Rock band The Pretty Reckless has been working on their fourth album, Death By Rock and Roll. Like other artists, such as Corey Taylor and Billie Eilish, they released a new single with the title track.
The Pretty Reckless singer Taylor Momsen (also known for her role as Cindy Lou Who in the 2000 version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey) appeared on Halestorm singer Lzzy Hale's YouTube series, "Raise Your Horns," where she discussed the inspiration of the track: Their late producer, Kato Khandwala.
Khandwala was a prominent producer, whose work included albums by Paramore, My Chemical Romance and Papa Roach. He produced all of The Pretty Reckless' first three albums.
Khandwala passed away in 2018, following a motorcycle accident.
Death By Rock and Roll
On the Rolling Live YouTube channel, Hale has been hosting a show in which she interviews her rock star peers. The latest episode featured a discussion between Hale and Momsen. In the interview, the former Gossip Girl star addressed how Khandwala's death affected her, including how it inspired the new single.
Momsen said "We went through quite a bit of loss and tragedy over the past few years...We lost our producer, Kato...'Death By Rock and Roll,' the song came about because that was a line that he used to say all the time. So what better way to pay homage to him and keep his memory alive?"
The production of the new record was the first time the band worked without Khandwala. She continued, "We started this journey together and I'm not going to let it go just because he's no longer with us physically."
The new album likely won't be released until 2021. Momsen told Blabbermouth, "I think we're doing the same thing that a lot of bands are doing — we're just kind of waiting and observing and trying to see where this is gonna go; these are such unprecedented times.
"So it's kind of a little bit of a waiting game right now, so we don't have a specific release date. But I couldn't wait forever to put out music, hence the first single. We continued with that plan. And there's gonna be many more singles before the full album, so there's gonna be much more music coming your way — just not the full shebang till a little bit later."
It's clear that a lot of work went into the song, and the album, and Khandwala would certainly be proud of Momsen and The Pretty Reckless for that.