Exclusive: George Thorogood on becoming a New York Mets fan & more
Courtesy Sportskeeda (Darren Paltrowitz)
With over 15 million albums sold worldwide, George Thorogood has been a successful musician for over 40 years. As the leader of George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Thorogood has been the singer and songwriter behind many blues-rock classics, including "Bad To The Bone," "I Drink Alone" and "If You Don't Start Drinkin' (I'm Gonna Leave)," beyond recording definitive rock-centric versions of "Move It On Over," "Who Do You Love?" and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."
Thorogood continues to record new music -- his latest full-length is 2017's Party Of One -- and hit the road regularly. That touring regularly benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, to whom Thorogood presented a substantial check to before his September 25, 2019, headlining concert at New York City's Town Hall.
Last year I had the pleasure of interviewing George Thorogood by phone, as partially published by Sportskeeda. Within that chat, I had uncovered that Thorogood -- a native of Delaware -- was a fan of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. When asked if Thorogood had attended a game at Citi Field in the recent past, he had responded: "No, they have been winning too much for me lately. They are starting to lose their charm."
Well, the 2019 MLB season didn't give New York Mets fans much to cheer about, and team manager Mickey Callaway got the long-expected ax on October 3rd. In turn, when speaking with Thorogood about his on-going work with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on October 9th, I threw in a few Mets-related questions; both transcribed highlights and full embedded audio of the interview are shown below.
GEORGE THOROGOOD IS STILL BAD ASS, & THAT IS GOOD
With a handful of classic rock radio hits, many just as well received on blues music channels, veteran rocker George Thorogood and his Destroyers blew the roof off the historic Charleston Music Hall Friday (Oct 4th) night as they brought their Good To Be Bad tour to the holy city. 45 years into a storied career, the 69 year old noted guitar slinger proved he still has the chops and the fan base to fill a venue.
Extended versions of a dozen of his classics were enough to fill 90 minutes, and leave the near sell out crowd fully satisfied. Thorogood established the mood right away with one of his anthems as 'Rock Party' set the tone for a TGIF celebration at the music hall. He followed with the first of three incredible covers from the 1950's with Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love' getting the crowd on their feet.
Just settling in Thorogood welcomed the crowd to what he called a Friday night blues and hootenanny party. He promised the crowd he was going to get dirty, he wasn't going to get loud, and hell yeah he was going to get bad. George delivered on all three accounts, as he segued into 'Shot Down', made popular by early punk rockers The Sonics. He followed that with 'Night Time' off his 1980 release 'More George Thorogood and the Destroyers' aka 'I'm Wanted'.
GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS – SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 – COUNT BASSIE THEATRE
Rock Scene Magazine
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK “WEISSGUY” WEISS
George Thorogood and the Destroyers offered their wisdom and insight to young musicians from the Rockit Live Foundation on September 27, 2019 at The Count Basie Center in New Jersey. This is an ongoing event for the Foundation and George as he and the band met teens who are interested in the music industry. The fun began with a thunderous soundcheck and closed with a Q&A from one of Rock’s best. Thank you, George and staff! A big thank you to the Guitar Center Music Foundation.
George Thorogood and The Destroyers Return to Wilmington
The Delaware-born rocker comes home to celebrate 45 years of a legendary career in a sold-out show at The Grand on Oct. 1.
The fourth time’s the charm for one of Delaware’s favorite sons, George Thorogood.
Alongside his longtime band the Destroyers, Thorogood’s oh-so-appropriately named Good to Be Bad: 45 Years of Rock Tour hits Wilmington for a sold-out show at The Grand Opera House (a.k.a. The Grand) Oct. 1.
The historic venue has been quite good to Thorogood in recent years, as the Wilmington born-and-bred rocker sold out his three previous performances there in 2009, 2011, and 2015.
In an exclusive interview with Delaware Today, Thorogood—best known for perennial hits like “Bad to the Bone,” “I Drink Alone,” and “Move It on Over”—reveals that he considers The Grand to be one of the best venues he’s ever played in.
“If I had to list one of the top three sounding rooms I’ve ever worked in, in the world, that’s one of them,” Thorogood confirms. “In fact, it might be the best-sounding room I’ve ever played in. It’s pretty close—and I play a lot of them.”
Thorogood, who attended Brandywine High School from 1964-68 and is a former resident of Newark, naturally gravitated towards playing guitar as a kid. “I had a Harmony, like every other kid in America,” he admits. “I knew the guitar was going to catch an audience’s ear more than my voice would.”