WILLIAM Shatner has had a diverse career to date – and can now add rockstar to his mantle.
The Star Trek actor, 95, will be debuting his band ‘The *uckers’ — spelt exactly that way — at an upcoming metal festival in Chicago.
95-year-old William Shatner is transitioning into music Credit: AFP
The Star Trek legend is now in a metal band Credit: Instagram/riot_fest
Shatner will take to the stage at the Riot Festival in September for The *uckers first ever live performance and his rider has to be seen to be believed.
A rider is a set of requirements and demands by a performer to a venue and usually includes food and drink requests.
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However, the Hollywood legend has demanded that his dressing room be called the ‘Shatner Shag Hut’ and that festival organisers name a boat in his honour “so he can be a captain again.”
“I’ve always believed that music, like space, is about exploration,” Shatner said in a statement.
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The 95-year-old is best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek Credit: Getty
The band’s festival rider makes for a wild read Credit: Instagram/riot_fest
“Riot Fest is exactly the kind of place where anything can happen. We’re bringing volume, intensity, and a few surprises. I can’t wait to share this experience with the fans.”
Festival boss Mike ‘Riot Mike’ Petryshyn revealed how he had hounded Shatner for years to get him to do a live set at Riot.
“After years of persistently — and perhaps annoyingly —writing letters to William Shatner about performing at Riot Fest, it appears that he was finally compelled,” Petryshyn declared in a media release.
“I for one cannot wait to see Shatner get heavy. But that Shatner Rider… wasn’t expecting that today.”
The festival released Shatner’s list of joke demands – including that a typical Chicago food be renamed after him.
Other requests included a Montreal Canadians hockey jersey signed by Full House actor, Johan Stamos, and four feet of Polish sausage.
Joining Shatner in his band are guitarists Marcus Nand and Britt Lightning, bass player Phil Soussan, and Fred Achin on drums.
They’ll perform songs from Shatner’s musical career and preview their upcoming album, What the F is Heavy Metal.
Other performers at Riot will include Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Pixies, Sex Pistols, and Twenty One Pilots.
Shatner rose to fame playing Captain James T Kirk on Star Trek in the 1960s until 1994.
Along with his storied acting and music career, Shatner also became the oldest person to go into space at age 90 when in 2021 he joined Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin New Shepard rocket mission.
