KnuckleBonz, the creator of the Rock Iconz music collectible series, has announced new limited-edition statue of Paul Di'Anno, former lead singer of IRON MAIDEN. Officially licensed, this statue is hand-cast and painted and is created in 1/9 scale. Each statue comes with a certificate of authenticity on the base of the statue.

Pre-sales are now available at knucklebonz.com.

A post on Di'Anno's official social media states: "In the world of rock memorabilia, KnuckleBonz is an indispensable name. They produce licensed products for rock and heavy metal royalty: AC/DC, KISS, METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, GHOST, BLACK SABBATH, OZZY OSBOURNE, SLAYER, MEGADETH, GUNS 'N' ROSES, QUEEN, PANTERA, KING DIAMOND, SCORPIONS, ROLLING STONES, PINK FLOYD, and many, many others. Their products are officially licensed, and in the case of Paul Di'Anno, his legal heir receives what Paul would have received if he were alive. Their products are so detailed and made with such care that they quickly became world-famous, and every band that values itself wants to be on their list.

"The people at KnuckleBonz approached us and expressed great respect for Paul and his legacy. He is definitely an icon who deserves this recognition, which is why they have added him to the list of rock icons."

KnuckleBonz has been developing iconic, high-quality statues of the legend of rock music since 2003.

All work created by the company is officially licensed and approved by the artists and their management.

KnuckleBonz, Inc. is a music merchandising company focused on the creation of high-end products for music enthusiasts. KnuckleBonz is committed to fine craftsmanship and artistry and has developed the Rock Iconz, 3D Vinyl and On Tour collectible series. KnuckleBonz is solely focused on offering quality products specifically for the music superfan.

Di'Anno was laid to rest on November 21, 2024 at the City Of London Cemetery And Crematorium in Manor Park, East London, United Kingdom.

Di'Anno, whose real name was Paul Andrews, passed away on October 21, 2024 at his home in Salisbury at the age of 66.

An official statement shared to Di'Anno's Facebook page on November 11, 2024 with permission from the late musician's family revealed that his cause of death was caused by a "tear in the sac around the heart."

"Dear fans and friends," the statement began. "We have received permission from Paul's family to bring you the news of Paul's cause of death, after the results of the autopsy have been received."

It continued, "His sisters Cheryl and Michelle confirmed the following: 'Basically he had a tear in the sac around the heart and blood has filled inside it from the main aorta artery and that has caused the heart to stop.' Paul's death was instantaneous and hopefully painless. May he rest in peace."

Born in Chingford, East London on May 17, 1958, Paul first came to prominence as lead singer of English heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN between 1978 and 1981. He sang on their groundbreaking debut album "Iron Maiden" and the influential follow-up release, "Killers".

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN, Paul Di'Anno had a long and eventful recording career with BATTLEZONE and KILLERS as well as numerous solo releases and guest appearances.

Despite being troubled by severe health issues in recent years that restricted him to performing in a wheelchair, Paul continued to entertain his fans around the world, racking up well over 100 shows since 2023.

His first career retrospective album, "The Book Of The Beast", was released in September 2024 and featured highlights of his recordings since leaving IRON MAIDEN.

In December 2022, Di'Anno spent time in Split, Croatia recording an album with his new project called WARHORSE. The band was formed earlier that year by Di'Anno and two guitarists/authors, Hrvoje Madiraca and Ante "Pupi" Pupačić. The resulting LP was made available in July 2024 under the PAUL DI'ANNO'S WARHORSE banner.

WARHORSE previously recorded three songs, two of which — "Stop The War" and "The Doubt Within" — were released in May 2022 as a special DVD single along with Paul's video message to all fans who bought the single and thus helped raise funds for his knee operation.

The WARHORSE single marked Di'Anno's first music release after a seven-year hiatus due to severe health issues.

Di'Anno, who finally underwent his knee surgery in September 2022, played the first show since the operation on October 1, 2022 at the Keep It True Rising II festival in Würzburg, Germany.

In May 2022, Di'Anno came face to face with MAIDEN bassist and founder Steve Harris for the first time in three decades before the band's concert in Croatia. Also in May 2022, Paul played his first full solo concert in seven years at the Bikers Beer Factory in Zagreb. The show was filmed and parts of it will be included in the upcoming "Di'Anno: Iron Maiden's Lost Singer" documentary.

In the world of rock memorabilia, KnuckleBonz is an indispensable name. They produce licensed products for rock and...

Posted by Paul Di'Anno on Tuesday, January 27, 2026

During a new question-and-answer session with Drum Talk TV, POISON drummer Rikki Rockett addressed his recent revelation that the band's previously proposed 2026 tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of POISON's debut album, 1986's "Look What the Cat Dragged In" was no longer happening after singer Bret Michaels allegedly demanded to earn $6 for every dollar each of his bandmates stood to make from the shows. Asked to elaborate further on his comments, Rikki said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "You know what?! I really have said everything I feel like I should say about it at this point. I don't wanna beat it into the ground.

"I was promoting the Metal Hall Of Fame, and one of the interviews was the New York Post, Page Six," Rikki explained. "And they asked me about it: 'Why aren't you touring?' And I told them the truth. I said, 'This is the truth.' And the reason I told them is not to open up the personal finances of POISON. That's not what it is. I didn't do it for that reason. And the thing is, is that in the past when something has gone sideways, people just start assuming: 'Oh, well, C.C.'s [DeVille, POISON guitarist] back on the sauce.' Or 'Bobby [Dall, POISON bassist] opened another restaurant,' or whatever. Or I have cancer again. There's all this stuff, or we just don't wanna do it. And it's none of that. We always wanna play. So I just decided, 'I'm gonna tell the real reason. This is it. We can't figure it out financially.' So that was the long and the short of it. There's really no second shoe to drop or anything like that."

Regarding his previous comment that it was "not out of the question" for him, DeVille and Dall to hire a new lead singer for POISON if they couldn't come to an agreement with Bret about returning to the road. Rikki clarified: "We're not out looking for a singer right now. I'm seeing some of these headlines. We're not sitting around, talking about getting another singer. We're hoping that something will come together. But I was asked if that was out of the question, and I'm, like, well, I guess nothing's out of the question, really. Would we tour Russia? Well, it's not out of the question, but it's not on the table."

When the interviewer noted that fans "would love to see" POISON celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Look What the Cat Dragged In" with some live shows, Rikki said: "Well, I have a lot of thoughts about that. No, I don't see it happening this year because in order to put a tour together, it's months and months of work in advance. And we've missed that window, pretty much. On a smaller scale, I can take [my other band] ROCKETT MAFIA out and do the first and second side of 'Look What The Cat Dragged In' and have a good time doing that. There's a lot of shows that pop up. That's a different kind of touring. We're flying in and doing two, three dates and then coming home. But to do a full-scale tour where you piece together dates and you're not going from, let's say, Maine all the way down to Florida and then back again to Buffalo. You can't hodgepodge like that. You gotta have a way of doing it. And it takes tons of preparation. It's a lot of work. I mean, there's a lot of pieces that have to come together. And we missed that opportunity for that. That doesn't mean we couldn't do a 41st-anniversary [tour]. And that would be so POISON to do that."

POISON last hit the road in 2022 when it supported MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD on a massive stadium tour. After that tour ended, Michaels went back to performing sporadic shows — consisting almost entirely of POISON hits — with his solo band.

Earlier this month, Rockett told Page Six that POISON's previously proposed 2026 tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the band's debut album, 1986's "Look What the Cat Dragged In" was no longer happening after Bret allegedly demanded to earn $6 for every dollar his each of his bandmates stood to make from the shows.

"We had a great offer [for a tour this year], I thought. But we left the table," Rockett revealed to Page Six. "It didn't work.”

"Really what it came to was C.C., Bobby and I were all in, and I thought Bret was, but he wanted the lion's share of the money, to the point where it makes it not possible to even do it," Rockett explained. "It's like $6 to every one of our dollars. You just can't work that way."

