This was not your typical boring long-winded political speeches that are called an award show. This is Rock N Roll, the foundation of one’s existence!!! For the first time ever the Loudwire Music Awards debut on Tuesday, October 24 at the Novo in DTLA, a day and evening honoring 2017’s Best Hard Rock and Metal, including fan-voted awards, with special honors to Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Sammy Hagar of Van Halen/Solo career.
To kick off this day at noon was the “Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Summit” held at the Grammy Museum. The panel featured icons Rob Halford, Sammy Hagar, Rex Brown, Steve Vai, Alex Skolnick, Frank Bellos and others. “The summit was designed to hit on hot-button issues for artists in the music and entertainment industry as well as give fans a chance to see a live taping of LOUDWIRE.com popular segment “Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction.”
As photographers take their marked spot on the Black Carpet in front of the Novo, the fans start to gather on this fall day of 107 degrees in Southern California, all wearing the proper attire of Metal – black! It was a hot one. Sirius XM Host Jose Magin is the first down the Black Carpet to the staging area to conduct interviews followed by the who’s who of Metal and Rock including newcomers to the scene as they start their way down the Black Carpet to the awaiting media for interviews and photographs. I must give kudos to Avatar, the heat was unbearable but they were in full makeup and stage attire, the king in full length robe, the five of them rocked the Black Carpet. The list of artists is impressive:
Anthrax, Anti-Flag, Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Greg Tribbett and Matthew McDonough of Audiotopsy, August Burns Red, Bad Wolves, Beartooth, Black Map, Brendon Small of Galaktikon, Brian Posehn, Brian Slagel, Butcher Babies, Cast of Glow, Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chris Jericho WWE/Fozzy (Host), Chuck Mosley, Clay Busch and Danny Wimmer Presents, Crown The Empire, DED, Demon Hunter, Dez Fafara, Fireball Ministry James A. Rota & Emily Burton, Fozzy, Gary Holt of Exodus/Slayer, Halestorm, Hollywood Undead, Howard Jones Light The Torch, Ice-T Body Count & Coco, In This Moment, Jamey Jasta, Jill Janus, Joey Jordison Vimic, Joey Kramer Aerosmith, John 5, Jose Mangin (Sirius XM Host), King Woman, KYNG, Lita Ford, Megadeth, New Years Day, Nothing More, Of Mice & Men, Pop Evil, Power Trip, Powerflo, Prayers, Red Fang, Rex Brown Pantera, Rob Halford (Lemmy Award) and Richie Faulkner Judas Priest, Riley McShane Allegaeon, Rita Haney, Royal Thunder, Sammy Hagar Solo/VanHalen (Humanitarian Award), Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo The Bloody Beetroots, Squiggy DiGiacomo & Sarah Hernandez The Music Experience, Starset, Steel Panther, Steve Vai, Stitched Up Heart, Stone Sour, Sum 41 Deryck Whibley & Frank Zummo, Sylar, Alex Skolnick and Chuck Billy Testament, The Miz WWE, Tommy Victor Prong/Danzig, Tony Iommi Black Sabbath (Courage Award), Vinnie Paul Hellyeah, Volumes, Wage War, Wendy Dio, Will Haven, Winds of Plague and Zakk Wylde Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne.
All photos by Tammy Greene
©2017. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
Once the Black Carpet ended, artists, media, and the fans had some time to get out of the sun grab a cool drink before heading into the Novo for the Loudwire Music Awards.
Let’s get the evening started. Renowned hard rock music site Loudwire.com held the first annual Loudwire Music Awards, a welcome sight to rock and heavy metal fans. Hosted by WWE superstar and founder of Fozzy, Chris Jericho. His classic one-liners kept the fans laughing and the artist repeating it throughout the night. Celebrating one big Hard Rock and Heavy Metal family.
