Skid Row have announced a new singer

Erik Grönwal wearing sunglasses and a leather cap
(Image credit: Frontiers Records)

Skid Row have announced a new singer. The new frontman is Erik Grönwall, former singer with Swedish rockers H.E.A.T., who replaces ZP Theart, the former Dragonforce vocalist who joined Skid Row in 2016. 

Grönwall is the fourth man to have have fronted Skid Row since the departure of the band's best-known singer Sebastian Bach in 1996. Bach was followed by Johnny Solinger, who enjoyed a 16-year tenure, and TNT singer Tony Harnell, who spent eight months with the band in 2015 before making way for Theart.

The news of Grönwall's appointment was confirmed in a statement from the band, which read, "It's a new era for Skid Row. With a new album, a new single and a world tour, we've added a new voice. Welcome powerhouse vocalist Erik Grönwall, formerly from the band H.E.A.T. from Sweden."

The first new music from the Grönwall-fronted Skid Row will we unveiled this week, with the release of new single The Gang's All Here, the title track of an album that's due in October. The band have posted a snippet of the song on Instagram (see below). 

Grönwall posted a photo on Instagram, accompanied by the text, "Ladies and gents. I herby declare the circle of all fucking circles complete. You’re looking at the new singer of Skid Row."

A 21-year-old Grönwall performed Skid Row's 18 And Life in a 2009 episode of reality TV show Swedish Idol and went on to win the competition, which led to the job with H.E.A.T. He left the band by mutual consent a decade later, and in 2021 posted an updated recording of 18 And Life on streaming platforms, calling the song "the starting point of my professional career as an artist."

The same year Grönwall hooked up with another former band member, Jona Tee, to form the power metal band New Horizon. Their debut album, Gate Of The Gods, was released earlier this month.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2021. "I am extremely privileged and grateful to live at a day and age where a disease like this is curable," he wrote at the time. "There’s been so much progress made in this field. My body is reacting well to the treatment but it’s a long treatment and it’s going to be the toughest challenge of my life so far, for me and my family."

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.