"I don't do this just for the money," Rikki continued. "I do have a love for this, absolutely. But at the same time, you don't want to go out and work really hard just to make somebody else a bunch of money."

Although he admitted that he was disappointed that POISON wouldn't tour again this year, Rockett said he didn't harbor any resentment toward his bandmates. "Every member of this band has given me so much privilege in life," he said. "It's like hating your parents."

As for the possibility of Rockett, DeVille and Dall touring with a different singer, Rikki said: "It's not out of the question. But doing that is like surgery: it's the last resort. I don't want to do that. I'm not quarreling with Bret… We just didn't come to agreement. I don't like it, and I'll say that, but it's not like, 'Let's put up our dukes.' I don't think there's a better frontman for POISON."

Three days after Page Six published Rikki's comments, Bret indirectly responded to the drummer, writing in a Facebook post: "As always, I consider POISON to be Bobby, C.C., Rikki and myself. I also make no bones about loving the BMB [BRET MICHAELS BAND] and will always have both in my life.

"Bottom line - I love music, I love the fans and I'm always forever grateful. Onward & upward and let's all focus on the positive in 2026, and the potential of a future reunion."

Last November, Rikki told Anthony Bryant of The Hair Metal Guru, about the status of POISON's 2026 tour:  "At this moment, it's no different than it was a few months ago where we got an awesome offer from Live Nation, and C.C., Bobby and I agreed to it, talked about it. It went in Bret's lap, and it hasn't moved. Now we're at a point probably where I don't think we can get that tour to happen now. If by October you're not moving on a tour of that size [for the following summer], it's really, really hard to shoehorn that thing in and get it to happen. It's not impossible, but it's super, super hard."

Asked if he still talked to Bret regularly, Rikki, who had spent a few months playing sporadic shows with his new band THE ROCKETT MAFIA, said: "We don't too much. We're cordial. We've had some road crew guys pass away, different friends pass away or some developing thing in our lives, and we'll exchange texts and say, 'Hey, did you know this happened to so and so?' Or there's been, unfortunately, a couple of tragedies have brought us together a few times. But C.C. I talk to all the time. But you have to realize that C.C.'s mom and my mom were best friends. They talked twice a week at minimum, sometimes every day, and they helped each other through cancer and different things. And C.C.'s fairly close — I mean, he's in Orange County; it's an hour — but he's shown up. He showed up to the BLUE ÖYSTER CULT [November 1] gig [in Anaheim where THE ROCKETT MAFIA was the support act]. He wanted to play. But he's got this hammer finger thing going on, which should be cleared up in a few weeks. But he couldn't play."

Regarding why he couldn't just text Bret directly and try to get him to give a final answer regarding touring with POISON in 2026, Rikki said: "I have thrown out a text to all four members and said, 'Hey, let's figure this out. Let's do it.' And it was tumbleweeds. That's the kind of thing that is much bigger than just me throwing it out there on a text, 'cause there's a lot of money involved and stuff. And I think the reason he doesn't wanna talk to me is because he knows I'll probably bring it up and say, 'Hey, what's up?', because we have been friends for so long. If anybody's gonna say it to him, it's gonna be me. A lot of the people that he has around him may not say things like that. And I don't go outta my way to be — I mean, I'm a nice guy too, but I have boundaries. So, there's nothing super… Uh, how can I say it? There's not all this hate going around POISON; it's not that. It's frustration. 'Hey, we wanna do this.' 'You wanna do this then.' 'You wanna this now.' It's that kind of stuff. But on the flipside, if we go back to earlier in the conversation, when you do commit to a tour, three months, you are taking that summer and that is a touring period of time— the spring and summer — that will take your spring and summer, and it's gone. Not to say you couldn't do other shows on the third and fourth quarter, but they're not as big. So, I get that. And it is a commitment, when you make that commitment. And it is harder, because every night you have to be up there doing it. On [2022's] 'The Stadium Tour', not one of us ever went out there half-assed; we always went out there a hundred percent. We get together. It doesn't matter, with our band, no matter how upset or weird something might be, when it comes to that 15 minutes before we're supposed to go on, we get together, we connect, we make sure everything's good, we go out there and we do the very best we can for the fans, give it every bit of energy that we have, and that's always been our commitment. So that's what keeps this band relevant in the, in the rock world, is that when you do get us, at least you get a hundred percent. And one day that a hundred percent might be me coming out with a cane. You know what I mean? But I'll still give you that a hundred percent. [Laughs]"

On the topic of whether there was a point where he thought a POISON tour for 2026 was "close" to becoming a reality, Rikki said: "I thought it was a done deal. Seriously, I was just waiting for the contract to come to me and say, 'Hey, sign on the dotted line. Let's start putting it together.' And that day has not come. And I would love to get out there. I have a blast on tour. I'm not one of these people, like, 'Oh, God, the road.' I really enjoy it. Of course I miss my family, but I fly 'em out. I could tour every year, many months out of the year, as long as I could see my family, because it's so ingrained in me after 40 years. To this point, it's hard to understand myself without that."

Rockett also addressed a recent comment from Pete Evick, who is best known as music director and guitar player for Michaels's solo band of the last 21 years, where Evick suggested that Bret gets the "lion's share" of the touring revenue from POISON. Rikki said: "The reason that this contract [for a POISON 2026 tour] has not gone through is because Bret wants more than the lion's share. The amount of money he wants would make it where it's pretty much impossible to run the production of the band. And he knows that, and I think the reason he's saying that is because he just simply doesn't wanna tour with us this year. He must have some ideas about what he wants to do with Bret Michaels [solo] band this year. I'm assuming — I don't know, because we don't talk. I would love to talk about it, but at this point in time, it's just not a deal. So we're not gonna do that. I'm not gonna go out there and play for peanuts or wind up upside down, so he can make all this money because he's out playing POISON songs with another band. I mean, really, if you think about it, does any of that make sense? I'm gonna ask for more money because I play POISON songs with other people. That's not carrying the torch [for POISON]."

Asked if there has ever been times where he was really concerned that POISON was over, Rikki said: "Oh, yeah, many times. Yeah, of course. Anytime you get into something like [a heated confrontation], especially if it gets sort of physical. Then, yeah, you cross a line and all that kind of stuff. But we've usually been able to work it out. The thing is, is that we really do love this. Bret and I talked about this a long time ago. A lot of people said, 'Oh, do a farewell tour at some point in time. Talk about when you're gonna retire.' Why ever talk about that? I mean, sure, maybe that could happen, but not for me. I don't see any reason to throw in the towel, just because one day you decide, 'Hey, it's time to throw in the towel.' I'm gonna throw in the towel when I can't do it anymore. That's when to throw in the towel. Or the band's dysfunctional to the point where you can't do it anymore. Otherwise, I don't see any reason. Why would you break up the band? I don't see any reason to do that. And I don't think we're gonna do that."

Rockett previously talked about the status of POISON's 2026 tour earlier in November 2025 in an interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock. He said at the time: "I'm not trying to bash Bret. I'm not trying to start any fights… But one thing you have to understand is, for instance, the Bret Michaels [solo] band tours very differently from the way POISON tours. POISON tours the way DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE and Luke Bryan or whoever [tours], where we basically kiss our families goodbye for three-plus months, or however long it's gonna be, and go out on a tour bus and trucks, and we're playing five nights a week, sometimes six nights a week. And that's not how Bret tours [with his solo band]. He does weekend-warrior stuff, which there's nothing wrong with that at all. Joan Jett does it — I mean, tons of bands do this. THE ROCKETT MAFIA does it. We can't play in Omaha, Nebraska on a Tuesday night and make any money. We'll be upside down. But at the level we've managed to get to [with POISON], and DEF LEPPARD and bands like this, you can play on a Tuesday night and people will come, at the right time. You still have to manage it correctly."