Live performances, opening the show with an phenomenal performance was In This Moment with Rob Halford of Judas Priest performing Black Wedding (Billy Idol cover), Ice-T and Body Count with Dave Mustaine of Megadeath performing Civil War, Nothing More with Aaron Pauley of Of Mice & Men performing Audioslave‘s Show Me How to Live, Starset performing Satellite, Power Trip with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed performing We Are the Road Crew (Motorhead cover), Halestorm honoring Chris Cornell performing Fell On Black Days (Soundgarden cover) also performing with Lita Ford Cherry Bomb a tribute to Women of Rock as Emma Anzai Sick Puppies. Pearl Aday and Ash Costello New Years Day, Carla Harvey and Heidi Shephard of Butcher Babies, Mixi Demner Stitched Up Heart, Jill Janus Huntress and Maria Brink In This Moment join the stage. Anthrax with Frank Mandel of Elton John/Queen performing Carry on my Wayward Son (Kansas cover). Closing the show was Avenged Sevenfold performing The Stage and Nightmare.
Before the awards are handing out, Jericho talked about the intense balloting system, introducing the guys that keep the award show honest…. Steel Panther and Associates.
Fourteen awards were handed out in various categories nominees and winner as follows:
BEST GUITARIST
* Tosin Abasi. Animals As Leaders
* Synyster Gates & Zacky Vengeance, Avenged Sevenfold
* Brent Hinds & Bill Kelliher, Mastodon
* Dave Mustaine & Kiko Loureiro – Megadeth
* Mark Tremonti, Alter Bridge
* Zakk Wylde, Ozzy Osbourne/Zakk Sabbath – Winner
BREAKTHROUGH BAND presented by APPLE MUSIC
* Avatar
* Beartooth – Winner
* Bloodclot
* Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
* King Woman
* Royal Thunder
BEST BASSIST presented by INDIGO HOTELS
* Frank Bello, Anthrax
* Derek Boyer, Suffocation
* Rex Brown, Rex Brown
* Matt Freeman, Rancid
* Steve Harris, Iron Maiden – Winner
* Mike Kerr, Royal Blood
METAL SONG OF THE YEAR presented by APPLE MUSIC
* Body Count “No Lives Matter”
* DragonForce “Ashes of the Dawn”
* Municipal Waste “Amateur Sketch”
* Obituary “Sentence Day”
* Pallbearer “I Saw The End”
* Power Trip “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” – Winner
HARD ROCK SONG OF THE YEAR presented by APPLE MUSIC
* Foo Fighters “Run”
* Fozzy “Judas”
* I Prevail “Alone” – Winner
* Nothing More “Go To War”
* Of Mice & Men “Unbreakable”
* Starset “Monster”
BEST LIVE BAND presented by eONE
* Amon Amarth
* Anthrax
* Behemoth
* The Dillinger Escape Plan
* Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes
* Iron Maiden – Winner
BEST VOCALIST presented by FEARLESS RECORDS
* Chester Bennington, Linkin Park – Winner
* Maria Brink, In This Moment
* Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden
* Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge
* MLNY Parsonz, Royal Thunder
* Corey Taylor, Stone Sour
Accepting the award on behalf of Chester Bennington (RIP) Lzzy Hale of Halestorm with a very emotional and powerful speech.
