Blog: Testament's Chuck Billy proud to share Pomo heritage

Friday, January 13, 2012  

"On Jan. 14, Testament vocalist Chuck Billy will be appearing at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Albuquerque, N.M. to celebrate becoming the first Native American entertainer to be permanently featured in one of the famed establishment's memorabilia displays.

"When the folks at the Hard Rock Casino told me what was happening, I was blown away! My good friend writes for Native Entertainment Magazine, and he has been on a crusade to get more Native American musicians included in all of the different Hard Rock locations throughout the country," Billy told Noisecreep about the honor. Last year the 49-year-old was also featured in Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian's 'Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians In Popular Culture' exhibition in 2010.

Noisecreep asked Billy about his upbringing. "My father is Native American, and my mom is Mexican, and she also has some Native American blood in her. My father was raised on the Hopland Indian reservation, which is about two hours north of San Francisco. I was born in Oakland, Calif., and for the first five years was raised in Los Cerritos, Calif. After that, we moved to Dublin, Calif., and I pretty much grew up there. My father owned two properties there, and I remember going to the reservation a lot as a kid. When my father retired, he moved there permanently.""

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Testament's Chuck Billy Opens Up About His Native American Upbringing (Noisecreep 1/12)