Actor, comedian and acclaimed heavy metal drummer Richard Christy (Charred Walls Of The Damned, Iced Earth, Death, Leash Law, Control Denied, Burning Inside) — who currently works for “The Howard Stern Show” — joined legendary hard rockers Stryper on stage this past Saturday, April 12 at Stage 48 in New York City to perform the track ‘Sing Along Song’. Fan-filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.
Richard says on his website: ‘Well, a dream came true for me on Saturday night when my favorite band Stryper invited me on stage to play the classing tune ‘Sing Along Song’. I’ve been a Stryper fan since I was 12 years old and have been practicing drums to their songs ever since. I still can’t even fathom that this happened and I’m so honored that I was asked to play with the same band who I saw at my first concert in 1988 in Springfield Missouri on the In God We Trust tour! Thank you so much to Robert Sweet for letting me play your drums and thank you so much to Michael, Oz, and Tim for inviting me to jam with you! 777!!!!’
Stryper’s most recent album, “No More Hell To Pay” stormed the charts in November 2013 debuting at #3 on the Current Hard Music Albums and Top Hard Music Albums charts, #6 on the Top Current Rock Album charts, #33 on the Billboard Top 200 Current Albums and #35 on the Billboard Top 200 selling over 9500 copies the first week. Stryper also regained their dominance on the Christian charts landing at #2 on the Contemporary Christian Albums and #3 on the Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums. “No More Hell To Pay” also reached #1 on the iTunes Top Rock Album Charts and #8 on the iTunes Top Album Charts when it was released on November 5th, 2013.
Stryper is one of the top Christian rock bands of all time. Comprised of the original line-up, Stryper has been rocking since 1984, and is responsible for such ’80s metal classic albums as “Soldiers Under Command”, “To Hell With The Devil” and “In God We Trust”. In fact, Stryper is the first band to ever have two songs in MTV’s Top 10 simultaneously with their hits ’Free’ and ‘Honestly.’ After a sabbatical for much of the 1990′s, Stryper returned strong in the early 21st century. To date, the Dove Award-winning and Grammy nominated band has sold upwards of 10 million records worldwide.
“No More Hell To Pay”, the new Stryper album, sold around 9,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart.
“No More Hell To Pay” was released on November 1st in Europe and November 5th in North America via Frontiers Records. The effort was made available in two formats — standard CD and deluxe digipak featuring exclusive video content. Produced by Stryper guitarist/vocalist Michael Sweet himself, the set features some of Stryper‘s strongest and heaviest material ever.
To read our review for “No More Hell To Pay” click here.
Upcoming Shows:
U.S.
04/26/14 Columbia, MD M3 Festival**
05/02/14 Milan, Italy Frontiers Rock Festival**
05/24/14 Socorro, TX Socorro Entertainment Center w/ Queensryche
06/03/14 Ottawa, ON Obsession Live Lounge**
06/05/14 Etobicoke, ON The Rockpile West**
06/06/14 Toronto, ON The Rockpile East**
06/07/14 Akron, NY Brauns Concert Cove**
06/09/14 Richmond, IN The Firehouse
Acoustic Show(Full Band)
06/12/14 Pittsburgh, PA Altar Bar**
06/13/14 Bolingbrook, IL Tailgaters**
06/14/14 Chesterfield, MI Diesel Concert Lounge**
08/01/14 Denver, CO Casselman’s
08/02/14 Sheridan, WY Trails End Concert Park w/ Vixen
** On Sale Now!
EUROPE:
07/10/14 Vizovice, Czech Republic Masters Of Rock Festival
07/12/14 Balingen, Germany Bang Your Head Festival
** On Sale Now!
Related articles:
‘Michael Sweet’ Says “I’m Almost 50 Yet I Feel Like I’ve Lived The Life Of A Man Who Is Almost 90″ [Feb. 2013]
‘Dave Mustaine’ Says ‘Michael Sweet’ And I ‘Believe In The Same Jesus’ [Feb. 2013]
Stryper – Second Coming [Album review]
‘Michael Sweet’ Comments On ‘Kanye West’s’ ‘I Am A God’ [June 2013]
‘Stryper’ Covering Another ‘Van Halen’ Song, Video Available [July 2013]
‘Stryper’ ‘No More Hell To Pay’ Cover Art Revealed, Release Date Nov. 5th [Aug. 2013]
‘Stryper’ Audio Samples Of Three ‘No More Hell To Pay’ Songs Available For Streaming [Aug. 2013]
New Audio Interview With ‘Stryper’s’ Mainman ‘Michael Sweet’ [Sept. 2013]
‘Michael Sweet’ Interviewed By His Mother [Video] [Sept. 2013]
Stryper – “No More Hell to Pay” [Album Review]
‘Stryper’ Drummer ‘Robert Sweet’ Announce Plans To Work With ‘Confirmed’ [Oct. 2013]
New Audio Interview With ‘Stryper’ Mainman ‘Michael Sweet’ [Oct. 2013]
‘Stryper’ Music Video Released For ‘Sympathy’ [Nov. 2013]
A Message From ‘Michael Sweet’ “77 Hours Of Stryper” (Until Sunday, November 17, 3pm EST) [Nov. 2013]
‘Stryper’s’ “No More Hell To Pay” Cracks U.S. Top 40 [Nov. 2013]
‘Michael Sweet’ Says ‘We’re A Rock Band That’s Comprised Of Christians’, First European Tour Dates For 2014 Announced [Nov. 2013]
‘Stryper’s’ ‘Michael Sweet’ Solo Album Title, Release Date Revealed, First European ‘Stryper’ Tour Dates For 2014 Announced [Jan. 2014]
‘Stryper’s’ ‘Michael Sweet’ Shares His Thoughts On The New Solo Album, “I’m Not Your Suicide” [Jan. 2014]
‘Stryper’ Announces Video Contest for Latest Single ‘Te Amo’ [Feb 2014]
‘Michael Sweet’ says “if you’re gonna put a Christian tag on us, you should have to put a Satan tag on a bunch of other bands” [March 2014]