BEST DRUMMER
* Charlie Benante, Anthrax
* Brann Dailor, Mastodon
* Mario Duplantier, Gojira – Winner
* Tomas Haake, Meshuggah
* Matt Greiner, August Burns Red
* Vinnie Paul, Hellyeah
BEST NEW ARTIST presented by CENTURY MEDIA
* Black Map
* Cover Your Tracks
* Ded
* Gone Is Gone
* Greta Van Fleet – Winner
* Zeal & Ardor
MOST DEDICATED FANS presented by BMG/RISE
* Babymetal – Winner
* Blink-182
* Halestorm
* I Prevail
* Iron Maiden
* Rammstein
HARD ROCK ARTIST OF THE YEAR presented by FRONTIERS RECORDS
* In This Moment
* Korn
* Papa Roach
* Pretty Reckless
* Starset
* Stone Sour – Winner
METAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
* Avenged Sevenfold – Winner
* Body Count
* Code Orange
* Mastodon
* Metallica
* Power Trip
HARD ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR
* At The Drive In “In*Ter * A*Li*A”
* Highly Suspect “The Boy Who Died Wolf”
* Papa Roach “Crooked Teeth”
* Royal Thunder “WICK”
* Starset “Vessels”
* Stone Sour “Hydrograd” – Winner
METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR presented by RAZOR & TIE
* Avenged Sevenfold “The Stage” – Winner
* Body Count “Bloodlust”
* Code Orange “Forever”
* Mastodon “Emperor of Sand”
* Metallica “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct”
* Power Trip “Nightmare Logic”
Loudwire honored three music legends, giving out the Humanitarian Award, the Courage Award, and the Lemmy Award, all well deserved.
Presenting The Humanitarian Award to the Red Rocker Sammy Hagar was Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chicken Foot.
“A man never stands so tall as when he kneels to help a child” The Hagar Family Foundation supports local food banks in every city he performs in. All proceeds from Sammy’s Beach Bar and Grill restaurants go to the foundation. Since the launch of the Hagar Family Foundation in 2008, they’ve given away more than 3.25 Million.
Benefiting organizations included:
Regional Food Banks in 48 states 
Acoustic-4-A-Cure (Benioff/UCSF)
Emeril Lagasse Foundation
Hana Youth Center
Kiddo (Mill Valley schools comm. Foundation)
Rock For The Cure
Oak Hill School (Autism & Special Needs)
Farm Aid
Ritter Center
Montessori Hale o Keiki
Hurricane Relief in Cabo San Lucas
Blessings In A Back Pack
To Celebrate Life (National Breast Cancer Foundation)
“I’m happy with the award I’m receiving tonight, but this one is extra special. To be recognized for something you truly love doing and in front of an audience of your peers doesn’t get any better than that!”
Presenting The Courage Award to Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath was Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society and Ozzy Osbourne.
He’s called the Riff master. All in attendance showed their respect, even to the point of Iommi stating “bit embarrassing.” I don’t know what to say about it all when people are saying nice things, it gets very emotional and I’m really grateful to them all. And I think events like this are brilliant, certainly to keep the music alive and the rock and metal need to be more noticed.” Tony Iommi received The Courage award for his accomplishments in music and his strength in battling cancer, being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011, and now is cancer-free. Not only did he receive the award, it’s a cast of his hand with the horns up, making a joke he now has three hands.
Moving forward this award will be called The Iommi Award, to be presented to courageous artists.
Presenting The Lemmy Lifetime Achievement Award – named in honor of the Late Motörhead frontman “Lemmy Kilmister” to Rob Halford of Judas Priest was Anthrax.
The Lemmy Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest honor, “the award recognizes artists who embody the “Spirit of Lemmy, in Heavy Metal and Rock ’n’ Roll,” What better artist to receive the inaugural Lemmy Award, than the Metal God Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Opening the show with In This Moment performing Black Wedding, wearing the signature long black leather studded coat, he appeared a bit more casual to accept the award in baggy gym shorts and a Lemmy T-Shirt, looking to the heavens tapping his heart yelling Lemmy… Lemmy…Lemmy!! Starting off thanking the fans “The fans are the lifeblood of what we do, you allow us to make our music” Over forty years of Metal, that says it all!!
This day and into the evening was a great one, for me seeing music’s legends of my generation, and being introduced to bands, sad to say I have never heard of Power Trip and Starset. They rocked! There’re a lot of amazing artists, look them up on Facebook or their Website, check out the music I guarantee you’ll become a fan if not already. Thank you Loudwire, see you next year!
