Tony Harnell
Tony Harnell (born September 18, 1962) is an American singer, best known for his work with Norwegian hard rock band TNT. He is also known for his wide vocal range, with his modal voice spanning over four octaves. In 2015, Harnell was briefly the frontman for heavy metal band Skid Row.
Tony Harnell | |
|---|---|
Harnell in 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | September 18, 1962 San Diego, U.S. |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal, glam metal, acoustic rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | tonyharnell |
Biography edit
Early life edit
Harnell was born in San Diego and grew up in California.[1] His mother, Constance Haldaman, was an opera singer while his father, Boyd Harnell, was a photojournalist. He has an older half sister by his father. Harnell started singing at the age of five, and was a competitive skateboarder and avid surfer as a teenager.[2][3][4] At age 16, Harnell moved to New York City and joined his first band at age 17.[1][3] Harnell started taking vocal lessons with Don Lawrence at age 18.[3]
The Jackals edit
After moving to New York City, Harnell played with various bands, including the Bronx-based band The Jackals. Over two years, the band would gain enough popularity to sell out rock clubs and became Harnell's breakthrough. In 1984, Harnell left The Jackals to join Norwegian band TNT. The singer initially intended to return to the New York-band, but after recording with TNT and being impressed with the band's level, he decided to fully commit to his new band.[3]
TNT edit
After a show with The Jackals in 1984, Harnell was introduced to record producer Mike Varney and the then-manager of the Norwegian band TNT, who mentioned that they were looking for a singer and had heard a demo by The Jackals.[3] Harnell was given a tape of TNT material which consisted of one side featuring TNT's recently fired singer and another side with only instrumentals.[3] Harnell soon decided to depart for Norway and recorded the album Knights of the New Thunder with the band.[3]
Harnell and guitarist Ronni Le Tekrø wrote all of TNT's material together during Harnell's 22-year stint with the band. With Harnell, TNT recorded nine studio albums, two live videos and two "best of" compilations. He left the band in April 2006 for personal and professional reasons.[5] He performed his last show with the band on June 30, 2006, with his penultimate performance being recorded for the live album Live In Madrid released that autumn.
On October 17, 2013, Harnell announced that he had rejoined TNT.[6] After a year and a half absence, during which he fronted Skid Row, Harnell announced another return to TNT in May 2016.[7][8] Harnell would leave the band once again in October 2017 and was replaced by previous unknown Baol Bardot Bulsara.[9] In November 2022, TNT announced that Harnell had rejoined the band.[10][11]
Morning Wood edit
Morning Wood is an acoustic rock supergroup composed of Harnell, Al Pitrelli, Chuck Bonfonte, and Danny Mirada. Their debut self-titled album was initially released in Japan in 1994 during TNT's first break-up and re-released in Europe in 2002, then credited to "Tony Harnell and Morning Wood."
Westworld edit
Westworld is a side project of Harnell's that also featured Mark Reale, Bruno Ravel, and John O'Reilly, with keyboardist Josh Pincus and violinist Mark Wood. The band has released three studio albums and one live album.[12]
Starbreaker edit
Starbreaker is a band featuring Harnell and Magnus Karlsson, with former members including John Macaluso, and Fabrizio Grossi. They released their first album in 2005. Starbreaker's second album, Love's Dying Wish, was released in 2008. Their third studio album, Dysphoria, featuring Harnell and Karlsson among others, was released in January 2019.[13][14]
Sonic the Hedgehog edit
Harnell has done tracks for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. His first track for the series was "It Doesn't Matter" on the soundtrack of Sonic Adventure released in 1998 by SEGA. Harnell returned in 2001 to perform a rewritten version of the theme for Sonic in Sonic Adventure 2, as well as the first stage theme "Escape from the City" with Ted Poley. Following this in 2004, Harnell performed the Team Sonic theme for Sonic Heroes called "We Can", again with Poley and in 2011 he returned for Sonic Generations to perform two new remixes of "Escape from the City" with Poley. As of 2021, Harnell has also performed "Fly With Me", a theme song for the fan series "Sonic and Tails R" created by Emi Jones which featured many old cast members of the Sonic The Hedgehog video game series.
