The Pretty Reckless’ Taylor Momsen On The New “Death By Rock And Roll” Album, Recording With Tom Morello & More
The Pretty Reckless formed in New York City in 2008, and the musicians and late producer Kato Khandwala initially made waves with the group’s 2010 debut Light Me Up. After countless gigs, the band returned with Going To Hell in 2014. Not only did the record crash the Top 5 of the Billboard Top 200, but it also ignited 3 #1 hits: the Platinum-certified “Heaven Knows” (reportedly the biggest rock song of 2014), “F**ked Up World,” and “Follow Me Down”; that feat that had not been accomplished by a female-fronted group since The Pretenders in 1984. Meanwhile, The Pretty Reckless’ third offering Who You Selling For saw the band return to #1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs Chart with “Take Me Down,” which cemented them as “the first band to send its first four singles to #1 on the chart,” per Billboard. All of that beyond half-a-billion streams and touring with Guns N’ Roses and Soundgarden.
The title track of the new Pretty Reckless album Death By Rock And Roll recently hit #1 on the rock charts and stayed there for multiple weeks. That marked the fifth #1 single of the band’s career, making The Pretty Reckless the first female-fronted band to have back-to-back #1 singles at the active rock format. Meanwhile, The Pretty Reckless is also the first female-fronted act to have five #1 singles on the Billboard chart. Chart stats aside, Death By Rock And Roll is an anthemic yet personal album which features appearances by Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil and Soundgarden (and Pearl Jam) drummer Matt Cameron. Prior to February 2021 release of the Century Media album — as recorded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — The Pretty Reckless had unveiled music videos for the tracks ”And So It Went” (which features Morello) and ”25.”
On February 19, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Taylor Momsen via Zoom, as embedded below. We spoke about Death By Rock And Roll overcoming tough times, Hoboken, future plans and plenty more within our conversation. More on Momsen and The Pretty Reckless — which also includes guitarist Ben Phillips, drummer Jamie Perkins and bassist Mark Damon — can be found online at www.deathbyrockandroll.com, www.instagram.com/theprettyreckless, www.facebook.com/theprettyreckless and www.centurymedia.com.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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