Asked if POISON's long-delayed North American trek with DEF LEPPARD, MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS — which was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022 — was a "good experience" for him, Rikki said: "Oh, it was great. Look, it's so funny, because people go, 'Man…' You would think that in these stadiums, there would be so much room to do everything you want. It's weird, because it's set up for sports. It's not set up for a bunch of trucks and buses and all that stuff. So most of the time our bus would be two miles away in a parking lot somewhere and we'd have to take a golf cart or an Uber or a van or something like that to get to the venue. And then you get to the venue and it's, like, MÖTLEY and DEF LEPPARD got all the nice dressing rooms and we're in the electrician's room or something. [Laughs] So from that standpoint, it wasn't as nice as when we headline. But we were playing these massive places for amazing fans. I mean, it was literally a once-in-a lifetime experience.

"We've played some big shows — we've done Donington, we've done a lot of these… Texas Jam, a lot of these things like that — but to do it kind of on that level, or close to that level, for 40 nights, or whatever it was, that was amazing," Rockett added. "And it keeps you on your toes, man. You can't go out there half cocked. I mean, we don't ever do that anyway — I don't think any of us ever go out there on stage nonchalantly. We're a band that pride ourself in giving it everything we got. Even if everything that we have isn't as good as it was the night before, I'm still gonna give it everything that I have, you know what I mean? And I know the rest of the band's like that. Bret's like that, C.C., Bobby, We never half-ass anything."

Last May, Rikki told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that POISON "got a great offer" for a tour in 2026 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Look What The Cat Dragged In". He said at the time: "To be honest with you, it's in Bret's lap right now — honestly. So, we're good to go, and hopefully we can make a deal and do it. I think it would be a shame not to do it, because this is our 40th anniversary — all original members. We're not getting any younger. We can tear it up. We've still got it. Let's do it. That's how I feel about it."

Rockett went on to say that the offer he and his bandmates received was for a "headlining" tour and that most of the POISON members had already agreed to do it. "I'm good to go, [and so are Bobby and C.C.]. It is [up to Bret at this point]. And that's just being truthful… I mean, as far as I know, we're good to go. There just hasn't been anything solid. I haven't signed anything or anything like that. But it's more than a year away, or about a year away, so we have time. But hey, with the economy, who knows? [Laughs] I just wanna get out there while we can."

In December 2024, Michaels told Ethan Dometrius about POISON's 2026 touring plans: "So here's the deal. I go through '25. We're doing a bunch of these big festivals [with my solo band] … So I'm doing a bunch of those. And then 2026, C.C. and Bobby and Rikki, I'm here because of them, because of us having each other's back in the beginning, through the middle, through right now. And it'll be four years since we've toured, since 'The Stadium Tour', together, and we're just hoping to make this absolutely 40 awesome dates, and just putting every, as we do, putting every ounce of energy on that stage and just bringing an absolute party."

Regarding POISON's mindset when performing live, Bret said: "POISON just goes out there. And I say this, that stadium tour, I was so grateful to be on it. And I just hit that thrust and I couldn't stop… I told 'em, I said, 'I can't stop smiling right now. It's ridiculous.' And we just went out there, and we play real live music. We don't mess around. We just give it, thrills and frills and good times."

In September 2024, Bret told Arizona Republic about POISON's plan to tour in 2026: "Yeah, that would be incredible. We've just got to work out all the moving parts. But all original members. There's so much planning goes behind that. When I'm out as Bret Michaels, it's simpler because I'm making all the end decisions. When you're in a band like POISON, it's a committee. You go in there, and you figure it out together. You make sure everyone's good. And hopefully, we can make that work in '26."

Asked if things were "good" between him and his POISON bandmates during "The Stadium Tour", Bret said: "Absolutely. I want to be very clear. Other than an occasional throwdown fistfight — I'm not making this up — we're like best friends. But there's no gray area. All of a sudden, we'll get in a fistfight. But the next day, we'll go out and play. We'll work it out like a band of brothers. 'The Stadium Tour' was amazing. We were having fun. We didn't get too many soundchecks. We just dealt with what we were given and were grateful to be there. DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY, they were amazing. They played great. But we just came out, and we knew we had one hour at 6 o'clock to go out there and give it everything we had. And it was one of the only stadium tours that from Live Nation's lips to everyone's ears, it was 98 to 100% filled when POISON went on."

Earlier in September 2024, Michaels released a statement via social media in which he said that he was planning to "perform limited shows" in 2025 to focus primarily on his health, "starting with my diabetes which needs a tune-up, not to mention a little R&R." He added that 2026 "would be the perfect" time for a POISON 40th-anniversary tour, "with 40 awesome limited dates to go out, play real live hit songs, and rock the world."

Bret's explanation came two days after Rockett revealed on social media that Michaels was no longer interested in touring with POISON in 2025.

On September 10, 2024, the POISON drummer took to his official Facebook page to write: "I keep getting asked multiple times a day, 'Why isn't POISON touring in 2025 now?' Super simple answer, Bret doesn't want to." The following day, Rikki clarified: "People, I never said that Bret is cancelling the 2025 tour. It didn't get booked. I said the reason POISON isn't touring in 2025 is because Bret doesn't want to. Doesn't matter what the reason for him is as far as what I said. I'm simply telling you why so that CC, Bobby or myself doesn't get blamed. It isn't dirt. It isn't a fight. Just the facts, ma'am. Surmise what you want from it. You will anyway!"

In 2018, POISON completed the "Nothin' But A Good Time" tour with CHEAP TRICK and POP EVIL.

POISON's last album of new material was 2002's "Hollyweird". An album of covers, "Poison'd", followed in 2007.

In 2015, Rockett and his now-THE ROCKETT MAFIA bandmate Brandon Gibbs joined forces with Dall and DeVille to play several shows as THE SPECIAL GUESTS in what was widely perceived as a not-so-subtle message to Michaels that they weren't willing to remain completely inactive while he pursued a solo career.

In a new interview with "Chaz & AJ In The Morning", a morning radio talk show program on 99.1 WPLR, a rock radio station broadcasting from New Haven, Connecticut, POISON frontman Bret Michaels was asked if fans can expect to see tour to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the band's debut album, 1986's "Look What the Cat Dragged In", in 2027. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're just gonna call it hopefully '40 Plus One'." Referencing the fact that the proposed "Look What the Cat Dragged In" 40th-anniversary tour won't materialize in 2026, Bret added: "But I can tell you this — as this thing got further down the road… Remember, when you're booking stuff, we're already booking stuff solo into '27. So this just got backed up. And I'm hoping that, as a founding member, obviously that would be a great day, and I'm positive we can make that happen in '27."

Asked if there is any truth to POISON drummer Rikki Rockett's recent claim that the band's 2026 tour was no longer happening after Bret allegedly demanded to earn $6 for every dollar each of his bandmates stood to make from the shows, Michaels responded: "Well, I'm gonna answer that honestly. It never happened. We never got to that part of negotiations. What happens — when you start this, they ask me to put together solo numbers and an average, and that's the first part we turn in. We ask what the stage is gonna look like, where do we start the tour? I even got into where we're starting the dates, and then all of a sudden, '26, the shows in '26 wanted solo answers, so we moved this to '27 back last summer. The reason it's come up for the third time — no one, even the other members haven't commented. They're, like, 'I thought this is going in '27 now.'"

Bret added: "We're all friends. And if you wanna discuss something, we have each other's phone number for the last 45 years. Just call me. No offense. I love Rikki. I love Bobby [Dall, POISON bassist]. I love C.C. [DeVille, POISON guitarist]. Don't negotiate on the air [during an interview]. Just call me on the phone, and we'll work out what[ever needs to be worked out]. We've worked it out for 40 other years. Let's work out what we need to work out."

