Kings of Chaos (band)

Kings of Chaos
Kings of Chaos performing at the House of Blues in Las Vegas in December 2016
Background information
Also known as	Rock N Roll All-Stars
Genres	Rock
Years active	2012–present
Spinoff of	Guns N' Roses Velvet Revolver Aerosmith ZZ Top Cheap Trick Extreme Def Leppard Billy Idol Skid Row Deep Purple Linkin Park
Members	Matt Sorum Steve Stevens Corey Taylor Billy Duffy Robert DeLeo
Past members	Myles Kennedy Sebastian Bach Gilby Clarke Joe Elliott Glenn Hughes Duff McKagan Slash Nuno Bettencourt Ed Roland Dave Kushner Steven Tyler Billy Gibbons Robin Zander Chester Bennington
Website	kingsofchaosband.com

Kings of Chaos is a hard rock supergroup with international membership featuring a core lineup of drummer Matt Sorum, bassist Duff McKagan, and guitarist Gilby Clarke (all then formerly of Guns N' Roses), as well as a revolving appearances from members of Def Leppard, Deep Purple, Aerosmith and more.^[1] The group plays songs from all of these bands, and other classic rock covers. To date, they have only recorded and released one song, "Never Before", on the Deep Purple tribute, Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head.^[2]

History

The band was formerly known as the Rock N Roll All-Stars, which had a short tour of South America in 2012. Since their reincarnation as the Kings of Chaos, the band have played Australia's Stone Music Fest,^[3] four shows in South Africa,^[4] one show in the United States,^[5] and two in Central America.

The supergroup has previously stated that they would be releasing EPs in the future that would each contain 3 covers and an original track,^[6] but this has yet to happen.

The band always plays a setlist of songs from the bands of the members, and generally another few cover songs. Most prominent throughout are the Guns N' Roses classics, "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Paradise City" and "Welcome to the Jungle", Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and Deep Purple's "Highway Star."

One of the significant points to the Kings of Chaos is that they at one point had 4 members of the 1993 version of Guns N' Roses, and 2 original members. At the time, this was a higher number than the then-current incarnation of Guns N' Roses itself. The core line-up however includes original GNR member, Duff McKagan, KOC founder Matt Sorum who played with GNR from 1990-1997, and Gilby Clarke, who played for GNR from 1991 to 1994.

On August 19, 2014, Kings of Chaos announced a 2014 South African Tour with two scheduled dates that included Robin Zander of Cheap Trick, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith as a special guest.^[7] They were not joined by longtime members Joe Elliott and Glenn Hughes who both had other side projects that they were working on.

On November 4, 2014, Kings of Chaos played at Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards at the Avalon in Hollywood, with special guest Joe Perry. They were also joined on stage by Brian May.^[8]

On October 27, 2022, Sorum announced the band's debut album would be releasing digitally in the latter half of 2023 via AFM Records. Alongside the announcement, the band also released the single "Judgement Day".^[9]

On April 15, 2023, Kings of Chaos headlined at the Grand Prix of Long Beach with guest appearances from vocalists Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Corey Glover and Vernon Reid from Living Colour, Lzzy Hale, lead vocalist-guitarist of rock band Halestorm, and Rome Ramirez of Long Beach’s Sublime.^[10]

Members

The band is not meant to have a permanent lineup, and has thus had its fair share of personnel changes. At its core, playing every show with both the Kings of Chaos and Rock N Roll All-Stars, were the former Guns N' Roses members, Matt Sorum, Duff McKagan, and Gilby Clarke. This changed in December 2016 when Kings of Chaos played its first show without McKagan and Clarke.

