Metallica to Headline 5th Annual Golden Gods Awards — Vote Now!

America’s only hard-rock and heavy-metal award show is back and bigger than ever in 2013!

Fozzy frontman and WWE pro-wrestling legend Chris Jericho will reprise his role as host for the fourth consecutive year. The nominees in 11 different fan-voted categories, plus the recipients of this year’s “Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award” (presented by Ernie Ball), “Golden God Award” (presented by Sumerian Records) and “Riff Lord” (presented by EMG Pickups), were revealed at a press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Host Chris Jericho was on hand, along with Sebastian Bach, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Maria Brink and Chris Howorth (In This Moment), John 5 (Rob Zombie), Greg Puciato (Dillinger Escape Plan) and Zakk Wylde to announce the nominees. Halestorm performed a live set, including a guest appearance by Sebastian Bach on a cover of the Skid Row classic “Slave to the Grind.”

Fans everywhere can cast their vote to decide who will take home the awards for “Best Guitarist” (presented by Epiphone), “Best Drummer” (presented by Drum Workshop), “Best Vocalist” (presented by Rockstar Energy Drink), “Album of the Year” (presented by Orange Amplification), “Song of the Year,” “Best Live Band” (presented by Samson/Zoom), “Best New Talent,” “Most Metal Athlete,” (presented by Roadrunner Records), “Comeback of the Year,” “Paul Gray Best Bassist” (presented by Dean Markley) and “Most Dedicated Fans” (presented by Xbox LIVE).

“What can I say? It is a complete honor to receive this award and have my name join the list of such legendary past winners as Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons," Zombie said. "Pretty cool deal to be part of the Golden God club.” (The other previous honorees are Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth.) Rob Zombie will be releasing his new album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor (Zodiac Swan/T-Boy/Ume), on April 23, and his latest feature film, The Lords of Salem (Anchor Bay), on April 26.

“Since the Revolver Golden Gods Awards is fast becoming THE most rocking awards ceremony in the hard rock world, we are beyond psyched to be at the receiving end of this shout out and in the distinguished company of Rush, Lemmy, Ozzy and Motley Crue," said Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. "I was hanging out and presenting at the shenanigans two years ago, and the energy in the room and the vibe backstage was beyond fucking cool, so Metallica is chomping at the bit to partake in this year's event. Once again, we are honored to be recognized as achievers (!!), and we can't wait to get up and jam onstage and sweat for and on everybody gathered.”

The Riff Lord Award (presented by EMG Pickups) is given each year to a legendary guitarist in the field of hard rock and heavy metal. This year it’s going to Black Sabbath axeman Tony Iommi, who had this to say: "What a great honor to receive the Golden Gods Riff Lord Award for 2013, especially with our new Sabbath album coming out. I hope there will be some new favorite riffs in these songs.” Slash of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver won the award last year.

Adding to the celebration, the 2013 Revolver Golden Gods Awards show will feature one-of-a-kind performances and collaborations that honor the past, present and future of heavy music. The night’s hard-rocking musical performances will include sets by Metallica, Five Finger Death Punch, Anthrax, Stone Sour, Dillinger Escape Plan and Halestorm, with more performers to be announced in the coming weeks.

Ivan Moody, lead singer of Five Finger Death Punch, had this to say about his band’s Golden Gods performance: “Being in the studio these last few months working on our new album, the momentum has been building. We are ready to be back where we belong — onstage in front of all of you! What better way to play our first show of 2013 than with our family at Revolver and on America’s only hard-rock and heavy-metal awards show!”

Stone Sour lead singer Corey Taylor says, “Me and the guys in Stone Sour are very excited, not only to be a part of the Golden Gods, but also to be headline the first Road to the Golden Gods Tour! The Golden Gods is the only awards show in America that truly recognizes and honors our genre; so to be a part of a tour that they sponsor is something that we are all very proud of. We’re looking forward to the tour, and looking forward to the awards ceremony. We promise we will have something special that no one will ever forget!”

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