About Ross the Boss
Ross Friedman , also known as Ross the Boss, is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of both the punk band the Dictators and the heavy metal band Manowar.
Friedman was born in the Bronx, New York, and formed the punk rock band the Dictators with Andy Shernoff in New Paltz, New York, in 1973. Prior to this, Friedman had played in a local band, Total Crudd. After recording three albums with the Dictators, Friedman went to France and worked for one year in Fabienne Shine's band Shakin' Street. On Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell tour in 1980 , Friedman was introduced to bass player Joey DeMaio by Ronnie James Dio. Later in 1980, Friedman and DeMaio formed Manowar, with whom he recorded six albums before DeMaio asked him to leave the band after the 1988 album Kings of Metal.
In 1990, Friedman joined Manitoba's Wild Kingdom with fellow Dictators Andy Shernoff and Handsome Dick Manitoba. With drummer J. P. Patterson the band released the album ...And You? to critical acclaim. The album was in heavy rotation on MTV.
In 1994, Friedman had a blues rock band called "Heyday" and in 1999 CMC records released the Spinatras album @Midnight.com, a band whom Friedman has described as "The Dictators meet Cheap Trick".
The Dictators started playing again in 1996, touring heavily. In 2001, with original rhythm guitar player Scott Kempner now back in the fold, the band released their album "D.F.F.D." which they then toured to support in the US and Europe. A resulting live album was released from the European tour, entitled "Viva Dictators".
In 2004, Friedman joined Albert Bouchard, the original drummer for Blue Öyster Cult, in his band Brain Surgeons. He also recorded an instrumental album with Dictators drummer JP Thunderbolt Patterson, called "Thunderboss"
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