William Shatner at the 22nd Annual VES Awards hosted by the Visual Effects Society held at The Beverly Hilton on February 21, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Forget about second acts in American life, TV legend William Shatner is up to his fourth, maybe 10th act at this point. The 94-year-old actor best known for playing the irascible James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek series and movies, as well as police sergeant T.J. Hooker in the 1980s is boldly going where even he hasn’t gone before.
In an Instagram post on Thursday (Feb. 19), the mutli-hyphenate performer who made his musical debut in 1968 with the beyond bizarre The Transformed Man LP featuring his florid readings of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” announced that he’s prepping his first heavy metal album at an age where metal typically goes into your body rather than comes out.
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“I have explored space. I have explored time. Now … I explore distortion. Yes. You read that correctly. I am releasing a HEAVY METAL album,” wrote Shatner in the post that was accompanied by a photo of the actor awkwardly cradling a Gibson Les Paul electric. “Thirty-five metal virtuosos. Thunderous guitars. Chaos with purpose. Covers of legends like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest — and a few originals forged in the same cosmic fire,” he added. “This project is, quite literally, a gathering of forces. Loud imagination. Honest intensity. Unapologetic exploration.”
At press time Shatner had not revealed the album title, which classic metal songs he’s covering or who those virtuoso players will be, but according to Blabbermouth he promised that the collection will be “a gathering of forces — each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”
The site reported that the collection is “built around massive guitars, cinematic arrangements, and Shatner’s signature vocal intensity … [playing] like a high-voltage film: sharp turns, dark humor, raw emotion, and moments of unexpected beauty. The result is an event album — designed not as a novelty, but as a statement, uniting a legion of metal’s most respected musicians under one uniquely singular vision.”
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It added that the idea was sparked during Shatner’s sessions with metal band Nuclear Messiah on their upcoming Black Flame concept album, on which he lends his stentorian vocals to an intro crafted with ex-Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland. “When Nuclear Messiah came to life, something clicked,” Shatner said about the album due out at some point this year. “It wasn’t just a track — it was a doorway. It made me want to go all the way in, bring in the best metal players I could find, and create something fearless.”
Shatner, an author, civilian astronaut, equestrian and pitchman — he is currently appearing in a cheeky Kellogg’s Raisin Bran spot as “Will Shat” that debuted during this month’s Super Bowl — has recorded with a number of hard rock icons in the past. Among the legends he’s rocked with are: Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde, Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore, the MC5’s Wayne Kramer and punk icon Henry Rollins, as well as Ben Folds, Aimee Mann, Brad Paisley, Iggy Pop, the Eagles’ Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph, among many others.
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“At 94, one does not slow down. One turns the volume up,” Shatner’s post continued. “So prepare yourselves. We are about to boldly headbang where no one has headbanged before. 🤘 Stay tuned. The metal voyage begins this year.”
