List of Anthrax members

Anthrax is an American thrash metal band from New York City. Formed in 1981, the group was originally a foursome consisting of guitarist Scott Ian, bassist Dan Lilker and drummer Dave Weiss. The band has been through many personnel changes, and currently includes rhythm guitarist Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante (since 1983), bassist Frank Bello (since 1984), vocalist Joey Belladonna (who first joined in 1984) and lead guitarist Jonathan Donais (since 2013).

Anthrax performing live in 2017

History

1981–1992

Anthrax was originally formed in 1981 by Scott Ian, Dan Lilker and Dave Weiss. A few months later, John Connelly and Paul Kahn took over on vocals and bass, respectively, and Lilker switched to rhythm guitar.^[1][2] The band went through many lineup changes in its early stages – Connelly was replaced by Dirk Kennedy, followed by Ian's brother Jason Rosenfeld, then Tommy Wise; Greg Walls spent two years with the group on lead guitar (Ian switched to rhythm guitar), followed briefly by Bob Berry; Kahn was replaced by Kenny Kushner, before Lilker took over on bass when Walls joined; and Weiss was replaced by Greg D'Angelo.^[2] The band eventually settled in 1983 with a lineup including Ian and Lilker, lead vocalist Neil Turbin (who joined in August 1982),^[3] drummer Charlie Benante and lead guitarist Dan Spitz.^[4]

After signing with Jon Zazula's new thrash metal label Megaforce Records later in the year, Anthrax recorded its debut album Fistful of Metal.^[4] Shortly after its January 1984 release, Turbin fired Lilker without consulting with the other members of the band, although Ian has since admitted that "there were issues" with the bassist.^[5] He was replaced by Frank Bello (Benante's nephew).^[6] Tensions continued to grow between Turbin and the rest of the group as they toured throughout 1984, leading to his eventual departure in August.^[3][7] Turbin was briefly replaced by Matt Fallon, before Joey Belladonna joined later in the year.^[8] After recording four studio albums with the band, Belladonna was fired from Anthrax in 1992 due to stylistic changes the group intended to take, with John Bush taking his place.^[9]

1992 onwards

Dan Spitz left Anthrax in 1995 to become a professional watchmaker.^[10] Guitars on Stomp 442 were recorded by Ian, Benante, Paul Crook and Pantera's Dimebag Darrell.^[11] Crook remained with Anthrax for touring and recording after the release of Stomp 442, although never became an official member.^[12] He was replaced in August 2001 by former Boiler Room guitarist Rob Caggiano.^[13] Bello briefly left in March 2004, with Joey Vera temporarily taking his place.^[14] It was announced in September 2005 that Spitz, Bello and Belladonna would return to Anthrax for a reunion tour and potentially new recordings.^[15] Alive 2 was recorded on the tour, but by January 2007 the reunion had fallen through as Belladonna had reportedly chosen not to continue working with the other members.^[16]

By the end of 2007, the group had enlisted Dan Nelson as its new lead vocalist and brought back Caggiano.^[17] However, after recording a new album with the band, Nelson left in July 2009 and was replaced for future tour dates by Bush.^[18] Belladonna returned to Anthrax the following year, making his first appearance at June's "big four" show and re-recording vocals on the album Worship Music.^[19] Caggiano left the band in January 2013,^[20] with Shadows Fall lead guitarist Jon Donais taking his place a week later.^[21]

Members

Current

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Scott Ian	1981–present	rhythm guitar backing vocals bass (studio only) lead guitar (1981, occasionally afterwards)	all Anthrax releases
	Charlie Benante	1983–present	drums percussion additional lead guitar (studio only)
	Frank Bello	1984–2004 2005–present	bass backing vocals	all Anthrax releases from Armed and Dangerous (1985) onwards
	Joey Belladonna	1984–1992 2005–2007 2010–present	lead vocals	all Anthrax releases from Armed and Dangerous (1985) to Live Noize (1992) Live: The Island Years (1994) Alive 2 (2005) all Anthrax releases from The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (2010) onwards
	Jonathan Donais	2013–present	lead guitar backing vocals	Chile on Hell (2014) For All Kings (2016) Kings Among Scotland (2018) XL (2022)

Former

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	Dan Lilker	1981–1984 (touring 2024)[22]	bass rhythm guitar (1981–1982) backing vocals	Fistful of Metal (1984)
	David Weiss	1981	drums	none
	John Connelly		lead vocals
	Paul Kahn		bass
	Kenny Kushner
	Dirk Kennedy	1981	lead vocals
	Greg Walls	1981–1983	lead guitar	Fistful of Metal (1984) uncredited songwriting
	Greg D'Angelo	1981–1983	drums	Fistful of Metal (1984) one track only
	Jason Rosenfeld	1981–1982	lead vocals	none
	Tommy Wise	1982
	Neil Turbin	1982–1984		Fistful of Metal (1984)
	Bob Berry	1983	lead guitar	none
	Dan Spitz	1983–1995 2005–2007	lead guitar backing vocals	all Anthrax releases from Fistful of Metal (1984) to Sound of White Noise (1993) Alive 2 (2005)
	Matt Fallon	1984	lead vocals	none
	John Bush	1992–2005 2009–2010		all Anthrax releases from Sound of White Noise (1993) to The Greater of Two Evils (2004)
	Rob Caggiano	2001–2005 2007–2013	lead guitar backing vocals	We've Come for You All (2003) The Greater of Two Evils (2004) The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (2010) Worship Music (2011) Anthems (2013)
	Dan Nelson	2007–2009	lead vocals	none – songwriting credits only

