Watch: GENE SIMMONS officiates wedding of CHARLIE BENANTE and CARLA HARVEY in Las Vegas
14-10-2025
ANTHRAX and PANTERA drummer Charlie Benante and his longtime girlfriend, former BUTCHER BABIES and current THE VIOLENT HOUR vocalist Carla Harvey, tied the knot on Sunday, October 12, at The Secret Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada. KISS bassist and co-lead singer Gene Simmons officiated the ceremony, which was attended by more than 200 guests, including members of KISS, PANTERA, ANTHRAX, MÖTLEY CRÜE, DREAM THEATER and NICKELBACK.
“The wedding is like an elegant Russ Meyer movie with a rock and roll twist,” Benante told People.
“The initial idea was a small, intimate wedding with just a few friends and family, but we knew that we would not be able to get away with a small wedding once other friends heard about it,” Benante added. “We just want our closest in a room together celebrating.”
Former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, who attended the wedding, shared a few photos and video clips from the event, and he wrote in an accompanying message: “A fun rockin’ time was had by all last night at Charlie and Carla Benante‘s beautiful Wedding. Gene officiated, Elvis appeared, Las Vegas Show girls entertained. There was great music, delicious food, an elaborate drone show in the sky above while everyone danced. Thank you Charlie and Carla for an amazing evening in Las Vegas. #charliebenante”.
You can see photos of the wedding at People.com.
Benante and Harvey got engaged in January 2024 at a U2 concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Earlier this year ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante offered an update on the making of the follow-up to 2016’s “For All Kings” in a social media post about the group’s concert in Lima, Peru, which took place March 29.
Charlie wrote: “I’ve been getting a lot of ‘when the new album?’ We won’t release a new album until Tower Records is back in business , fuck this streaming shit!
“Joking- Back to recording next week. We threw out a bunch of old tunes and made some new ones that destroy the older ones.
“I know it’s been a while and you’ve been very patient… it’s in the oven and cooking”.
Last November, Bello returned to Dave Grohl‘s Studio 606 in Northridge, California to resume recording the bass tracks for ANTHRAX‘s follow-up to 2016’s “For All Kings” album.
Frank played his first show with ANTHRAX in nearly a year and a half on October 12, 2024 at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.
Bello and ANTHRAX were supposed to perform at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 27, 2024, but their show ended up being canceled due to severe weather.
Prior to Aftershock, Bello last played with ANTHRAX in May 2023 at the Milwaukee Metal Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In April and early May 2024, Bello sat out ANTHRAX‘s South American tour as well as two U.S. festival dates due to “personal reasons.” Filling in on those shows was ANTHRAX founding member and original bassist Dan Lilker, marking his first appearance with the band in 40 years. Lilker, who co-wrote and played on ANTHRAX‘s debut album “Fistful Of Metal”, was also a member of STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH with ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante and guitarist Scott Ian.
Frank made his live debut with Norwegian black metal veterans SATYRICON on June 6, 2024 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.
Bello played bass for SATYRICON for the band’s summer 2024 European festival appearances, including Hellfest in France and Tons Of Rock in Norway.
Frank released a memoir, “Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax”, in October 2021 via Rare Bird. The foreword to the book was written by KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons.
Bello recently joined the Spector artist roster.
Frank exclusively played Spector basses for rehearsals, recording and in the fall 2024 during ANTHRAX‘s European co-headlining tour with German thrash titans KREATOR with Bay Area thrashers TESTAMENT.
ANTHRAX‘s latest album, “For All Kings”, came out in February 2016 via Nuclear Blast.
ANTHRAX celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021 with a number of special activities and events. Formed by guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.
Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 11 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the “Big Four”.
“For All Kings” was called by some critics ANTHRAX‘s strongest album to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the group experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX‘s inclusion on the “Big Four” tour, and continuing with the release of comeback LP “Worship Music”.
ANTHRAX released a live album called ‘XL‘ in July 2022.
Order ‘XL‘ HEREStream/purchase ‘The Devil You Know‘ live HERE.‘The Devil You Know‘ was the first official single released from the band’s highly-acclaimed 2011 album, Worship Music, and was a stand-out track with the media. Rolling Stone referred to it as “…a relentlessly heavy number…as aggressive and punishing as you would expect from the band, but with a touch of old school AC/DC swagger thrown in for good measure,” while Loudwire wrote that it was “addictive and propulsive…Scott unleashes what might be the riff of the year.”
‘XL’ tracklisting:Time/Fight Em ’Til You Can’tMadhouseCaught In A MoshMetal Thrashing MadGot The TimeI Am The LawKeep It In The FamilyLone JusticeThe Devil You KnowBe All End AllNow It’s DarkAntisocialIn The EndMedusaEvil TwinIndiansSkeletons In The ClosetBlood Eagle WingsBring The NoiseA.I.R.Among The LivingCredits:Anthrax: Scott Ian/guitars, Charlie Benante/drums, Frank Bello/bass, Joey Belladonna/vocals, Jon Donais/guitarsProduced by Jack Bennett, Mike Monterulo, AnthraxDirected by Jack BennettMixed by Jay RustonRunning time: 2h 5m 34s
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