Supernova (Rock Star Band)
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Rock Star Supernova was a
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
-formed supergroup consisting of drummer
Tommy Lee Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...
, bassist
Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for the first five years of his career before ...
, guitarist
Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...
, and singer
Lukas Rossi Lukas Rossi (born December 21, 1976) is a Canadian rock singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. He was the winner of the CBS Television reality series '' Rock Star: Supernova'' – a televised audition contest to become lead singer of the h ...
. The band was formed during the second season of the '' Rock Star'' reality television series, which was titled '' Rock Star: Supernova''.


History

Rock Star Supernova band members Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted and Gilby Clarke formed the basis of the second season of the '' Rock Star'' television program on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
in the quest to find a lead singer. The show began online on the Rock Star website on MSN on Monday, July 3 with an Internet exclusive weekly episode and premiered on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
on July 5, 2006. Votes were cast via the Rock Star website. On September 13, 2006,
Lukas Rossi Lukas Rossi (born December 21, 1976) is a Canadian rock singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. He was the winner of the CBS Television reality series '' Rock Star: Supernova'' – a televised audition contest to become lead singer of the h ...
was crowned the winner.


Name issue

The band was originally formed as "Supernova", but the legality of the use of that name was called into question by another band of the same name:
Supernova A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...
, a
pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...
trio from California founded in 1989. On June 26, 2006, the latter band filed a federal lawsuit against
Mark Burnett James Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer who has won thirteen Emmy Awards including ten Primetime, one Sports Emmy Award and two Daytime Emmy Awards. His other accolades include five Producers Guild of America A ...
Productions, Rockstar Entertainment,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
, Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, and Gilby Clarke. The California band sought both compensatory and
punitive damages Punitive damages, or exemplary damages, are damages assessed in order to punish the defendant for outrageous conduct and/or to reform or deter the defendant and others from engaging in conduct similar to that which formed the basis of the lawsuit. ...
, as well as
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
protection of the "Supernova" name, the destruction of all Rock Star materials bearing the name "Supernova", and clarifying statements made on the show. One of their primary pieces of evidence was a message from Butch Walker on the social networking website
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
, in which he notes that the defendants had been informed of the existence of a prior band of the same name, but decided to proceed anyway. Lee, Newsted and Clarke were dropped as defendants in late August at the request of the original Supernova's lawyers. On September 12, 2006, San Diego Judge John Houston ruled in favor of the original Supernova, granting their request for a preliminary injunction. The injunction keeps the producers of ''Rock Star: Supernova'' — which concluded September 13 as a television show, but will continue as a recording, touring, and merchandise entity for some time to follow — from "performing rock and roll music, or recording, or selling rock and roll music recordings under the same ame pending a trial of this action on its merits, or until otherwise ordered by the court." The decision bars the CBS-created rockers from touring, recording and selling merchandise as "Supernova" once the order takes effect. First, the original Supernova must post bond, the amount of which has yet to be determined by the court. Following the litigation, all promotional material generally bore the name "Rock Star Supernova" on it. This was especially evident on the band's MySpace page, which identifies the band as Rock Star Supernova and not Supernova.


Debut album

Songwriter/performer
Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was lead guitarist for the glam metal band, SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s. From 1997 to 2001, he became th ...
was hired to produce the band's first album. The self-titled debut album was released on November 21, 2006. The album charted at No. 101 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 4 on the
Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...
. Music critics were negative of the album.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
, senior critic of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
, wrote, "At no point does this band make sense ... it's gloriously bad, the kind of music that can only result when three talented musicians are contractually obligated to work with a wannabe singer who would be a laughing stock on a local level." Christian Hoard of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' thought the album had a few bright spots, "but most of the tunes feel tired, if not retrograde: Opener 'It's On' could have come from Collective Soul, the ballads suck, and there are some dark, sub-Alice in Chains bangers." The band's first video, "
Headspin A headspin is an athletic move in which a person balances on their head while rotation, rotating along the vertical Axis of rotation, axis of their body, usually without any other form of support. The move is commonly employed in the Afro-Brazil ...
" was recorded in early October, and was released in January 2007. On October 23, 2006,
Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for the first five years of his career before ...
was injured while attempting to catch a falling bass amp head. The accident resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a
rotator cuff The rotator cuff (SITS muscles) is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles a ...
and
biceps The biceps or biceps brachii (, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle bel ...
tear in the right. He was scheduled for immediate surgery, and underwent a lengthy rehab process. While Newsted recovered, former
The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes ten studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...
bassist Johnny Colt served as a temporary replacement and was with the band on its national television debut on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
'' on November 21. The band went on tour with supporting acts Dilana (the runner-up on ''Rock Star: Supernova''), Juke Kartel (the band of Australian ''Rock Star: Supernova'' contestant Toby Rand) and The Panic Channel. In January 2007
Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...
released a best-of album featuring tracks from all of his solo albums as well as two songs from the Col. Parker project and a re-recording of the song "Black", featuring vocals by ''Rock Star: Supernova'' runner-up Dilana. On April 12, 2007, it was rumoured that Clarke had quit the band. It was subsequently confirmed, though, that he was still part of Rock Star Supernova. In June 2007, Rossi released "The Love and Lust EP", a recording of four acoustic tracks. He toured the U.S. and Canada during the summer of 2007. In April 2008, Rossi did an interview with ''LiveVideo.com'' in which he said "all that's not for me so I officially quit." He quit because the band members all started doing their own thing, such as DJing. This upset him, as he went through the audition process for one tour. Although on May 28, 2008 Rock Star Supernova reunited for the television series '' Battleground Earth''.


Discography


Album


Singles


Band members

*
Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...
 – lead guitar (2006–2008) *
Tommy Lee Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...
 – drums (2006–2008) *
Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for the first five years of his career before ...
 – bass (2006–2007) *
Lukas Rossi Lukas Rossi (born December 21, 1976) is a Canadian rock singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. He was the winner of the CBS Television reality series '' Rock Star: Supernova'' – a televised audition contest to become lead singer of the h ...
 – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2006–2008) * Johnny Colt – bass (2007–2008)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Star Supernova Musical groups established in 2006 American hard rock musical groups American rock music supergroups Musical groups disestablished in 2008