"I cut grass all day long." What Joey Belladonna did when he was fired by Anthrax

Joey Belladonna of the American band Anthrax performs live on stage during the second day of the Wacken Open Air festival on August 2, 2019 in Wacken, Germany.

(Image credit: Gina Wetzler/Redferns)

Joey Belladonna has revealed that he found a very different way to make a living when he was fired by Anthrax in 1992.

The vocalist was let go by the thrash band over creative differences and replaced by John Bush. He would return to the lineup on a temporary basis in 2005 and then permanently in 2010.

After his firing in the early 90s, Belladonna wasn't struggling financially, but he did need to keep himself busy.

While also working on various music projects, he also took a a job – alongside his wife – at a "horse barn" after his "unexpected" dismissal.

He tells MusicInterviewCorner: "It was unexpected and it wasn't my idea and I wouldn't have preferred it. But it happened. And I just maintained myself.

"I was actually working in a horse barn for a couple of years. I was maintenance, and Krista, my wife, we both worked at a pretty famous riders' facility.

"I cut grass all day. It was so big there, I couldn't complete all my work each day. It was a long, long day. It took me two, three days to weedy the whole place.

"A lot of people don't realise that you would even do that. I didn't really necessarily have to do that job. It was one of those things that fell into place and I enjoyed it and I got a lot of experience from it.

"But I also had a band. I was doing some cover music and I was playing drums. And it was kind of like the old days for me. So I just continued to do that and work on some original music and stuff.

"I kept myself busy. I didn't really fall apart. I kept busy and just waited for some time, and all of a sudden I'd come back. So here I am."

Since returning to the fold full-time in 2010, Belladonna has appeared on 2011 album Worship Music and 2016's For All Kings.

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.