British comedy hero Frank Skinner has revealed the band he'd banish from the face of the Earth given the chance - and it's a beloved 21st century rock 'n' roll powerhouse who once scored a UK number one album.
Speaking to Metal Hammer for an exclusive interview in their latest issue, Skinner is asked if there are any bands he'd "send to Room 101" - essentially making them disappear. "Probably The Darkness," he replies. "Queen were borderline for me - they were to rock music what Showaddywaddy were to 50s rock’n’roll. I don’t like comedy heavy metal – my son won’t even watch Spinal Tap because he’s worried it’ll take the piss out of the music too much.
"I saw Black Sabbath once in Birmingham just before the millennium," he adds, referring to the metal legends' 1999 reunion shows . "They had cushions on the chairs in this venue, and the crowd kept chucking them at the band, who then spent the whole gig chucking them back. It ruined the gig for me. You don’t want Ozzy to laugh during War Pigs – you want him to terrify you!”
Skinner presented the BBC series Room 101 from 2012-2018, inviting celebrities to make appearances and gripe about their pet peeves. Much like The Darkness, Skinner also knows a thing or two about scoring numbers ones, having topped the UK singles chart alongside David Baddiel and the Lightning Seeds with Three Lions in 1996.
You can read more from Frank Skinner in the latest issue of Metal Hammer, starring Papa Roach on the cover, out now.