When the interviewer noted that he didn't think anyone would blink if Bret asked for more money, Michaels clarified: "Again, I wanna go into this. That never came up on the table. What comes up on the table is, what's people making solo? What are we doing? You throw it out there. And it's not their fault either. It never finished, the negotiations, on everything. Where's the tour start? Who's opening for us? What lights, what sound, what's the stage look like?

"It's hard to explain to everybody how much goes into making a show great," Bret continued. "And with me, when I'm solo. I could make this decision on the bum runners. If I'm out with POISON, we're four founding members. And rightfully so for that situation. So I wanna make sure the fans hear the truth. It should be a four-way discussion. That's what POISON's meant to be."

Bret added: "I love Rikki. He's my brother. We've been through a lot together. I love Bobby, I love C.C., and I appreciate C.C. and Bobby staying out in the middle. They didn't make any comments. I truly believe, 'cause we already knew last summer it was moving to '27."

Earlier this week, Rikki elaborated on his recent claim that POISON's previously proposed 2026 tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Look What the Cat Dragged In" was no longer happening after Bret allegedly demanded to earn $6 for every dollar each of his bandmates stood to make from the shows. He said during a question-and-answer session with Drum Talk TV: "You know what?! I really have said everything I feel like I should say about it at this point. I don't wanna beat it into the ground.

"I was promoting the Metal Hall Of Fame, and one of the interviews was the New York Post, Page Six," Rikki explained. "And they asked me about it: 'Why aren't you touring?' And I told them the truth. I said, 'This is the truth.' And the reason I told them is not to open up the personal finances of POISON. That's not what it is. I didn't do it for that reason. And the thing is, is that in the past when something has gone sideways, people just start assuming: 'Oh, well, C.C.'s back on the sauce.' Or 'Bobby opened another restaurant,' or whatever. Or I have cancer again. There's all this stuff, or we just don't wanna do it. And it's none of that. We always wanna play. So I just decided, 'I'm gonna tell the real reason. This is it. We can't figure it out financially.' So that was the long and the short of it. There's really no second shoe to drop or anything like that."

Regarding his previous comment that it was "not out of the question" for him, DeVille and Dall to hire a new lead singer for POISON if they couldn't come to an agreement with Bret about returning to the road. Rikki clarified: "We're not out looking for a singer right now. I'm seeing some of these headlines. We're not sitting around, talking about getting another singer. We're hoping that something will come together. But I was asked if that was out of the question, and I'm, like, well, I guess nothing's out of the question, really. Would we tour Russia? Well, it's not out of the question, but it's not on the table."

When the interviewer noted that fans "would love to see" POISON celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Look What the Cat Dragged In" with some live shows, Rikki said: "Well, I have a lot of thoughts about that. No, I don't see it happening this year because in order to put a tour together, it's months and months of work in advance. And we've missed that window, pretty much. On a smaller scale, I can take [my other band] ROCKETT MAFIA out and do the first and second side of 'Look What The Cat Dragged In' and have a good time doing that. There's a lot of shows that pop up. That's a different kind of touring. We're flying in and doing two, three dates and then coming home. But to do a full-scale tour where you piece together dates and you're not going from, let's say, Maine all the way down to Florida and then back again to Buffalo. You can't hodgepodge like that. You gotta have a way of doing it. And it takes tons of preparation. It's a lot of work. I mean, there's a lot of pieces that have to come together. And we missed that opportunity for that. That doesn't mean we couldn't do a 41st-anniversary [tour]. And that would be so POISON to do that."

POISON last hit the road in 2022 when it supported MÖTLEY CRÜE and DEF LEPPARD on a massive stadium tour. After that tour ended, Michaels went back to performing sporadic shows — consisting almost entirely of POISON hits — with his solo band.

Earlier this month, Rockett told Page Six that POISON's previously proposed 2026 tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the band's debut album, 1986's "Look What the Cat Dragged In" was no longer happening after Bret allegedly demanded to earn $6 for every dollar his each of his bandmates stood to make from the shows.

"We had a great offer [for a tour this year], I thought. But we left the table," Rockett revealed to Page Six. "It didn't work.”

"Really what it came to was C.C., Bobby and I were all in, and I thought Bret was, but he wanted the lion's share of the money, to the point where it makes it not possible to even do it," Rockett explained. "It's like $6 to every one of our dollars. You just can't work that way."

"I don't do this just for the money," Rikki continued. "I do have a love for this, absolutely. But at the same time, you don't want to go out and work really hard just to make somebody else a bunch of money."

Although he admitted that he was disappointed that POISON wouldn't tour again this year, Rockett said he didn't harbor any resentment toward his bandmates. "Every member of this band has given me so much privilege in life," he said. "It's like hating your parents."

As for the possibility of Rockett, DeVille and Dall touring with a different singer, Rikki said: "It's not out of the question. But doing that is like surgery: it's the last resort. I don't want to do that. I'm not quarreling with Bret… We just didn't come to agreement. I don't like it, and I'll say that, but it's not like, 'Let's put up our dukes.' I don't think there's a better frontman for POISON."

Three days after Page Six published Rikki's comments, Bret indirectly responded to the drummer, writing in a Facebook post: "As always, I consider POISON to be Bobby, C.C., Rikki and myself. I also make no bones about loving the BMB [BRET MICHAELS BAND] and will always have both in my life.

"Bottom line - I love music, I love the fans and I'm always forever grateful. Onward & upward and let's all focus on the positive in 2026, and the potential of a future reunion."

Last November, Rikki was asked by Anthony Bryant of The Hair Metal Guru if he still talked to Bret regularly. Rikki, who had spent a few months playing sporadic shows with his new band THE ROCKETT MAFIA, said: "We don't [talk to each other] too much. We're cordial. We've had some road crew guys pass away, different friends pass away or some developing thing in our lives, and we'll exchange texts and say, 'Hey, did you know this happened to so and so?' Or there's been, unfortunately, a couple of tragedies have brought us together a few times. But C.C. I talk to all the time. But you have to realize that C.C.'s mom and my mom were best friends. They talked twice a week at minimum, sometimes every day, and they helped each other through cancer and different things. And C.C.'s fairly close — I mean, he's in Orange County; it's an hour — but he's shown up. He showed up to the BLUE ÖYSTER CULT [November 1] gig [in Anaheim where THE ROCKETT MAFIA was the support act]. He wanted to play. But he's got this hammer finger thing going on, which should be cleared up in a few weeks. But he couldn't play."

Regarding why he couldn't just text Bret directly and try to get him to give a final answer regarding touring with POISON in 2026, Rikki said: "I have thrown out a text to all four members and said, 'Hey, let's figure this out. Let's do it.' And it was tumbleweeds. That's the kind of thing that is much bigger than just me throwing it out there on a text, 'cause there's a lot of money involved and stuff. And I think the reason he doesn't wanna talk to me is because he knows I'll probably bring it up and say, 'Hey, what's up?', because we have been friends for so long. If anybody's gonna say it to him, it's gonna be me. A lot of the people that he has around him may not say things like that. And I don't go outta my way to be — I mean, I'm a nice guy too, but I have boundaries. So, there's nothing super… Uh, how can I say it? There's not all this hate going around POISON; it's not that. It's frustration. 'Hey, we wanna do this.' 'You wanna do this then.' 'You wanna this now.' It's that kind of stuff. But on the flipside, if we go back to earlier in the conversation, when you do commit to a tour, three months, you are taking that summer and that is a touring period of time— the spring and summer — that will take your spring and summer, and it's gone. Not to say you couldn't do other shows on the third and fourth quarter, but they're not as big. So, I get that. And it is a commitment, when you make that commitment. And it is harder, because every night you have to be up there doing it. On [2022's] 'The Stadium Tour', not one of us ever went out there half-assed; we always went out there a hundred percent. We get together. It doesn't matter, with our band, no matter how upset or weird something might be, when it comes to that 15 minutes before we're supposed to go on, we get together, we connect, we make sure everything's good, we go out there and we do the very best we can for the fans, give it every bit of energy that we have, and that's always been our commitment. So that's what keeps this band relevant in the, in the rock world, is that when you do get us, at least you get a hundred percent. And one day that a hundred percent might be me coming out with a cane. You know what I mean? But I'll still give you that a hundred percent. [Laughs]"

On the topic of whether there was a point where he thought a POISON tour for 2026 was "close" to becoming a reality, Rikki said: "I thought it was a done deal. Seriously, I was just waiting for the contract to come to me and say, 'Hey, sign on the dotted line. Let's start putting it together.' And that day has not come. And I would love to get out there. I have a blast on tour. I'm not one of these people, like, 'Oh, God, the road.' I really enjoy it. Of course I miss my family, but I fly 'em out. I could tour every year, many months out of the year, as long as I could see my family, because it's so ingrained in me after 40 years. To this point, it's hard to understand myself without that."

