliefs in society, based either on prejudice or blindly accepting established traditions." People who "take <for granted> everything, whatever they stuffed", Blythe calls "ignoramuses" ^[2] .

Student years

His passion for music influenced Blythe when choosing a university to continue his studies. Later, the musician recalled: “The main reason that I began to study in Richmond , because there is a large music community. I moved there under the pretext of going to college, but in fact I just wanted to hang out and go to concerts ” ^[3] .

At Virginia Commonwealth University, Randy Blythe studied English. He later said that in a dormitory he earned extra money by distributing LSD . In addition, Shark's and Alice 'Hour of Malice hosted a university radio program with a girl named Alice Bly. The same couple participated in swimming lessons at the YMCA , where they performed the function of drowning children ^[2] .

Once at university, Blythe was arrested for urinating in a public place. He appeared in court with a blue Iroquois and, instead of getting the usual $ 20 fine, he was awarded 60 hours of community service. He chose a library for this, where he mainly dusted ^[2] .

At the university dormitory, Blythe met Morton, Adler and Campbell, who formed the group (which also included guitarist Will Adler). Blythe listened to punk rock , while his new friends preferred bands like Dokken and Danzig. ^[2]

As co-host of Shark's and Alice 'Hour of Malice University Radio, Blythe used unusual ways to attract listeners. He recalled that once, in order to check how many people are currently listening to the program, he announced on the air that in 10 minutes he will start throwing Easter eggs out of the studio window, one of which will be filled with cocaine ^[2] .

Musical career

Randy Blyth joined the line-up of Lamb of God (the band was then called Burn the Priest) at the end of 1995, when the band members decided to move away from instrumental music. Almost immediately, he became the main author of the lyrics, thanks to which the group later became one of the most highly educated in American rock.

In 2007, Lamb of God was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Metal Performance category for the song “Redneck”. Two years later, Blythe put up for auction the nominee’s medal, explaining it this way: “I don’t put a penny on such nominations. With my own eyes I saw how people from the publishing departments of record companies paid the bartenders who put the necessary records ... This is disgusting. " The proceeds from the proceeds were directed to the Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy Association ^[2] .

Blythe always spends free time reading. Recalling his youthful years, in an interview, the musician said: “Sport didn’t attract me, at one time I was interested in wrestling, but I didn’t play football, I was that dude who reads books ... I always spent free time reading, the same the most now. Without books, I wouldn’t understand my life and just screw it up. ” Blythe called his novel “All Over but the Shoutin” by American journalist Rick Bragg ^{[3] as} his favorite book.

Among Blythe's friends is writer Cody Lundin, author of 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive ^[4] . Blythe believes that as a vocalist for a metal band, Lundin’s courses helped him a lot. He took part in an exhausting journey in passing cars to remote areas of the desert in Arizona ; the goal of the latter was “to come closer to understanding what reality is and what life is” ^[2] .

On June 27, 2012 in the Czech Republic, Randy Blythe was arrested in connection with the death of a fan of Daniel Nosek, which happened more than two years before. The decision on his further stay in custody was to be made by the court, which is scheduled for June 30. June 30 at 10 a.m. Randy Blyth appeared in court. As a result, he was issued on bail of CZK 4 million (approximately 200 thousand US dollars, which, according to Randy, is equivalent to his annual income). Since most banks were closed on weekends, Blythe was allowed to deposit on Monday. However, it was not possible to deposit funds quickly. After paying the security deposit, an additional sanction of the prosecutor will also be required. If Blythe is found guilty, he faces up to 10 years in prison. Due to delays in the operation of the bail exemption system, Blythe continues to remain in the Pankrac Prison in Prague even after the deposit has been paid. To help their vocalist, Lamb of God turned to fans of the group with a request to donate to the Randy Blyth Defense Fund. On July 9, a representative of the Prague Municipal Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that on July 6 the prosecutor appealed against the bail. In this regard, Randy Blythe remains in prison until another hearing is held on the release of Blythe on bail. The court doubled the amount of bail for releasing Blythe.

In February 2013, the first hearing of the Blythe case took place in a Czech court, which was supposed to continue on March 4.

On March 5, 2013, the Prague Municipal Court acquitted Blythe ^[5] .

Burn the Priest

• Demo Tape (1995)
• Split with ZED (1997, Goatboy Records)
• Split with Agents of Satan (1998, Deaf American Recordings )
• Sevens and More (1998, mp3.com )
• Burn the Priest (1999, Legion Records )

Lamb of God

• New American Gospel (2000, Prosthetic Records )
• As the Palaces Burn (2003, Prosthetic Records )
• Ashes of the Wake (2004, Epic Records )
• Killadelphia (2004, Epic Records )
• Sacrament (2006, Epic Records )
• Wrath (2009, Epic Records )
• Resolution (2012, Epic Records )
• VII: Sturm und Drang (2015, Epic Records )

Halo of Locusts

• For the Sick (2007, Emetic Records)

• The Graves (2010)