Rob Dukes Informations

Robert "Rob" Dukes (born March 8, 1968) is an American vocalist, best known as the former vocalist for the American thrash metal band Exodus, and current vocalist for his crossover thrash project Generation Kill

Dukes was born in Florida on March 8, 1968, living in Queens before moving to Nyack, New York, north of Manhattan. He describes his parents as being "kinda hippies" who regularly played records by artists such as The Doors, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix, which was the music he grew up on.

Dukes has stated in interviews that punk rock was his gateway into music in terms of angst and attitude, "it wasn't complicated music like metal was, three chords and scream...I can do that". He also plays guitar, claiming that he was "mediocre" but "having fun" at first, with Randy Rhoads as a huge influence, although it took him a month to learn Rhoads' acoustic piece "Dee" from Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz album. On his beginnings as a singer, Dukes says, "I found out I could sing sitting in my room with an acoustic. I liked Maiden and Priest but could never sing that well, then I found Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, S.O.D., Anthrax, Misfits and thought, 'I can sing like that'."

After being fired from a band he was part of in New York, Dukes rode his motorcycle on a 5-month, 11,000 mile trip to California, with no idea of career prospects. Despite considering a career as a scuba diving instructor, Dukes ended up working as a guitar tech after living in Hollywood for two months. He met and befriended Jeff Hickey, a long time friend of Exodus. While working for Exodus, Dukes played a demo tape that he composed in 1996 to guitarist Rick Hunolt and drummer Tom Hunting in case they needed a new vocalist. After Steve Souza's departure in 2004, Dukes was hired as the band's new vocalist and would make his debut on the 2005 album Shovel Headed Kill Machine. He would appear on the next three studio albums, one of which being 2008's Let There Be Blood, a re-recorded version of 1985's Bonded by Blood.

On June 8, 2014, Exodus announced their split with Dukes and would reunite with Souza thereafter. In October 2015, Dukes lashed out at his former bandmates saying, "Fuck those douchebags. I never have to talk to them again...or their managers, and that's such a good thing. It's like I cut a cancer out of my life." He then said that he had not spoken to them since his departure and addressed a 20-second phone call conversation he had with drummer Tom Hunting about the band's reunion with Souza. Dukes later blamed Testament vocalist Chuck Billy for his dismissal. Billy denied that he was responsible for Dukes' firing. He would later say that there was no passion in the music before his departure and also criticized the material that the band was working on at the time, calling it "regurgitated shit that we had just done and done over and over again". He then explained that he experienced pressure towards the end of his time in Exodus as he became a newlywed and was moving into a new home.

On July 8, 2017, Dukes rejoined with Exodus to perform with them as part of a two-night stint event in San Francisco. Dukes would later say that he's "totally at peace" over his firing and that performing with the band again "was a lot of fun, man; it was a lot of laughs. The show was great." He has since restored his friendship with the band.

In a January 2019 interview, Dukes expressed disappointment that guitarist Gary Holt started performing with Slayer in 2011, which limited any activity in Exodus. He says that the band's reunion with Souza was a business decision and for financial reasons. He then explained that after his marriage and his firing from Exodus, he struggled to find a way to provide support for his family as he was unemployed for about a year. He would eventually become employed as a mechanic specializing in car restoration and also took ownership over his role in his deteriorating relationship with Exodus, crediting his conversation with Megadeth bassist David Ellefson and T.S.O.L. vocalist Jack Grisham.

Dukes formed Generation Kill in 2008. They released Red White and Blood in 2011 and followed with We're All Gonna Die in 2013 and are currently working on a collaboration with former Run-D.M.C member Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels. The album has a working title of DMC Generation Kill and will also be produced by Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.;

In 2008, Dukes formed a solo project. His first self-titled EP was released on October 2, 2017 throughout all digital retailers.

In February 2019, Dukes teamed up with former Sacred Reich drummer Greg Hall, Dark Angel guitarist Eric Meyer and bassist Mike Gonzalez, and Autumn's End vocalist/guitarist Chris Cannella to form Bloodmoon Ritual.

Feature Interview in the Independent Documentary, "Riphouse 151: Could've Been's and Wanna Be's", which premiered on March 27, 2008 at Riverspace Arts in his hometown of Nyack, New York.

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