King Diamond has named Pontus Egberg as live replacement for bassist Hal Patino, who departed acrimoniously last week.
Lion’s Share, The Poodles and Zan Clan man Pontus Egberg will hit the stage with Diamond and co when their live schedule resumes in Stockholm on Friday.
Patino’s departure sparked a war of words between the two camps, with the bass player insisting he walked away from the band after being offered a “totally ridiculous” salary for his five summer shows. Diamond hit back, saying his former colleague had been fired and had spread “extreme lies” about him, leading Patino to call the frontman a “tired, bitter old man.”
Diamond reports: “Overtime rehearsals with stand-in bass player Pontus Egberg from Sweden is paying off.”
It’s not known if Egberg will be on board for the band’s US tour in October.