Ross Friedman (born 3 January 1954, New York City - 26 March 2026), also known as Ross Funicello or Ross The Boss, was a guitarist best known as a founding member of both the punk band The Dictators and the heavy metal band Manowar. Ross The Boss has been a prolific musician since the early 70's when he was just a little bit too metal and just a little bit too skilled to find himself lumped in with the punk rock guitar players his band The Dictators paved the way for. Best known for his work as co-founder and original guitar player of the legendary Manowar, he has co-written some of the most beloved songs of the genre. Friedman joined the New York based punk band The Dictators as guitarist in 1973. After recording 3 albums with them Friedman went to France and worked for one year in Fabienne Shine band Shakin' Street. On Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell tour in 1980 (on which Shakin' Street were the support act) Friedman met bass player Joey DeMaio. Later in 1980 Friedman and DeMaio formed Manowar with whom he recorded six albums before leaving the band after the 1988 album Kings of Metal. He returned to his old friends to play in a band called "Manitoba's Wild Kingdom" which eventually evolved back into The Dictators. All the members of the Dictators continue to do side projects. In 1994 he had a blues rock band called Heyday and in 1999 he vowed to put the fun back in Rock-N-Roll with The Spinatras. 2004 saw him join Albert Bouchard, the original drummer for Blue Öyster Cult, in his band Brain Surgeons. He also recorded an instrumental album with Dictators drummer JP Thunderbolt Patterson. He's always writing and recording new music and reuniting with his old bands and former band members for special shows and projects. Many ardent Manowar fans have expressed their burning desire to see Ross rejoin the band and write new material with them again, as the time he spent in the band during the '80s is considered as their golden era. In July 2005, Ross joined Manowar onstage at the Earthshaker Festival. The songs he performed with them were Metal Daze and Dark Avenger. At the end of the concert he also performed Battle Hymn along with all past and present members of Manowar. In April 2006 he played one night of early Manowar Music at the Keep It True IV Festival in Germany backed by German Manowar cover band Men Of War, featuring members of German groups Ivory Night and Divinus. The band, now known as The RTB Band, went on to play some more festivals in Germany, Italy and Greece and then began working on new original material. In October 2006 he reunited with The Dictators to play Friday and Saturday nights of the closing weekend at legendary punk rock venue CBGBs, one of the clubs where they got their start. 2007 started off for Ross The Boss with an eleven city tour of Spain with JP Patterson and their Spanish super-band The Thunderbolts which also includes members of Bummer and Sex Museum. Ross guests on former bandmate Fabienne Shine's 2007 LP, Wotan's LP "Epos" where he plays Grand Piano on one track, and Atlantean Kodex's 2007 EP. He did a few NYC area "Early Manowar" shows with local guest musicians before deciding he wasn't going to play those songs anymore without his German metal band The RTB Band, signed to AFM Records. Ross' 2008 included a few guest appearances with Manitoba's Wild Kingdom at the 2008 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash, with Shakin' Street at the Sweden Rock Festival, and a few tour dates in Spain with The Dictators. He released a new album in August with his German Metal Band under the name "Ross The Boss" called "New Metal Leader" which debuted at #99 in the German Album charts and won glowing reviews from Manowar fans worldwide. RossTheBoss - The Band In 2006, Tarek "MS" Maghary, vocalist and creator of the German Heavy Metal Band Majesty,and promoter for the Keep it True Festival, got the brilliant idea to match Ross up with Manowar Cover Band "Men Of War" (which included members of Ivory Night and Divinus) for a night of early Manowar Music at Keep it True VI in April 2006. This show marked the first time Ross had played a whole set of Manowar songs in nearly 20 years. It was the first time he'd ever played some of those songs in front of an audience. Together, Ross The Boss and Men of War put on an energetic, moving and emotional show. All the guys were really energized by playing together, so he promoted them to his own band. They were renamed "The RTB Band" and played shows in Germany, Italy and Greece. Ross never had any intention of only being a tribute to his former self. The band quickly began collaboration on new original material. They were very signed right away to AFM Records and less than a year later "New Metal Leader" was released. The band's future plans include touring as much as possible to bring about a metal storm which will consume the entire planet.