Bobby Ellsworth
Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Robert Ellsworth |
Also known as | Blitz |
Born | [1][2] | May 3, 1959
Origin | New Jersey, U.S. |
Genres | Thrash metal, speed metal, groove metal, heavy metal |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Vocals, bass guitar |
Years active | 1980–present |
Associated acts | Overkill, The Cursed, BPMD |
Robert Ellsworth (born May 3, 1959), best known as Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth, is the lead vocalist of New Jersey thrash metal band Overkill.[3] He has been the vocalist of Overkill since its inception in 1980, and he and bassist D.D. Verni are the only constant members. Ellsworth can also play bass, and performed in various bands in that role during high school and college.[3]
Ellsworth is a member of the supergroup cover band BPMD.[4] He also previously fronted The Cursed, a now defunct band featuring guitarist Dan Lorenzo, which released the Room Full of Sinners LP in 2007.[5]
Personal life[]
In 1998, Ellsworth was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of nose cancer and underwent immediate surgery, which successfully removed the tumor.
Ellsworth suffered a focal seizure in Germany in June 2002, right in the middle of the song "Necroshine". Ellsworth commented: "The beauty of a stroke is that you don’t remember. I don’t know what it changed, because I forget how it used to be (laughs). Occasionally I piss my pants when somebody turns a microwave on (laughs). I’m riding my motorcycle. I still swim, I work out. The idea is that when you have a problem, there’s two ways to look at it – you can live in the problem or you can live through the problem. For me, I just lived through it. I thought very soon afterwards if it had actually killed me, I said 'Wouldn’t it be something to die in the middle of an Overkill show?'."[6]
Ellsworth was critical of the Obama administration. In a 2010 interview, Ellsworth was asked if he felt that Obama would spawn any songs about political awareness, and replied "You could probably just do one record and call it 'Liar' (laughs)" He then outlined instances where he believed the party displayed hypocrisy and called the Democratic Party "just an awful thing."[7]
In 2014 Ellsworth again faced health issues, battling borderline pneumonia during a German tour.[8]
References[]
- ^ OVERKILL (3 May 2019). "Happy 60th to our very own BB pic.twitter.com/XnA5LwPc7p". twitter.com. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ "Overkill". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Overkill's Bobby Blitz - Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?, retrieved 2021-09-09
- ^ "BOBBY 'BLITZ' ELLSWORTH, MIKE PORTNOY, PHIL DEMMEL And MARK MENGHI Join Forces In BPMD: 'American Made' Album Due Soon". Blabbermouth.net. January 31, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ "The Cursed - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2009-01-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Video on YouTube
- ^ "Overkill's Bobby 'Blitz' Ellsworth Discusses His Health Issues: 'I Think Of Myself As Bulletproof' - Blabbermouth.net".
- 1959 births
- American heavy metal singers
- American male singers
- 20th-century American singers
- 21st-century American singers
- Living people
- Singers from New Jersey
- Overkill (band) members
- 20th-century male singers
- 21st-century male singers