On the heels of their incredible performance at Rock In Rio with Steve Vai, the band decided to recreate that energy with a re-recorded version of their classic “Cult of Personality.”

“Cult of Personality” featuring Steve Vai is out now and is available everywhere you buy and stream music. The song was their finale of their Rock In Rio set where over 100,000 were in attendance and the entire crowd fixated on the bands performance and sang every word to the bands most iconic song.

Guitarist and co-founder of Living Colour, Vernon Reid, states “In celebration of 30th anniversary of Living Colour’s first appearance in BRAZIL, which also was Doug Wimbish’s first live appearance with the band, we are releasing a special edition version of “Cult Of Personality” featuring our special guest in Rio de Janeiro our dear friend, the extraordinary Mr. Steve Vai on additional guitar. Engineered & mixed by the original producer of the song Mr. Ed Stasium.”

Order here: Living Colour x Steve Vai- Cult of Personality Live Rock in Rio (orcd.co)

“Cult of Personality” was the opening track and second single from their debut album Vivid (1988). The song was released on July 14, 1988, and reached No. 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards. Its music video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video and MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist.

About Living Colour:  

Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. Led by guitarist Vernon Reid, the bands lineup solidified in the mid-80’s w/ Corey Glover (vocals), Will Calhoun (drums) and Muzz Skillings (bass). Stylistically, the band’s music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, hard rock and heavy metal. Their lyrics range from the personal to the political, in some of the latter cases attacking Eurocentrism and racism in America.

The band’s debut album, “Vivid”, was released in 1988 on Epic Records. The album reached #6 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and was later certified double platinum by the RIAA. It featured “Cult of Personality,” a #13 hit on the Billboard 200 Singles chart as well as the Top 40 hit, “Glamour Boys.” “Cult of Personality” went on to earn the band their first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

In 1990 the band’s second full-length album, “Time’s Up”, was released and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 while certifying gold, with strong singles “Type”, “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”, “Elvis Is Dead” and “Solace of You”, and featured guest appearances by Queen Latifah, Little Richard, Doug E. Fresh, and Maceo Parker. It also won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Album.

In 1991, Living Colour released the 6-song EP “Biscuits“, which coincided with the inaugural Lollapalooza tour. Skillings left the band in the summer of 1992 and was replaced by session veteran and Sugarhill Records bass player Doug Wimbish.

“Stain”, their third LP, was released in 1993 by Epic. Reaching #26 on the Billboard 200, the album had a much heavier and aggressive sound, containing elements of thrash metal and industrial music while receiving a Grammy nomination for ‘Leave It Alone’.

After a split in 1995, Living Colour returned in December 2000 and began recording “Collideøscope”. Released in 2003, the album featured aggressive lyrics, with many of the songs about the September 11 attacks. It also contained cover versions of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

Their first release on Megaforce Records, “The Chair in the Doorway” was issued in 2009 and reached #159 on the Billboard 200 charged by the single “Behind The Sun.”

The impetus for Living Colour‘s next album came from a performance of Robert Johnson’s “Preachin’ Blues” at the 100th Anniversary Birthday celebration at the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York City. Released on September 8, 2017, “Shade” is the sound of a band coming to terms with its shadows and light,” says founder Vernon Reid. “From the blue pulpit of Robert Johnson to the mean red streets of Brooklyn… “Shade” is the next chapter of a unique American journey” and peaked on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums at #12 with the help from singles “Who Shot Ya”, “Come On”, and “Program”.