Is Steel Panther still making music? Their Members, Age, Reviews

About Steel Panther’s formation

The comedic glam metal band Steel Panther was formed in 2000 in Los Angeles, California USA, and was initially known as Metal Shop; the founders were lead singer Ralph Saenz aka Michael Starr, guitarist and backing vocalist Russ ‘Satchel’ Parrish, bass and backing vocalist Travis Haley aka Lexxi Foxx, and drummer and backing vocalist Darren Leader aka Stix Zadinia. The band is known for their humoristic and profane lyrics; they eventually adopted the name ‘Steel Panther’ in 2008.

Early years

Steel Panther steadily began attracting attention on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, Los Angeles in the first half of the 2000s; they performed nearly every week at the Viper Room prior to being invited to perform at the Key Club. The band was initially mostly into covering hair metal hits, and they became somewhat popular following the release of their debut album “Hole Patrol” in 2003; it was also in the same year that they changed their name to Danger Kitty, and then to Metal Skool.

Their 2003 single “Death to All But Metal” became quite popular, as well as their cover of Aldo Nova’s song “Fantasy”, which served as the theme song for the MTV show “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory”.

The men performed at the Gene Simmons roast on 27 November 2007, mostly singing songs by KISS, and the same year saw them perform in the comedy series “Las Vegas”.

Steel Panther and further success

It was in April 2008 that their name was officially changed to ‘Steel Panther’, and they made a ‘new debut’ at The Rockin’ Saddle Club; the same year saw them sign a contract with Republic Records, and reveal that they were working on their second album.

The album came out in the UK on 8 June 2009, entitled “Feel the Steel”, and was released in the US on 6 October; it was a hit as it topped the Billboard Comedy chart, while it also peaked at #98 on Billboard 200. “Feel the Steel” spawned the hit song “Community Property”, while the album also featured several other popular musicians, such as M. Shadows, Justin Hawkins and Corey Taylor; another successful song “Eyes of a Panther” was featured in the video game “Skate 3”.

Their third studio album “Balls Out” came out on 31 October 2011, and is often referred to as the band’s second album as it was their second under a major label; it topped the UK iTunes Rock chart, ranking ahead of Metallica’s album “Lulu” and Megadeth’s “TH1RT3EN”, and the album also reached #1 on Billboard Comedy, #40 on Billboard 200 and #4 on US iTunes Rock. Steel Panther was then invited to perform on the Mirrorball Tour, and on 21 December 2011, they opened for one of the most popular hard rock ‘n’ roll bands of all time – Guns N’ Roses.

The band’s first live DVD “British Invasion” was released in September 2012, while they’d previously performed on the main stage at Download Festival in the UK in June. They then spent December 2013 touring around Australia – most of their shows were sold out.

Their third major label studio album “All You Can Eat” came out on 1 April 2014, and both its lead singles “The Burden of Being Wonderful” and “Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World” became hits; the album was leaked on the internet on 26 March 2014, after having been streamed by the German tabloid “Blid”. Steel Panther performed around the UK again in the second half of 2014, with most of their shows also having been sold out.

Their acoustic album “Live from Lexxi’s Mom’s Garage” came out on 26 February 2016, and was followed by their fourth album “Lower the Bar” on 24 March 2017, but failed to achieve the success of its predecessors.

The band revealed in July 2019 that they were working on their fifth album “Heavy Metal Rules”; they released its lead single “All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight)” on 8 July 2019, while the album’s second single “Always Gonna Be a Ho” followed on 9 August, the third single “Gods of Pussy” on 6 September, and the album was officially released on 27 September.

They embarked on their tour ‘Sex Rehab’ in the first half of 2019, however, bassist Lexxi Foxx had to skip it for unknown reasons, and was replaced by Joe ‘Spyder’ Lester. In the summer of 2021, Lexxi quit the band for personal reasons, and Steel Panther then organized virtual auditions for a new bassist; temporary member Rikki Dazzle was introduced to the band’s fans in October 2021, while Spyder was introduced as a full-time member in September 2022.

Is the band still making music today?

Steel Panther are still active in the music industry today, and most recently in 2023, they released their sixth studio album “On The Prowl”; the same year saw them appear in the reality show “America’s Got Talent”.

YouTube channel

Steep Panther launched their self-titled YouTube channel on 2 June 2009, and it’s today subscribed to by over 350,000 people, while they’ve shared 330 videos, all of which together number nearly 160 million views. They’re mostly into posting their original music videos, although some of their content features them performing live and giving interviews; we’ll cover the band’s three most watched videos as these have contributed to their overall popularity.

Their #1 video “Steel Panther – Death To All But Metal (Explicit)” has been watched more than 16 million times since 16 June 2009, and is the music video for what’s widely believed to be their most popular song: “Death to All But Metal”.

Steel Panther’s second most watched video “Steel Panther – Gloryhole (Explicit)” has been viewed more than 12 million times since 9 April 2014, and is the official music video of their song “Gloryhole”.

Their #3 video “Steel Panther – Community Property” has been watched over 11 million times since 24 November 2009, and is the music video of their hit song “Community Property”.