Rockett also addressed a recent comment from Pete Evick, who is best known as music director and guitar player for Michaels's solo band of the last 21 years, where Evick suggested that Bret gets the "lion's share" of the touring revenue from POISON. Rikki said: "The reason that this contract [for a POISON 2026 tour] has not gone through is because Bret wants more than the lion's share. The amount of money he wants would make it where it's pretty much impossible to run the production of the band. And he knows that, and I think the reason he's saying that is because he just simply doesn't wanna tour with us this year. He must have some ideas about what he wants to do with Bret Michaels [solo] band this year. I'm assuming — I don't know, because we don't talk. I would love to talk about it, but at this point in time, it's just not a deal. So we're not gonna do that. I'm not gonna go out there and play for peanuts or wind up upside down, so he can make all this money because he's out playing POISON songs with another band. I mean, really, if you think about it, does any of that make sense? I'm gonna ask for more money because I play POISON songs with other people. That's not carrying the torch [for POISON]."

Asked if there has ever been times where he was really concerned that POISON was over, Rikki said: "Oh, yeah, many times. Yeah, of course. Anytime you get into something like [a heated confrontation], especially if it gets sort of physical. Then, yeah, you cross a line and all that kind of stuff. But we've usually been able to work it out. The thing is, is that we really do love this. Bret and I talked about this a long time ago. A lot of people said, 'Oh, do a farewell tour at some point in time. Talk about when you're gonna retire.' Why ever talk about that? I mean, sure, maybe that could happen, but not for me. I don't see any reason to throw in the towel, just because one day you decide, 'Hey, it's time to throw in the towel.' I'm gonna throw in the towel when I can't do it anymore. That's when to throw in the towel. Or the band's dysfunctional to the point where you can't do it anymore. Otherwise, I don't see any reason. Why would you break up the band? I don't see any reason to do that. And I don't think we're gonna do that."

Rockett previously talked about the status of POISON's 2026 tour earlier in November 2025 in an interview with Robert Edwards of Talkin' Bout Rock. He said at the time: "I'm not trying to bash Bret. I'm not trying to start any fights… But one thing you have to understand is, for instance, the Bret Michaels [solo] band tours very differently from the way POISON tours. POISON tours the way DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE and Luke Bryan or whoever [tours], where we basically kiss our families goodbye for three-plus months, or however long it's gonna be, and go out on a tour bus and trucks, and we're playing five nights a week, sometimes six nights a week. And that's not how Bret tours [with his solo band]. He does weekend-warrior stuff, which there's nothing wrong with that at all. Joan Jett does it — I mean, tons of bands do this. THE ROCKETT MAFIA does it. We can't play in Omaha, Nebraska on a Tuesday night and make any money. We'll be upside down. But at the level we've managed to get to [with POISON], and DEF LEPPARD and bands like this, you can play on a Tuesday night and people will come, at the right time. You still have to manage it correctly."

Asked if POISON's long-delayed North American trek with DEF LEPPARD, MÖTLEY CRÜE and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS — which was originally planned for 2020 and later moved to 2021 and then to 2022 — was a "good experience" for him, Rikki said: "Oh, it was great. Look, it's so funny, because people go, 'Man…' You would think that in these stadiums, there would be so much room to do everything you want. It's weird, because it's set up for sports. It's not set up for a bunch of trucks and buses and all that stuff. So most of the time our bus would be two miles away in a parking lot somewhere and we'd have to take a golf cart or an Uber or a van or something like that to get to the venue. And then you get to the venue and it's, like, MÖTLEY and DEF LEPPARD got all the nice dressing rooms and we're in the electrician's room or something. [Laughs] So from that standpoint, it wasn't as nice as when we headline. But we were playing these massive places for amazing fans. I mean, it was literally a once-in-a lifetime experience.

"We've played some big shows — we've done Donington, we've done a lot of these… Texas Jam, a lot of these things like that — but to do it kind of on that level, or close to that level, for 40 nights, or whatever it was, that was amazing," Rockett added. "And it keeps you on your toes, man. You can't go out there half cocked. I mean, we don't ever do that anyway — I don't think any of us ever go out there on stage nonchalantly. We're a band that pride ourself in giving it everything we got. Even if everything that we have isn't as good as it was the night before, I'm still gonna give it everything that I have, you know what I mean? And I know the rest of the band's like that. Bret's like that, C.C., Bobby, We never half-ass anything."

In 2015, Rockett and his now-THE ROCKETT MAFIA bandmate Brandon Gibbs joined forces with Dall and DeVille to play several shows as THE SPECIAL GUESTS in what was widely perceived as a not-so-subtle message to Michaels that they weren't willing to remain completely inactive while he pursued a solo career.

In a new interview with longtime radio host Abe Kanan of Audacy, Slash was asked if there is going to be a new GUNS N' ROSES album where he, bassist Duff McKagan and singer Axl Rose get into a studio and write an entire collection of fresh material. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've already written a ton of shit, so we just have to get together and actually get into the process of going through all the material and figuring out what the songs are gonna be and recording them and all that kind of shit. And so that's something that's pending. It's probably gonna happen sooner than later, because we've gotten all this other stuff out and we've been touring for pretty much the better part of the decade. And so we've been wanting to do this. It's just a matter of buckling down. When is that gonna happen, where we're, like, 'Okay, no other distractions. We're just gonna do this.' Anyway. But it's coming."

Slash also talked about the band's recently released two new songs called "Atlas" and "Nothin'". When they were made available in December, the tracks marked the first new GN'R music since the 2023 singles "The General" and "Perhaps". Both "Atlas" and "Nothin'" were produced by Rose and Caram Costanzo (Janet Jackson, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE); Costanzo co-produced GUNS N' ROSES' latest album, 2008's "Chinese Democracy", alongside Rose. Asked if it's true that he and Duff were instrumental in reworking some of those songs which were originally written before they rejoined the band, Slash said: "Well, there was a conversation that we had at some point after we got back together. Axl had a bunch of unreleased material, and so we listened to it. We said, 'We could redo the bass and the guitars for this song and this song,' and 'this one would be cool.' And we ended up doing that over time. We did a couple songs to begin with. I think 'Hard Skool' and 'Absurd' were the first two that we did, and then a couple of more after that. And 'Nothin'' and 'Atlas' were the last two songs that we did; everything's been done, and these are the last two that were left over. And, yeah, it's been fun, because they're all really cool songs. And it's not like writing it from its inception, but I still have to write stuff to go over the changes and everything. So it's a fun kind of a project for me — and I think for Duff too, just to come up with new ideas for something that's been pre-recorded."

Earlier this month, Slash told Sylvia Alvarado of the Las Vegas radio station KOMP 92.3 about "Atlas" and "Nothin'": "It's good to have a couple of songs that we're promoting and then a tour that's really a long tour. It's gonna go from the end of March until the end of December. And it's exciting, 'cause we're coming back to the U.S., which is the first time we've been in the U.S. in a while."

