Zed Yago

F

ronted by female blues vocalist Jutta Weinhold, Zed Yago rose to prominence in the late 1980s with their single Black Bone Song and its typical '80s heavy metal sound that generated major airplay. Weinhold's vocals were powerful; while the music was prime anthemic Euro-metal, much in the style of Accept. With the line-up of Jutta Weinhold (vocals), Claus "Bubi" Graf-Reinholdt (drums), Gunnar (guitar), Tach (bass) and Jimmy Durand (guitar) to release two albums in 1988 and 1989 respectively by the names of From Over Yonder and Pilgrimage. The following year the act was plagued by internal problems forcing them to dissolve. Jutta and drummer Reinholdt would subsequently start a new band called Velvet Viper, which eventually recorded two albums in the early 1990s.

In 1997, Durand, with new vocalist (and now wife) Yvonne, started Zed Yago back up, eventually recruiting a line-up that now featured the returning Graf-Reinholdt, along with Uwe Seemann (bass) and Hansi Kecker (keyboards) with the recording From The Twilight Zone "best of..." compilation in 2002. The albums The Invisible Guide (2005), the anniversary live set Live - The 20th Anniversary of Zed Yago (2006) and Pirates from Hell (2010) followed; the last recording featuring the Durands along side new members Karsten Kreppert (drums/vocals (backing)), Tony Carey (keyboards/vocals (backing)) and Ingo Wittneben (bass/vocals (backing)). Graf-Reinholdt would die in 2018.