Lamb of God Drummer Chris Adler Reveals That Randy Blythe’s Manslaughter Trial “Bankrupted the Entire Band”

This is interesting, mostly because it gives you some sense of what it means to be a successful musician in metal today. Lamb of God are undeniably one of the biggest bands in the genre today. And given their popularity, I suspect that some of their fans assume they pretty much live like rockstars — e.g., they’re rich.

But in a new interview with The Virginian Pilot, drummer Chris Adler reveals that Randy Blythe’s manslaughter trial took a severe financial toll on the band:

“Not only were we not able to generate any income, but we ended up having to pay more than half a million dollars in legal fees. It bankrupted the entire band, no money left for any kind of payroll or anything. When Randy was acquitted, everything was on the line at that point. Either it was completely over, or we had a chance to get back out there and pay these bills and get ourselves back on our feet.”

You probably remember that Lamb of God not only launched a legal fund for Blythe’s defense, but held an eBay auction to raise money for that purpose as well. But it’s not surprising to hear that Blythe’s legal fees far outweighed the amounts raised by the fund and auction.

Also: I think it’s worth noting that when Adler mentions the “payroll,” he’s not just referring to money paid to the members of the band — the payroll would also include managers, booking agents, publicists, and, oh yeah, their crew, which would include techs, a tour manager, at least one sound guy, at least one lighting guy, and at  least one merch guy. Those definitively working-class employees may very well be freelance — which is to say, if they’re not working for LoG for X amount of time, they can go work for another band — but given that the group had to cancel at least two (by my count) tours because of Blythe’s ordeal, it’s likely they wouldn’t be able to find other gigs on such short notice.

All of which should lead you to this inevitable conclusion: now is a very good time to buy a Lamb of God t-shirt.

[via The PRP]