Lineups

April 2012 "Rock 'N' Roll All-Stars"	20 April 2013 Stone Music Fest, Australia	June 2013 South African Tour
Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Joe Elliott – lead vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, backing vocals Sebastian Bach – lead vocals Gene Simmons – lead vocals, bass guitar Ed Roland – lead vocals Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals Billy Duffy – guitar, backing vocals Mike Inez – bass guitar, backing vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Joe Elliott – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Sebastian Bach – lead vocals, backing vocals Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Joe Elliott – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Myles Kennedy – lead vocals Slash – guitar, backing vocals Ed Roland – lead vocals Dave Kushner – guitar, backing vocals
18 November 2013 Dolphin Project Benefit, Avalon Hollywood	November 2013 Central American Tour	5 November 2014 Classic Rock Awards, Avalon Hollywood
Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, backing vocals Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals Slash – guitar, backing vocals Corey Taylor – lead vocals Guests: Franky Perez – lead vocals Juliette Lewis – lead vocals Les Stroud – harmonica Billy Ray Cyrus – lead vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, backing vocals, tambourine Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals Myles Kennedy – lead vocals Slash – guitar, backing vocals Corey Taylor – lead vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Joe Elliott – lead vocals, backing vocals Nuno Bettencourt – guitar, backing vocals Billy Gibbons – lead vocals, guitar Sammy Hagar – lead vocals Guests: Brian May – guitar Joe Perry – guitar
November - December 2014 South African Tour	27 February 2015 Private event, Vail, Colorado	May 2015 North American Tour
Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Nuno Bettencourt – guitar, backing vocals Billy Gibbons – lead vocals, guitar Steven Tyler – lead vocals, piano Robin Zander – lead vocals, guitar	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Billy Gibbons – lead vocals, guitar Robin Zander – lead vocals, guitar Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, backing vocals Billy Gibbons – lead vocals, guitar Robin Zander – lead vocals, guitar Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals
29 July 2015 Dolphin Project Benefit, Fillmore San Francisco	October 2015 Canadian Tour	September 2016–July 2017? North America
Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Glenn Hughes – lead vocals, backing vocals Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals Myles Kennedy – lead vocals Slash – guitar, backing vocals Billy Duffy – guitar, backing vocals Doug Aldrich – guitar, backing vocals Sammy Hagar – lead vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Duff McKagan – bass guitar, backing vocals Gilby Clarke – guitar, backing vocals Robin Zander – lead vocals, guitar Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals Sebastian Bach – lead vocals	Matt Sorum – drums Steve Stevens – guitar, backing vocals Billy Duffy – guitar, backing vocals Corey Taylor – lead vocals Billy Gibbons – guitar, lead vocals Chester Bennington – lead vocals Robert DeLeo – bass guitar, backing vocals

Timeline

References

1. "Mobile Uploads - Kings of Chaos SA Tour". Facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
2. Clark, William. "Re-Machined: A Tribute To Deep Purple's Machine Head". Guitar International. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
3. Paul Cashmere (2013-04-21). "Kings Of Chaos Were Stone Music Festival Highlight SETLIST | Australia's Music News Authority". Noise11.com. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
4. "SuperGroup Kings of Chaos Rocks Africa - Rolling Stone South Africa". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
5. "Kings of Chaos 'Dolphin Project' Benefit - Los Angeles [Photos". Glidemagazine.com. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
6. "Glenn Hughes Says New Black Country Communion Album May be Band's Last; Talks New Supergroup Project - Music News - ABC News Radio". Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
7. "Steven Tyler & Kings of Chaos Rock Supergroup Concert | Aerosmith, Live Music Concerts & Shows Western Cape South Africa 22-May-2015". Capetownmagazine.com. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
8. "Classic Rock Roll Of Honour: Live Performances Announced for 11/4 Ceremony From Kings Of Chaos, California Breed, Rival Sons & Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts | Mitch Schneider Organization". Msopr.com. 2014-10-30. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
9. Uitti, Jacob (October 27, 2022). "Guns N' Roses Members Reunite for New Kings of Chaos Album, Release First Single "Judgement Day"". American Songwriter. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
10. "Kings of Chaos rock the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach". Press Telegram. 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-08-21.