B I O

"Wild" Willy Bendiksen, is one of Norway's best-known drummers who has a long Norwegian and international career behind him. It all began in 1971 when he started his first band, St. Helena. During the 1970s he was in well-known bands such as Flax and Høst, and released several albums. In the 1980s he toured with his band Road as support for Motörhead. Road released three albums. In addition, he played with Gry Jannicke Jarlum, and eventually formed the band Blonde On Blonde, which later changed its name to Perfect Crime. Both of these bands released albums and toured extensively throughout Norway.

In the 90s he played in the Thin Lizzy tribute band Bad Habitz together with Ronni Le Tekrø, and in The Snakes together with the original Whitesnake guitarists Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody. The Snakes released two albums. Until 2013, he was the drummer in the band Jorn (with Jørn Lande on vocals), where he was involved in seven studio and two live releases.

Wild Willy's Gang has been around since 1993, with the line-up always changing, with Willy as the only permanent member. This has led to many different constellations where musicians such as Ronni Le Tekrø (TNT), John Norum (Europe) and Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy) have all been regular members. The band released the album Camouflage in 2005.

In 2017, Willy brought together musicians from his entire rich career for the first time and embarked on a nationwide tour with the concept "40 Years Of Norwegian Rock History" - and garnered very good reviews from the audience and organizers.

Recently, the band has released new songs that have been released on the digital platforms Spotify and YouTube. The songs have been brilliantly received and one of these was submitted as a contribution to Melodi Grand Prix. When it didn't go any further, the song became a huge success on Trøndertoppen, where it stayed in first place for three weeks.

In 2025 the band releases a brand new studioalbum called "Don't Back Down". The album contains five new songs, a re-recording of Goliath with Bente Smaavik on vocals and two classics with Chris Candy on vocals.

In 2025, the band embarks on an anniversary tour called the "30 Year Anniversary Tour". It is especially pleasing that the vocal duo from Blonde on Blonde is now complete as Chris Candy is back next to Bente Smaavik. The band will also release a brand new studio album in the New Year.

Wild Willy's Gang: Wild Willy Bendiksen (drums), Bente Smaavik (vocals), Chris Candy (vocals), Tor Erik Myhre (guitar), Svein-Erik Bjørklund (bass) and Ola Aanje (keyboards).