Andrew Freeman – Photo: Christopher Carroll / Roy Cathey – Photo: Joe Schaeffer
METAL SLUDGE / August 30th 2026 – The Quiet Riot world has been pretty ripe with interest over the last month or so but it really heated up over the weekend.
Late last week Quiet Riot made a public statement that they have found their new frontman who will be introduced in October… the group simultaneously announced that Dangerous Toys singer Jason McMaster will fill-in for 2 shows.
Quiet Riot’s current frontman Jizzy Pearl has taken a short leave as he is touring the U.K. with Love/Hate for a run of shows this coming week… but word is, Pearl will return to play his final Quiet Riot shows with the band on the 11th and 18th of September before relinquishing his position to their newest member.
Since Quiet Riot made their public statement, the internet has been full of chatter about who might be the guy with fans choosing their favorites and commenting on all things related.
A few of the names that have continued to circulate over the last 5-6 weeks have been Andrew Freeman and Roy Cathey along with the people’s choice, the Long Island wonder-kid John Torra.
Freeman has been a regular on the rock circuit finding his way into various bands and projects on-going for a number of years now including stints in The Offspring and Lynch Mob before spending more than a decade in the Dio tribute Last in Line.
Last in Line featured Freeman along with Vivian Campbell, Vinny Apice and Phil Soussan but it became public knowledge earlier this year that the singer was let go from the project and that did not sit well with Freeman as the two-sides seemed to throw shade at each other in the press.
ANDREW FREEMAN On Getting Fired From LAST IN LINE: ‘I Think It’s Completely Asinine, The Decision They’ve Made What To Do’ – BLABBERMOUTH.NET
Freeman also sang for Hurricane in 2010, then Raiding the Rock Vault in 2013 before ending up in the short lived BulletBoys off-shoot Lies, Deceit & Treachery in 2018.
Freeman also filled-in for FireHouse in 2021 and the following year was called in to front Great White at select shows.
Back in March of 2023 Freeman did an interview on the This, That And The Other Radio Show and podcast with Troy Patrick Farrell and Freeman spoke his mind on a few of the projects he had sang for, including FireHouse and Great White.
There also seemed to be turmoil building in the Last in Line camp as well, as Freeman went on record saying: “I just don’t care anymore. It’s not that I don’t care about doing the right thing, I don’t care if these guys like me or if they like me anymore”, Freeman continues with “If they don’t like me, that’s fine. I don’t care, straight up.”
Freeman was also asked whether Wendy Dio approves of Last In Line, a tribute to her late husband Ronnie James Dio; “Definitely not. Definitely not approved.”
Freeman added; “I’m going to hesitate from elaborating because I’ve lost work because of this band and their feud, I’ve lost work.”
So, rumors of Freeman as a viable option seem realistic, and were far from far-fetched based on his track record stepping in and out of more than a half-dozen bands just in recent years… but it seems the singer has taken umbrage with the rumor that he might be the guy.
Freeman took to his official Facebook calling it, “FAKE NEWS”, and adding, “Best of luck to whoever she… I mean, whoever it turns out to be.”
She?
That seemed a bit derogatory… but hey it’s 2026 and this is the internet, fair?
Perhaps loose lips also contribute to ‘lost work‘, especially when calling the next ‘male‘ singer in Quiet Riot a ‘she‘.
Quiet Riot’s official statement did note it was a male when they used ‘he’ and ‘his’ in their release… so Freeman calling the new singer a ‘she’, was an insult at best.
The other name that popped up more than once, was Roy Cathey.
Cathey is best known for singing in Cold Sweat, a band that was formed by Marc Ferrari back in 1989 with frontman Oni Logan but just as the band was set to go forward with MCA Records, Logan left to join George Lynch in Lynch Mob which opened the door for Cathey to become the voice of Cold Sweat.
Outside of Cold Sweat, Cathey also fronts his band The Fifth in addition to singing for a Boston tribute group called ‘Don’t Look Back – The Boston Experience’.
Cathey also took to Facebook late last week and shared his vocal audition singing the Quiet Riot classic “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” and simply wrote: “Their Loss.”
Cathey followed up his original Facebook vlog with a longer and more detailed post that included the following: “To be clear, I did not seek out this gig. I was personally contacted by the band’s agency, who is also the agent for Cold Sweat. When I received the phone call I felt obligated to submit since I was asked, so I contacted my dear friend and long time engineer Andy Pow and as always he immediately made time for me to get into the studio. I went into the studio after listening to the tracks a couple of times and did what I did. Although I knew the stakes were high, I went into this session with no real sense of pressure. What was captured on video by my love Constance Waddell was 1 take, and that’s the beauty and magic of the video.
After my submission I was immediately contacted by the “powers that be” of the organization. And after a phone call that was full of “Red Flags” I honestly felt uneasy and concerned with the line of questioning and overall tone of the conversation, so, I basically turned it off in my mind. This is not my first rodeo. This is not my first time being approached by a major band and having that carrot dangled in front of me. But after being completely screwed by “Mr. Scary” a few years ago, I’ve learned to never get my hopes up about these things, so I didn’t.”
Freeman and Cathey have essentially removed themselves from the running with their recent comments… so… with that, who is left to be considered as the new lead singer for Quiet Riot?
Jizzy Pearl is about to leave the project on his own accord for the second time, so it’s a safe bet he’s not sticking around beyond September.
We’ve also learned that Jason McMaster will fill-in for these few shows while Pearl is out with Love/Hate.
There have been other mentions of Paul Shortino, John Corabi, and a few others… but it’s also safe to say that these guys won’t be stepping into that slot either.
Lastly… the online hopefuls who started sharing their video auditions via social media last month were a plenty, but the John Torra clips were the far and away winner when it comes to the people’s choice and it wasn’t even close.
Will the fans get what they want or does Quiet Riot have a surprise up their sleeve?
The Los Angeles based Quiet Riot features classic bassist Rudy Sarzo, Alex Grossi on guitars and Johnny Kelly on drums.
Now… we all patiently await to find out who will carry on the legacy in Kevin DuBrow and Frankie Banali‘s honor.
Stay tuned to Metal Sludge for more Breaking News, Updates and Features along with both New Interviews along with Classic 20 Questions.
