Matt Fallon (born Matthew Frankel; September 30, 1965,

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

) is a heavy metal singer best known for his work with

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

and

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The s ...

Early life

Fallon moved to central New Jersey at the age of eight with his parents and younger brother, and by 15 he was playing in a neighborhood garage band with drummer Paul Monroe (aka Paul Schneiderman) who later played with the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

-based band, XYZ.

Career

Inspired by bands like

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

and

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and heavy metal, but the band calls it ...

, Fallon fronted several local acts in the early 1980s including Steel Fortune where he teamed up with guitar player Dave Sabo. Steel Fortune and Anthrax were both on the bill when

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

came to the

Sayreville, New Jersey Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2010 United St ...

area in 1983 to promote the release of their first album. In mid 1984 Scott Ian of Anthrax crossed paths with Fallon again at a Steel Fortune show in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After the show Ian asked Fallon if he would like to try out for the lead vocals spot recently vacated by

Neil Turbin Neil Turbin (born December 24, 1963) is an American singer known for being the first full-time vocalist for thrash metal band Anthrax (American band), Anthrax. He is the current lead vocalist and songwriter of Heavy metal music, heavy metal ban ...

. Fallon accepted and Anthrax began writing & recording their next album “Spreading the Disease” at Pyramid Studios in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

. However, Fallon left before finishing the album, and he was replaced by

Joey Belladonna Joey Belladonna (born Joseph Bellardini; October 13, 1960) is an American singer, best known as the vocalist for thrash metal band Anthrax. He is also the vocalist and drummer of the cover band Chief Big Way. Belladonna has six Grammy Award no ...

. In 1986, Fallon was contacted by Sabo about fronting his newly formed band Skid Row. Fallon accepted, and Skid Row began recording a demo at Jon Bon Jovi's studio in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

while playing crowd favorites like " Youth Gone Wild" and " 18 and Life" in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania area clubs throughout the year. Fallon also co-wrote the song “Midnight/Tornado” with Sabo. In December 1986 Fallon & Skid Row opened for

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

on their Slippery When Wet tour in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

and

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, Johnstown is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, whi ...

. Fallon and Skid Row parted ways in 1987 and he was later replaced by Sebastian Bach. Fallon continued to front local bands from 1987 through the mid-1990s. In 1990, he married Debra Contillo, and in 1991 he had a daughter, Brittany Rene. In 1991 he recorded a solo album named ''Fallon'', which was released in November 2015.

Discography

Anthrax * ''

Spreading the Disease ''Spreading the Disease'' is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Anthrax, released on October 30, 1985 by Megaforce Records and Island Records. It was the band's first album to feature vocalist Joey Belladonna and bassist ...

'' (1985) (Lyrics) Skid Row * ''The Matt Fallon Demos'' (1986) * ''

'' (1989) (Writing credit on "Midnight / Tornado") Fallon ''(1991)''
01. Blue Sky in the Rain
02. Light It Up
03. Not a Thing
04. Queen
05. The Rain Inside
06. No Stranger
07. Modern Love
08. Feel It for the First Time
09. Me
10. Bad Attitude
11. Tears
12. Easy Come, Easy Go

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Matt 1965 births American heavy metal singers Anthrax (American band) members Living people Musicians from Brooklyn Singers from New York City Skid Row (American band) members