With hard-hitting rock songs and unforgettable ballads, Nazareth have made a name for themselves around the world over the past 58 years. Since the end of 2025, a Swiss frontman has been breathing new life into the veteran outfit: Basel native Gianni Pontillo is the new voice of Scotland\u2019s legendary rockers. He is looking forward to an emotional homecoming at Pratteln\u2019s rock temple. <\/strong><\/p>\n Formed in 1968 in the Scottish town of Dunfermline, Nazareth belong to the first generation of hard rock pioneers alongside bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Black Sabbath. With nearly 60 million records sold worldwide, Nazareth are, alongside Simple Minds, Scotland\u2019s most successful internationally renowned band. Since last December, the group has been fronted by Gianni Pontillo. Over the past three decades, the Basel singer has made a name for himself with Pure Inc, The Order, Fun Halen, Pontillo & The Vintage Crew and, most recently, the German hard rockers Victory. Now, joining Nazareth marks the next major step in his career. Pete Agnew, the last remaining original member of this rock institution, contacted Gianni for the first time at the end of 2025. \u201cPete called me personally after someone from the scene had sent him a video of me. I could hardly believe it. Nazareth. The legendary pioneers of hard rock. I\u2019ve known and loved this band since I was a child. I remember watching my parents dance around the living room to \u2018Love Hurts\u2019, and they even had a Nazareth \u2018Greatest Hits\u2019 album in their record collection.\u201d <\/p>\n By now, Nazareth and Pontillo have already played several shows together, and the newcomer feels completely at home in his new role: \u201cIt\u2019s simply fantastic! The guys in the band, the crew and everyone around them are just amazing. Respect is everything here. That\u2019s something you hardly ever come across in today\u2019s music business.\u201d The fans\u2019 reactions have been overwhelmingly positive as well. \u201cI\u2019ve already met lots of die-hard fans and they\u2019re all really happy with me as the new frontman. They\u2019ve also shared some fascinating stories about the band and original singer Dan McCafferty.\u201d Performing Nazareth\u2019s timeless classics is something Pontillo thoroughly enjoys. Asked about his personal favourites, he replies: \u201cI honestly love all the songs. But \u2018Hair Of The Dog\u2019 and \u2018Whiskey Drinkin\u2019 Woman\u2019 are definitely two absolute highlights. One has an incredibly cool rock groove, the other is an amazing blues number with a really funny lyric. Pete and I sing those in unison and our voices blend together perfectly.\u201d In November, Pontillo will perform in Pratteln with his new band for the very first time. A very special occasion for the singer: \u201cZ7 is my home. I practically grew up with this venue. I attended my very first concert here and have played here many times before as an opening act for incredible bands. This place is legendary, the sound is first-class and the entire team is simply fantastic. I\u2019m already looking forward to this show. It\u2019s going to be very emotional because all my friends and family will be there. It\u2019s going to be a wonderful celebration.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SCOTTISH ROCK WITH A SWISS VOICE With hard-hitting rock songs and unforgettable ballads, Nazareth have made a name for themselves…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37078,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[151],"product_tag":[223,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-37095","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-event","7":"product_tag-classic-rock","8":"product_tag-oldie","10":"first","11":"instock","12":"virtual","13":"purchasable","14":"product-type-simple"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/37095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=37095"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=37095"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/z-7.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=37095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}