Touring

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Notes
	Paul Crook	1995–2000	lead guitar backing vocals	Crook joined the band as Dan Spitz's guitar tech in 1989, he took on live guitar duties after Spitz's departure in 1995.[23][24] He played lead guitar on select tracks on Stomp 442 (1995) and Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998) the latter of which he co-produced. He also served as an understudy in 2022.[25]
	Dave Sabo	2000		Sabo toured with Anthrax during 2000, when regular guitarist Crook was touring with Sebastian Bach.[26]
	Joey Vera	2004–2005 2008 2012	bass backing vocals	Vera toured with Anthrax after Bello's departure in 2004,[14][27] and again in 2008 and 2012.[28][29]
	Jason Bittner	2006 2012	drums	Bittner first filled in for Benante on the final two shows of the "Among the Living" lineup reunion tour in January 2006 when Benante's daughter was born,[30] and two more in February 2012.[31] Bittner also did the entire summer 2012 Rockstar Mayhem tour and subsequent fall 2012 tour until Benante returned in October after another battle with Carpal tunnel.[32]
	Andreas Kisser	2011	rhythm guitar backing vocals	Kisser substituted for Ian at eleven shows in July 2011, following the birth of the founding guitarist's first child.[33]
	Gene Hoglan	2012 2018	drums	Hoglan filled in for Benante, who was spending time with his terminally ill mother, at shows in January 2012.[34] He filled in again in 2018 when Benante was forced to take a break from touring due to his carpal tunnel syndrome.[35]
	Jon Dette	2012 2013 2015 2017 2018		Dette has substituted for Benante on various tours between November 2012 and May 2017.[36][37][38][39][40] Dette filled in for Benante again in 2018 when Benante was forced to take a break from touring due to his carpal tunnel syndrome.[41]
	Derek Roddy	2023		Roddy substituted for Benante in 2023 for medical reasons.[42]

Timeline

Lineups

Period	Members	Releases
Timeline of earlier lineups unclear
April 1982	Scott Ian – lead guitar Dan Lilker – rhythm guitar Dave Weiss – drums Jason Rosenfeld – lead vocals Kenny Kushner – bass[43]	none
September 1983 – early 1984	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Dan Lilker – bass Neil Turbin – lead vocals Charlie Benante – drums Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals	Fistful of Metal (1984)
Early – August 1984	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Neil Turbin – lead vocals Charlie Benante – drums Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals	none
Late 1984	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Matt Fallon – lead vocals
Late 1984 – late 1992	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Joey Belladonna – lead vocals	Armed and Dangerous (1985) Spreading the Disease (1985) Among the Living (1987) I'm the Man (1987) State of Euphoria (1988) Penikufesin (1989) Persistence of Time (1990) Live: The Island Years (1994) Caught in a Mosh: BBC Live in Concert (2007)
Late 1992 – early 1995	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals John Bush – lead vocals	Sound of White Noise (1993)
Early 1995 – August 2001	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums, lead guitar Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals John Bush – lead vocals Paul Crook – lead guitar, backing vocals	Stomp 442 (1995) Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998) Inside Out (1999)
August 2001 – March 2004	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals John Bush – lead vocals Rob Caggiano – lead guitar, backing vocals	We've Come for You All (2003) Music of Mass Destruction (2004) The Greater of Two Evils (2004)
March 2004 – September 2005	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums John Bush – lead vocals Rob Caggiano – lead guitar, backing vocals	none
September 2005 – January 2007	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Dan Spitz – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Joey Belladonna – lead vocals	Alive 2 (2005)
December 2007 – July 2009	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Rob Caggiano – lead guitar, backing vocals Dan Nelson – lead vocals	none
September 2009 – May 2010	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Rob Caggiano – lead guitar, backing vocals John Bush – lead vocals
May 2010 – January 2013	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Rob Caggiano – lead guitar, backing vocals Joey Belladonna – lead vocals	The Big Four: Live from Sofia, Bulgaria (2010) Worship Music (2011) Anthems (2013)
January 2013 – present	Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Charlie Benante – drums Frank Bello – bass, backing vocals Joey Belladonna – lead vocals Jonathan Donais – lead guitar, backing vocals	Chile on Hell (2014) For All Kings (2016) Kings Among Scotland (2018) XL (2022)[44]