Chuck Billy Says He Didn’t Get Rob Dukes Fired From Exodus
When singer Rob Dukes left Exodus last year, he claims he was fired at the behest of Testament vocalist Chuck Billy, who is also one of Exodus’ managers, and who Dukes says is probably actively trying to sabotage Exodus so that Testament can do better than them.
Axl posited that Dukes’ theory was some angry bullcrap, and I’m inclined to agree with him — even if Billy urged the band to fire Dukes, I think it might be because a) fans like singers they recognize, and Steve “Zetro” Souza is the most recognizable vocalist of Exodus; and b) because Dukes is the sort of guy who justifies these kinds of theories with the idea that he’s as shallow and opportunistic as he claims Billy to be. This is no shade on Dukes as a singer — I think “Riot Act” is one of the best songs the band has ever released — but his theory on Billy’s puppeteering of the situation sounds bonkers.
Well, in a recent interview with Sticksforstones.com, Billy was asked if there was any truth to Dukes’ theory, and he responded:
“No, there’s not at all. I know Rob knows the truth about that. The only thing I did was, working with the band at the time, I made a suggestion, ‘Either get somebody brand new or give Zet a shot.’ And so they gave Zet a shot. And no matter how bad three of the guys in the band didn’t want Zet back in, I think Zet proved himself by kicking ass on the demo. And I think Zet is a recognizable Exodus voice. So, you know, it made sense, but it wasn’t me pushing it. It was just me presenting it to the guys, and the guys made the decision.”
Iiinteresting. I’m not at all surprised that Billy denies Dukes’ paranoid theory, but my interest is piqued by his statement that three other members of the band didn’t want Souza back in. Obviously, Souza’s been let go from the band in the past, so it makes sense that not everyone in Exodus loves him.
Anyway, I won’t be surprised if Dukes comes firing back with some sort of rant about Billy being a liar. I guess we’ll never know unless some sort of secret dossier among Billy’s people gets revealed to the public. Meanwhile, let’s see how long Zetro lasts in the band this time around.
