Last week, Ross “The Boss” Friedman passed away from ALS at 72.

I knew him as the guitarist and stage presence of Manowar when I first encountered the band in the late 80’s. He was the talker of the group when The Brother, Rocket Engineer Brother, and I took a road trip up to Chicago to catch them in a rare US show.

I have fond memories of some of Manowar’s albums, but kind of fell away from the band over the last decade or so. I will always remember him on the first song that brought me into Manowar – and power metal.