Saab 9-5 as undercover, in several parts of its native Sweden, alongside the Volvo V70. Several police forces in the UK also used the 9-5 in their fleets, mostly in Aero specification. The city of Aspen, Colorado, used Saabs as patrol cars from early 1970s until 2005, when the 9-5 was discontinued in favor of Volvo XC90. The town of Vail, Colorado likewise used Saabs from 1980 onwards, but in 2005, the black 9-5 patrol cars were replaced by Ford Explorers, due to budget reasons. In 2006, Lothian and Borders Police in Edinburgh, Scotland, began operating three Saab 9-5 Aero 2.3T patrol
Black Star Riders brought in Jimmy DeGrasso on drums, but no keyboard player has been recruited, with Gorham stating, "I don't think we are actually going to have keyboards in Black Star Riders. You never know what's going to happen down the road but that is the set-up right now with that." All the founding members are American with the exception of Warwick who is from Northern Ireland. Each had previously achieved success with other acts – Gorham with all incarnations of Thin Lizzy since 1974 and with 21 Guns; Warwick with The Almighty; Johnson with Brother Cane and Alice Cooper; Mendoza with