The resurging Chicago Blackhawks hockey team has no bigger fan than Al Jourgensen, the “Mayor of Chicago’s Underground,” the godfather of the industrial music scene, and founder and lead singer of the legendary rock band MINISTRY. As the 2007/2008 Blackhawks team makes its push for the 2008 playoffs, its fans now have another great sports anthem, courtesy of Al and his co-conspirators in MINISTRY. “Keys To The City”, a rock anthem sure to inspire Blackhawks fans worldwide, will debut on March 5, 2008. As part of the debut, 200 lucky fans of MINISTRY and the Blackhawks will win tickets to see the March 5 game.
Born in Cuba and having immigrated to the U.S. at the age of two, Jourgensen was raised in Colorado and Chicago, settling in the Windy City in the late 1970s. As a youth, Al would attend Chicago Blackhawks hockey games watching from the upper balcony at the old Chicago Stadium. After founding the industrial metal rock band in 1980, and as the band gained popularity, Al graduated to season tickets in the main bowl. Living now in El Paso, TX, Al still gets back to Chicago from time to time to watch his beloved Blackhawks and is a worldwide evangelist for the team, often sporting his Blackhawks jersey on tour.
Last fall, as the buzz began to build around the new, young Blackhawks team, Jourgensen decided he wanted to add to the momentum. In his studios rehearsing for their farewell tour, Al picked up on a guitar riff that hadn’t made his final album and started building what would become “Keys to the City”, a sports rock anthem that he presented as a gift to the Wirtz family and the Chicago Blackhawks in December of 2007. The Blackhawks have since embraced the song as a great opportunity to reach out to a new generation of Blackhawks fans; a worthy companion to the team’s official theme song, “Here Come The Hawks”.
“The Chicago Blackhawks RULE!” said Al Jourgensen. “I am honored to be a part of the history and legend of one of hockey’s Original Six. I hope ‘Keys to The City’ inspires some awesome fights on the ice.”
Though containing trademark intensity and guitar riffs, “Keys to the City” is less a traditional MINISTRY song, but more a classic sports anthem in structure. Built around a drum/bass line that recalls Garry Glitter’s “Rock n’ Roll Pt 2”, the song is a rallying cry for Blackhawk[/b] fans. Name-checking the past Hawk greats like Hull, Mikita, Esposito and Savard, the song celebrates the resurgence of the Blackhawks and the quest to bring home the Stanley Cup to Chicago. It is already popular among the young Blackhawks players upon which the team is building its future championships.
Al Jourgensen will travel to Chicago for the March 5 debut of the song. After a day of media interviews supporting the song and MINISTRY’s farewell tour, which comes to Chicago’s House of Blues in early May, Jourgensen and his wife will be the guest of the Blackhawks at the game that night and will participate in game festivities. As part of the day’s promotions, 200 fans of MINISTRY and the Blackhawks will get free tickets to the televised March 5 home game against the Anaheim Ducks. Details on how to win the tickets will be posted at ChicagoBlackhawks.com. “Keys to the City” will be available for download via iTunes, and as a link from ChicagoBlackhawks.com, starting March 5. Proceeds from the song will benefit the Blackhawks charities. To purchase tickets to the March 5 Blackhawks game, visit ChicagoBlackhawks.com.
