Skid Row is an American heavy metal band formed in Toms River, New Jersey in 1986, best known for their explosive commercial breakthrough in the late 1980s and early 1990s and the volcanic talent and equally volcanic temperament of their original vocalist Sebastian Bach. The band coalesced around guitarists Dave Sabo and Scotti Hill, bassist Rachel Bolan, and drummer Rob Affuso before recruiting the eighteen-year-old Bach, whose combination of extraordinary vocal range, physical presence, and genuine rock star charisma immediately set Skid Row apart from the crowded Sunset Strip scene they were about to conquer.
Their self-titled debut album (1989) on Atlantic Records was a phenomenon, selling over five million copies in the United States and producing four charting singles including Youth Gone Wild, 18 and Life, and I Remember You. 18 and Life and I Remember You both reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, making Skid Row one of the few hard rock acts to score multiple top-ten pop hits from a debut album. Their raw energy and Bach's extraordinary voice β capable of both glass-shattering high notes and genuine emotional depth β made them one of the most exciting live acts of the era. Slave to the Grind (1991) became the first heavy metal album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, a landmark achievement that demonstrated the band had transcended their Sunset Strip origins.
The relationship between Bach and the rest of the band deteriorated through the 1990s, culminating in his firing in 1996. The remaining members continued under the Skid Row name through a series of lineup changes and releases, eventually recruiting South African vocalist Johnny Solinger and later Erik Gronwall, releasing several albums that maintained a devoted following among fans of their classic sound. Bach meanwhile pursued a successful solo career and Broadway work. The original lineup has never reunited, but both camps have continued performing β Sabo and Bolan's Skid Row signed with earMUSIC and released the well-received The Gang's All Here (2022) with new vocalist Erik Gronwall, while Bach continues headlining his own tours celebrating the classic catalog.