Asked if releasing standalone singles is how GUNS N' ROSES plans to make new music available going forward or if there are still plans to release a new full-length album, Slash said: "I think in this instance it's what we're doing, because we only re-recorded those songs — like a couple of songs here, a couple of songs there. These were the last two that are left to do, and we actually did them not even back to back. 'Nothin'' was one, and 'Atlas' was at a different time, but they hadn't been released yet. So, we're releasing 'em now. And then there's really no more of that sort of old rehash stuff to release. But I think what we're gonna do, we're gonna take all those songs and put them on something and release that as a package. And then the next record that we're gonna do is gonna be all new original stuff, and that'll be an actual album."

Slash added: "It's a really weird time for especially rock and roll and how it works in this industry and how it works for fans. I think most die-hard rock and roll fans would like to get an album and they love vinyl, but they would want a package of songs. But some of the younger kids who are sort of raised in this new fancy kind of digital era that we're in don't know about albums, really, being released as a whole. So it's a strange time. It's harder to navigate. But to me, it's a no-brainer. Make a record. You can do all the digital stuff in any configuration you want. But make sure that there's an album. Yeah."

Regarding the fact that all the recently released GUNS N' ROSES songs had existed in the GUNS sphere in the past, with "Atlas" having once gone under the working title "Atlas Shrugged", Slash said: "Well, we took a bunch of material that Axl had, and we all sat down and listened to it. And so we sort of picked out all the different songs that we wanted to do and what Axl wanted to do. And we just sort of took all the guitars and the bass off and redid it. And it was fun. And it was the kind of thing where we did one song at a time. We did one or maybe two in the same week. But for the most part it was spread out over a long period of time. So it was just something fun to do and go, 'Okay, what's gonna be my approach for it?' So each one of 'em has been an interesting sort of little project."

On the topic of what his approach was for recording "Atlas" and "Nothin'", Slash said: "'Atlas' has some really cool chord changes and time signatures, so that was interesting in itself. And then coming up with the right voicings for that. With 'Nothin'', it was a very spontaneous, very sort of simple, bare-bones approach. Not much thought went into it at all. It was just improvising."

Slash went on to say that he is looking forward to performing "Atlas" and "Nothin'" when GUNS N' ROSES returns to the road in March.

"Well, we were gonna [play] 'em [live] both — I guess it was a couple of years ago, or a little over a year ago," he explained. "And we were gonna do 'em both, and we actually rehearsed them and they sound great live and it was really fun. But then we decided that we didn't know when we were gonna release these songs and we didn't end up releasing them then. So we had to take them out of the set and wait. So we're excited to go to play 'em now finally the songs are released."

"Nothin'" and "Atlas" find GUNS N' ROSES showcasing two different sides of the band's personality. "Atlas" is GN'R in full surging rock mode, while "Nothin'" grows more introspective over floaty keys and an emotive guitar.

GUNS N' ROSES released a four-song EP, "Hard Skool", in February 2022. The effort, which was exclusive to the GUNS N' ROSES' official store, contained the two new songs the band released in 2021 — the title track and "Absurd" — as well as live versions of "Don't Cry" and "You're Crazy".

The legendary hard rock outfit has not released a full-length effort since "Chinese Democracy", which included only Rose from the band's classic lineup. Bassist Duff McKagan and Slash reunited with Axl in 2016 and have since released several standalone singles — "Absurd" (stylized as "ABSUЯD"),"Hard Skool", "Perhaps" and "The General" — but have not made any announcements about another LP.

In June 2024, Duff was asked during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" if he thinks GUNS N' ROSES will ever release more "newly written music" again as opposed to continuing to rework and put out previously composed songs. The GN'R bassist responded: "Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. There's new material. I don't know how we're gona put it out. I think that's a question too. Like, do you put out a record? Do you just keep putting out singles? I don't know what the right answer is there in this day and age."

If and when it happens, the new GUNS N' ROSES studio album will be the first under the GUNS banner since "Chinese Democracy" and the first to feature Slash, Rose and bassist Duff McKagan since 1993.

Written by Rose and co-produced by Rose and Caram Costanzo, "Hard Skool", which had the working title "Jackie Chan", was originally recorded during GN'R's "Chinese Democracy" era but was eventually omitted from that album. Short clips of the song were later posted online and a full version was leaked in August 2019.

"Absurd" came out on August 6, 2021, three days after GUNS N' ROSES performed the tune live for the first time during its concert at Boston's Fenway Park.

GUNS N' ROSES last performed "Silkworms", which was also reportedly written during the "Chinese Democracy" sessions, in 2001.

"The General" was the B-side of GUNS N' ROSES' limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single titled "Perhaps", which was made available for pre-order in August 2023.

Like "Perhaps", "Hard Skool" and "Absurd", "The General" was written during the sessions for the "Chinese Democracy" album. It was previously talked about by ex-GN'R drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia, who reportedly wrote some of the song's music and gave it its title, and former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach.

GUNS N' ROSES will hit the road again in the spring and summer 2026. This tour will see GUNS N' ROSES visit Mexico and Brazil, before headlining additional European markets, as well as stadiums across the U.S. and Canada. The upcoming run includes a special performance at Los Angeles's Rose Bowl, marking a historic return to the venue for the first time in over 30 years.

The tour announcement came days after GUNS N' ROSES released their deluxe "Live Era '87-'93" boxset, a limited pressing with remastered audio and revamped art.

Embedded in popular culture, GUNS N' ROSES' landmark diamond-selling 1987 opus "Appetite For Destruction" stands out as "the best-selling U.S. debut album ever" and "the 11th best-selling U.S. album of all time." Following its release, GUNS N' ROSES shook the world with the one-two punch of the over seven-times-platinum "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II", clinching the top two spots on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart upon arrival. With total sales of 100 million units thus far, their catalog also consists of "GN'R Lies" (five times platinum),"The Spaghetti Incident?" (platinum),"Greatest Hits" (five times platinum),and "Chinese Democracy" (over six million worldwide). Not to mention, they are one of the most-streamed rock bands in the world with an average of 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify and in May 2024 were inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame for their 1987 debut album, "Appetite For Destruction".

On the touring front, GUNS N' ROSES' legendary three-hour-plus shows encompass sought-after fan favorites in addition to newly dusted-off gems from their back catalog, leaving ardent audiences in awe. Their blockbuster 2024 world tour sold 1.3 million tickets around the world and marked the band's largest run to date. Consisting of acclaimed performances in stadiums and arenas alike, the tour included headlining festival dates at Glastonbury and London's Hyde Park, while the North American leg included sold-out performances at historic venues such as the Hollywood Bowl and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, as well as a co-headlining performance at Power Trip in Indio, California with AC/DC and METALLICA. GUNS N' ROSES' previous world tour, "Not In This Lifetime…", notably ranked as the "fourth-highest grossing concert tour of all time", selling more than five million tickets and included a headline performance at Coachella. The band's massive 2025 tour saw the powerhouse band hit stadiums and arenas in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America throughout the year.

GUNS N' ROSES are Axl Rose (vocals, keyboards),Duff McKagan (bass),Slash (lead guitar),Dizzy Reed (keyboard),Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar),Isaac Carpenter (drums) and Melissa Reese (keyboard).

In a new interview with Poland's Teraz Rock, Dave Mustaine once again spoke about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning", the title track of METALLICA's 1984 album for which he got a co-writing credit following his 1983 departure from the band, on the final MEGADETH album, simply titled "Megadeth". Regarding why he chose this particular METALLICA song to record, Dave said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It closed the circle. It paid respect to the band guys. It showed off a couple guitar tricks that I created, like the 'spider chord' and 'grunting'. And it just was a great way to show my respect to the band and to [METALLICA frontman] James [Hetfield] and [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] and for their ability. 'Cause I've always thought James was an excellent guitar player. And same thing about Lars — I've always thought he was an excellent songwriter."

