Scott Ian Talks Post 9/11 Anthrax Scares Stirring Up a Media Frenzy Over His Band’s Name

Thrash-masters Anthrax have been rocking their lethal moniker since the early ‘80s, but after the tragedy of 9/11 and the ensuing threats to public safety through acts of terrorism, their name was called into question by the mainstream media - the same major outlets who paid their then-last record no mind at the time.

In a new interview with Blogra, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian reminisces about that moment in time where their name was the talk of the town eleven years ago, when letters containing spores of lethal anthrax were delivered to media outlets and public offices resulting in the death of five people and infecting many others. Members of the media were anxious to get quotes from Anthrax regarding the situation, even though the two had nothing more in common than a name. “We had no intention ever of changing our name or doing anything like that," says Ian. "But the fact was that all this very, very mainstream media - I'm talking from CNN to the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times, the biggest mainstream media in the world - are suddenly calling our publicist trying to get interviews with us.”

However, Ian wasn’t too keen on his band being used as a pawn for sensationalism. “My attitude right from the start was, 'Well, these guys, they didn't want anything to do with us when our record came out not that long ago,' you know. And now they want to talk to us because they need to fill space because this is the story of the week--which is gonna disappear in the next two months. And of course it did.”

Ian chalked the whole thing up as “ridiculous” and cites, “we just wouldn't buy into it."

So the name stayed, the media moved on to the next hot topic and rock fans worldwide continue to indulge in a little Anthrax a decade later, with the band’s latest disc ‘Worship Music,’ released in September of 2011.