Solo career edit
In 2008, Harnell released his first solo material in demo form, the EP Cinematic, through his website. It was followed in 2010 by the Round Trip album under the name Tony Harnell & The Mercury Train, a collection of re-recordings of classic Harnell songs from his previous bands TNT and Westworld in a stripped-down acoustic format.[15] Harnell released the digital single "Take What You're Giving" in 2011 before teaming up with guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and others for the Tony Harnell & the Wildflowers featuring Bumblefoot album in 2013.[16]
Skid Row edit
On April 6, 2015, it was announced that Johnny Solinger had left the American heavy metal band Skid Row. Hours later, the band announced that Harnell would be Solinger's replacement.[17] On December 29, Harnell announced that he had left Skid Row.[18]
Discography edit
Solo edit
- Tony Harnell & Morning Wood - Morning Wood (1994)
- Cinematic - self-released (2008)
- Tony Harnell & The Mercury Train Round Trip (2010)
- Take What You're Giving - self-released (2011)
- Tony Harnell & the Wildflowers featuring Bumblefoot - Tony Harnell & the Wildflowers featuring Bumblefoot (2013)
- LoveKillers - LoveKillers feat. Tony Harnell (2019)
TNT edit
- Knights of the New Thunder (Eur, Jap 1984), (U.S. 1985)
- Tell No Tales (1987)
- Intuition (1989)
- Forever Shine On (1989)
- Realized Fantasies (1992)
- Three Nights in Tokyo (Live) (1992)
- Till Next Time – The Best of TNT (1995)
- Firefly (1997)
- Transistor (1999)
- The Big Bang – The Essential Collection (2003)
- Give Me A Sign (2003)
- My Religion (2004)
- All the Way to the Sun (2005)
- Live in Madrid (2006)
- Encore: Live In Milano (2019)
Westworld edit
- Westworld (1999)
- Skin (2000)
- Cyberdreams (2002)
- Live... In the Flesh (2001)
Starbreaker edit
- Starbreaker (2005)
- Love's Dying Wish (2008)
- Dysphoria (2019)
As featured artist edit
- Brazen Abbot – My Resurrection (2005)
- Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall – Free Fall (2013)
- Michael Sweet - I'm Not Your Suicide (2014)
- Magnus Karlsson's Free Fall – Kingdom of Rock (2015)
Skid Row edit
- 18 and Life (2015) – single
References edit
- ^ a b Blabbermouth (February 7, 2023). "TNT Is Working On First New Music With Returning Singer TONY HARNELL". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ "The Rock N' Roll & Coffee Show: Ep 91. Tony Harnell (TNT, Echobats, Starbreaker) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "An Interview with Tony Harnell of TNT". VWMusic. January 8, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Daly, Joe (February 29, 2020). "The Ten Most Metal Skateboarders". louder. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ "Vocalist Tony Harnell Explains Decision To Leave TNT". Blabbermouth.net. April 21, 2006.
- ^ "Singer Tony Harnell Officially Rejoins TNT". Blabbermouth.net. October 17, 2013.
- ^ "Skid Row Confirm Tony Harnell Of TNT As New Singer". BraveWords.com. April 6, 2015.
- ^ "Singer Tony Harnell Rejoins TNT". Blabbermouth.net. May 21, 2016.
- ^ "Vocalist Tony Harnell Once Again Exits TNT". Blabbermouth.net. October 11, 2017.
- ^ Blabbermouth (November 8, 2022). "It's Official: TNT Reunites With Singer TONY HARNELL Once Again". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
- ^ BraveWords. "TNT Reunites With Vocalist TONY HARNELL - "2023 Will Be An Explosive Year"". bravewords.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
- ^ "Westworld To Host Release Party For New Album". Blabbermouth.net. October 23, 2002.
- ^ "Starbreaker To Release 'Dysphoria' Album In January; 'Pure Evil' Single Available". Blabbermouth.net. October 19, 2018.
- ^ "Tony Harnell Hopes Starbreaker Will Perform Live In Support Of New Album 'Dysphoria'". Blabbermouth.net. November 17, 2018.
- ^ "Ex TNT Singer Discusses Tony Harnell & The Mercury Train Project". Blabbermouth.net. July 17, 2010.
- ^ "Guns N' Roses' Bumblefoot and TNT's Tony Harnell Join Forces". SleazeRoxx.com. October 25, 2012.
- ^ "Johnny Solinger Quits Skid Row, Tony Harnell Takes Over". UltimateClassicRock.com. April 6, 2015.
- ^ "Skid Row Learned Singer Tony Harnell Quit Via Social Media". Loudwire.com. December 31, 2015.
External links edit
- Official website