Asked if he remembers writing "Ride The Lightning" with METALLICA, Mustaine said: "Yeah, yeah. I had the parts that I had written, and I brought that to them, just like the other songs that I had ideas for. And then James put in his parts. And then the lyrics were his. The lyrics for [other early METALLICA songs] 'Jump In The Fire' and 'Mechanix' were mine. And he changed the lyrics to 'Jump In The Fire' a little bit, and 'Mechanix' got changed to a song called 'The Four Horsemen', which is a different lyric altogether."

When the interviewer noted that MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" is "very close to the original", Mustaine concurred. "Yeah, it's a little faster," he said. "I sang just a little bit different. James and I have a very unique singing style, but they're also very different. So, I think that's one of the noticeable differences, is my singing style and that we sped it up just a little bit.

"We tried to pay tribute to the parts that were there — the solo, the drums — and do them as close as we felt like it was respectful," Dave explained. "And in some parts, we beefed it up just a little teeny bit. Some of the drum fills at the very, very end are a little bit different from the ones that were on the original."

Asked if the guys from METALLICA have heard his version of "Ride The Lightning", Mustaine said: "I don't know."

Dave also talked about MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" in the cinematic event "Megadeth: Behind The Mask", which debuted this past Thursday (January 22) on screens worldwide. On the topic of why he chose to record his version of "Ride The Lightning", Mustaine said:  "[It] had nothing to do with a 'gotcha'. It wasn't a payback. In fact, what it was is me healing a big part of myself because… I've made peace with what led up to the decisions that we all were forced into and what caused it and what's happened afterward. It's been successful and great for everybody."

Referencing the fact that he was fired from METALLICA in early 1983 and replaced by Kirk Hammett, Mustaine said: "We were all kids, and we were all severely alcoholics, so I don't think anybody was handling things in an adult manner. And I have absolutely nothing against James or Lars or Kirk [or] Cliff [Burton, late METALLICA bassist]; rest in peace, brother.

"So the idea of doing 'Ride The Lightning' — I wrote that song and I have a big claim to it, and I wanted to finish that," Dave explained. "Now, James wrote the lyrics, clearly. We co-wrote it. But that was a song that, it was one of the last songs that we did together, and I wanted to pay tribute to what we did. 'Cause if you got in a room with me and James and Lars and [early METALLICA bassist] Ron McGovney — I'm 20, these guys are all teenagers — and you say, 'Dave, you're gonna write a guitar style that is gonna be the biggest thing in the fucking world. Do you believe that?' That kid would've said, 'Fuck you.' And I would've said, 'Of course I believe it.' But deep down inside, would I have believed that? I don't think so. I just was doing it because there was a fire in my belly, and I wanted to stop being alone. And I hate loneliness. And that's one of the things that being in a band, I think it helps heal, but you've gotta tread very carefully because you can go into a place where you start to believe your own hype."

"Megadeth" was released on Friday, January 23 via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint in partnership with Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

Mustaine co-wrote the song "Ride The Lightning" with Hetfield, Ulrich and Burton.

Mustaine previously spoke about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning" on "Megadeth" in a recent interview with Spain's MariskalRockTV. Dave said:  "Probably 'cause it was the most emblematic of my guitar influence. The spider chord — you know how I do the spider chord. And then there's something called grunting, where I'll hit the chord a half a step below the note I want to go to. I'll fret it and I'll slide into it… It's way heavier. So, to me, I call that grunting. So spider chords and grunting are in 'Ride The Lightning'."

Mustaine continued: "Having written so much of the songs with [METALLICA] — people think I wrote a lot, but on that record ['Ride The Lightning'], it was 'The Call Of Ktulu', which used to be called 'When Hell Freezes Over', and [the title track] 'Ride The Lightning'. And the previous album [METALLICA's 1983 debut, 'Kill 'Em All'] had four songs on it [that I co-wrote]."

Asked if the guitar solo in MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" is "very close to the original song" because Hammett copied Mustaine's solo from Dave's original version of "Ride The Lightning" with METALLICA, or if Mustaine simply "wanted to respect" Hammett's work by reproducing Hammett's solo from the 1984 album, Dave said: "I think Kirk — if you listen to [METALLICA's 1982] 'No Life 'Til Leather' demo and then you listen to the 'Kill 'Em All' record, it's pretty clear that that Kirk had some instruction [about how to approach the guitar leads on that album]. Was it note for note? No. But it was pretty close. So, when the opportunity came to do 'Ride The Lightning' [with MEGADETH], I didn't really feel like I knew the song very well anymore, and I don't remember what I played on for that song, for 'Ride The Lightning'. I had a hard time finding anything that I played on either. So we just figured, 'Fuck it. [Current MEGADETH guitarist] Teemu [Mäntysaari] and I'll split the solo up, and half of it'll be for him and half of it'll be for me,' and it turned out so that [Teemu] did a little more than half."

Last month, Mustaine told Guitar World magazine about his decision to include his version of "Ride The Lightning" on "Megadeth": "The main reason I chose to do this was to close the circle and pay my respects to my partners. I thought this was a really great way to do that.

"Whenever we select any other band's music to go on our albums, sometimes there's a lot of thought behind it and sometimes there's not. This was one of the ones that we thought long and hard about, because all I wanted to do was play the song I wrote with the guys in METALLICA," Mustaine explained. "I wanted to pay my respects to James Hetfield, who I think is an amazing guitar player, and Lars Ulrich, who was an excellent songwriter. I remember when I was there and we were putting these songs together, Lars didn't just sit there; he was very instrumental in making these songs.

"Of course, when we got into making demos of these songs, it was fun to do the recordings, but we were never really able to do a full-on produced version of 'Ride The Lightning' [while I was in METALLICA], and I would have loved to have heard that.

"I gotta tell you — listening back to James's original vocal performance, it was really tremendous," Dave added.

"Anyway, there's no big strategy; I have respect for the guys, and I just wanted to show that. And it's a hell of a song."

Mustaine also talked about his version of "Ride The Lightning" during an appearance on the December 5, 2025 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Dave said at the time: "We're managed by three men — Danny Nozell, Steve Ross and Justis Mustaine. And we were talking with management, and we were just kind of yacking about what the cover song was gonna be on the record, 'cause we always did cover songs on our records. But this wasn't a cover song, because I wrote it with James. And it just became clear that I should do this, because if I'm going to ride off into the sunset, I wanna pay tribute to the band that I started in, and I wanted to make mention about what I think about James."

Mustaine continued: "I think [James is] an exceptional guitar player. I remember the day that I saw him play guitar for the first time. We were playing at the Whisky [A Go Go in West Hollywood, California]. And we had a guitar player with us, and his name was Brad Parker. And the night of the show he changed it to Damian Phillips. And he showed up at the Whisky in mid-1980s Rudy Sarzo garb. And I thought, 'Wow, that's not gonna go down.' And I looked at him and he had a giant feather earring. And I thought to myself, 'This guy's not gonna be here very long.' So I go to rehearsal, after the show, the next rehearsal I go and there's no Brad, there's no Damian, nobody. It was just James playing guitar — like a motherfucker. And I thought, 'How did this happen? How did this guy go from singer to a great guitar player like this?' And I was excited for me. I was excited for the band. And we started playing then."

As for how "Ride The Lightning" was chosen as the song for MEGADETH to record this time around, Mustaine said: "With the track, choosing that, I figured it should be something that I had something to do with, but I didn't know it was going to turn out like that. Something off of 'Kill 'Em All' would've been obvious, and we already did that [with 'Mechanix']. And so I was thinking about 'Ride The Lightning', and there's only a couple songs on there that I wrote. And I didn't think that 'The Call Of Ktulu' would be the right move, 'cause that's not even how the song was when I was in the band; they changed it so much, so it's not the way that I remember it. So we started doing 'Ride', and it just felt so great, listening to the tracks, listening to James's singing, listening to how the song structure was. It was just great. I loved it. And I've always believed when you do a song from somebody, you've gotta do it as good or better — you've got to. So we sped it up a little bit and we beefed up a couple parts, just to make them a little bit more modern. And there you have it."

