Dez Cadena

Dez Cadena was the third in a line of four singers who fronted <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a>. The son of renowned producer and A&R man Ozzie Cadena (who worked with a multitude of jazz artists from the 1940s through 1960s -- <a href="spotify:artist:5RzjqfPS0Bu4bUMkyNNDpn">Dizzy Gillespie</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4Ww5mwS7BWYjoZTUIrMHfC">Charlie Parker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1W8TbFzNS15VwsempfY12H">Charles Mingus</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3NUsiT2JSyaWAnWaXxDzhQ">Dexter Gordon</a>, etc.), Dez was first friends with the members of <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a> before becoming a member himself. Despite having no previous experience singing, the band convinced Cadena to give it a try, and in 1980, he became the full-time replacement for the departed Ron Reyes. It was the Cadena-led version of <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a> that would embark on the group's first tour outside of California, including East Coast dates that made fans out of the likes of Ian MacKaye and <a href="spotify:artist:6Jm8KViMNCuYjzrO1hJkcT">Henry Rollins</a>. Despite only appearing as <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a>'s vocalist on a pair of singles (1981's "Louie Louie" and "Six Pack" -- compiled on 1983's The First Four Years), it was Cadena's hoarse, screamed singing style that would soon become copied by countless hardcore bands who appeared in <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a>'s wake. With Cadena wanting to focus more on guitar playing than singing, he handed the mic over to <a href="spotify:artist:6Jm8KViMNCuYjzrO1hJkcT">Rollins</a> in late 1981 and moved over to rhythm guitar, playing on the group's debut full-length, Damaged. The quintet version of <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a> lasted for a year and a half, with Cadena's final performance with the band being in the garage of <a href="spotify:artist:3WPKDlucMsXH6FC1XaclZC">Suicidal Tendencies</a>' Mike Muir during April 1983. By now, Cadena had grown his hair shoulder length and, fittingly, formed a more hard rock (namely, <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Black Sabbath</a>) sounding group, <a href="spotify:artist:0QE2BYtNIpt3uAbBZIR2eg">DC3</a>. A trio of studio releases followed -- 1985's This Is the Dream, plus 1986's You're Only as Blind as Your Mind Can Be and The Good Hex -- as well as a live compilation, 1989's Vida. The '90s saw Cadena, along with former <a href="spotify:artist:0z6zRFzl5njXWLVAisXQBz">Minutemen</a>/<a href="spotify:artist:6MIbrfpc9aH6gsEl2yep68">fIREHOSE</a> drummer George Hurley and bassist Bill Bowman, form a short-lived group named after <a href="spotify:artist:0QE2BYtNIpt3uAbBZIR2eg">DC3</a>'s final release. From 1999 through 2000, Cadena was the guitarist for former <a href="spotify:artist:3qm84nBOXUEQ2vnTfUTTFC">Guns N' Roses</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3KEe5d2p5jKihMMvuXVhr1">Duff McKagan</a>'s band, <a href="spotify:artist:5AJu7db34aduD54VJ94ARS">Loaded</a>, but no releases surfaced. The early 21st century saw Cadena reappear once more, this time with <a href="spotify:artist:1cXi8ALPQCBHZbf0EgP4Ey">the Misfits</a> on tour and on the albums Cuts from the Crypt (2001), which included a remake of <a href="spotify:artist:5Mhs3Eu8lU6sRCtRYsmABV">Black Flag</a>'s "Rise Above," and Project 1950 (2003). ~ Greg Prato, Rovi