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On stage and off, Frank Bello is a veritable Fender ambassador who doesn’t pull any musical punches. As the powerhouse bassist for groundbreaking NYC-based speed-thrash metal institution Anthrax, Bello continues to play with a ferocity and finesse that will simply melt your face off if you get too close.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Bello started playing when he was 12, learning bass parts on guitar; idolizing bass heroes such as Geddy Lee, Steve Harris and Geezer Butler; and frequently jamming with his uncle, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. After the first Anthrax album, 1984’s Fistful Of Metal, Bello joined his uncle’s band, in time for 1985’s Spreading the Disease, and fans loved his high-energy stage presence and deftly inventive bass style.

Anthrax sonically pummeled everybody within earshot and quickly reached the upper echelons of metal stardom with a series of classic punk/speed metal albums fueled by Bello’s ferociously riffing bass work, including Among the Living (1987), State of Euphoria (1988), Persistence of Time (1990), Sound of White Noise (1993), Anthrax Live: The Island Years (1994), Stomp 442 (1995), Volume 8: The Threat Is Real (1998), We’ve Come For You All (2003), Music of Mass Destruction (2004) and Alive 2 (2005). Further, the band collaborated with rap’s Public Enemy on 1991’s Bring the Noise and became known for an eclectic taste in cover songs, such as Cheap Trick’s “Auf Wiedersehen,” Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time,” the Smiths’ “London” and Thin Lizzy’s “The Cowboy Song.”

During a brief hiatus from Anthrax in 2004, Bello joined forces with Helmet on that group’s Size Matters tour before reuniting with what many consider the classic Anthrax lineup—Bello, Benante, guitarists Scott Ian and Dan Spitz, and vocalist Joey Belladonna.

Bello, a devoted player of Fender basses and amps, worked closely with the company in developing his signature models, the sleek black Fender Artist Series Frank Bello Signature Bass (2005) and the skull-adorned Squier® Frank Bello Jazz Bass® (2007).