Mustaine also previously talked about MEGADETH's version of "Ride The Lightning" last October in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. He said at the time: "It wasn't really that I wanted to do my version. I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect."

Speaking specifically about Hetfield, Mustaine added: "No one ever talks to me about that. One day he's a singer, the next day he's this fucking powerhouse and I've always respected him as a guitar player. So I wanted to do something to close the circle on my career right now, since it started off with [Mustaine's band before METALLICA] PANIC and several of the songs that ended up in the METALLICA repertoire, I wanted to do something that I felt would be a good song."

Elaborating on his reasons for recording "Ride The Lightning" for MEGADETH's final album, Mustaine said: "Our intentions were pure. I didn't have any reason I was going to say, 'Oh, hey man, this thing that we've had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.' That wasn't it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable. And I think doing something where we can pay honor to the guy that … I mean, I hate to say this, because it's just so fucking arrogant, but the guitar playing in METALLICA changed the world."

In a separate video message, Mustaine said: "So on the new album we recorded 'Ride The Lightning', and the reason we did that was, obviously, it's a song that I had a lot to do with writing it. And James and I, when we were working on the song, it became clear to me, when James first started playing guitar, how good of a guitar player he was. And I thought it would be really cool to close the circle to show respect, to play the songs that I've written with METALLICA and to honor our friendship, even though it's been strained and ruined from emotions over the years when we were not necessarily friendly. But one thing I've always had is I've always had a tremendous respect for James's guitar playing andLars's songwriting. So, it was cool to do this and add it to the record. We sped it up just a little teeny bit, and we kind of played around a little bit with the solo and Teemu and I both tossed it back and forth to each other. So, you might hear a little bit of some differences with the tempos and, of course, I sing different from James too. But once again, it was about completing the circle and just showing what James and I, as guitar players, did to change the world."

"Megadeth" track listing:

01. Tipping Point
02. I Don't Care
03. Hey, God?!
04. Let There Be Shred
05. Puppet Parade
06. Another Bad Day
07. Made To Kill
08. Obey The Call
09. I Am War
10. The Last Note
11. Ride The Lightning (bonus track)

Mustaine was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Hammett.

Mustaine was not inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with METALLICA during the April 2009 ceremony at Cleveland, Ohio's Public Auditorium. Ulrich later explained to The Plain Dealer that Mustaine "never played on any METALLICA records. No disrespect to him. But there [were] half a dozen other people that were in the lineup in the early days. We thought... the fair thing to do would be to include anybody that played on a METALLICA record." He added: "Dave Mustaine was in the band for eleven months, predominantly in 1982... I'm not trying to play it down. I have nothing but respect and admiration for his accomplishments since."

British progressive rock legends URIAH HEEP will complete the remaining shows of their ongoing Scandinavian tour without founding guitarist Mick Box, who is unable to make the dates after falling ill. Continuing to fill in for Mick on the tour is Sam Wood, who is the guitarist of the THIN LIZZY spinoff outfit BLACK STAR RIDERS, and WAYWARD SONS, the band led by former LITTLE ANGELS frontman Toby Jepson.

Earlier today (Monday, January 26),URIAH HEEP singer Bernie Shaw, keyboardist Phil Lanzon, drummer Russell Gilbrook and bassist Dave Rimmer released the following statement via the band's social media accounts: "Hi Everyone. We just want to update you all on Mick's progress. He is on the mend but doctors have advised that he continue to rest and recuperate.

"For the remains of the Scandinavian run we will continue with Sam Wood on guitar, whom I think all will agree that have seen the shows in Finland, does Mick and the rest of us very proud every night.

"Thank you again for all your continued support.

"Bernie, Phil, Russ & Davey".

URIAH HEEP kicked off the January/February 2026 Scandinavian leg of their farewell tour last Thursday night (January 22) at Tempere-Talo in Tampere, Finland.

In September 2024, URIAH HEEP announced its plans to embark on a farewell tour, dubbed "The Magician's Farewell", beginning with a seven-show U.K. run in February 2025.

Box, who hadn't missed any URIAH HEEP shows since the band was founded in 1969, told Classic Rock magazine last year that a number of factors contributed to URIAH HEEP's decision to retire from touring.

"None of us are getting any younger, and since Brexit and COVID, the touring side of the business is becoming tougher and tougher, making it almost impossible to do the really long tours that we like to do," Box said. "Tour bus prices have tripled. The government only allows us 90 days outside of the country. It's more and more difficult, on every front."

After the Tampere show, URIAH HEEP was scheduled to play 14 more gigs across Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

In December 2024, Box was asked by Planet Rock's Paul Anthony what he is planning on doing with his time once URIAH HEEP has completed its farewell tour. Mick said: "I guess we'll do [some] writing and go in the recording studio and do other aspects of the of the game, but as I say, we're still gonna be touring, still gonna be playing. It's just that we're not doing the really long stuff. We'll do it in sections rather than a whole long splurge."

After Anthony noted that URIAH HEEP still records new music and is not known as "just a heritage act" which doesn't perform its more recent songs live, Mick concurred. "Well, yeah," he said. "I mean, when you look at it, we've got a lot of classic rock songs. And the new songs are soon to be classic, because it's only time that gives them that title. [Laughs] So, yeah, we look at it like that. And they merge very well, because it's the band doing what the band does, using the same template we had from day one, musically, and that's the Hammond organ, the wah-wah guitar, five[-part vocal harmonies], all that sort of stuff. We just apply that to each song and it's URIAH HEEP."

URIAH HEEP's farewell tour will run for approximately two or three years and will include performances in all parts of the globe.

URIAH HEEP's 25th studio album, "Chaos & Colour", was released in January 2023 via Silver Lining Music. The LP was recorded during the summer of 2021 at Chapel Studios in London with Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, COREY TAYLOR, BLACK STAR RIDERS) at the helm.

URIAH HEEP debuted in 1970 with the release of one of hard rock's milestones, "Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble", and has since sold in excess of 40 million albums worldwide. They have constantly toured the world, playing up to 125 shows a year to more than 500,000 fans. The band's live set features the classic tracks from the '70s and is a musical journey from the band's beginnings to the present day.

Posted by Uriah Heep on Monday, January 26, 2026

In a new interview with Metal Covenant, KREATOR frontman Mille Petrozza spoke about the lyrical inspiration for the band's latest album, "Krushers Of The World", which came out on January 16 via Nuclear Blast Records. He said: "Every song on the album is like an empowerment. It's supposed to give people strength. Especially the song 'Krushers Of The World', where I talk about how hard it can be being alive in this day and age. I'm not saying that the world is a horrible place, but in my opinion, since we recorded the last album, things have changed for the worse. And we're surrounded by so much unnecessary drama that I think the world needs encouragement and empowerment to make our lifetime a little more joyful. And I think metal is always good for that."

After the interviewer noted that "it's become more difficult to live now" than when he was younger, Mille concurred. "It comes with age because we've seen so much," Petrozza said." I think we thought, and that was a mistake, that everything builds up. In the '80s we had the fear of the atomic bomb dropping, and once we got into the '90s and the 2000s, we thought, 'Oh, that's in the past. War, that's in the past. We evolve as a human race.' And now we're going back to 50 years before that, and we're going back to the primitive age, so to speak. So it's not going forward, but it's going in circles. And that's something that I realized, that life is not like you think it is. It can take turns."

Asked about his comment from a previous interview, conducted nearly a decade ago, that he was so fed up with politicians, Mille said: "Oh, I am still. It's a shit show, if you think about it. I can't take it seriously anymore. And I've known this all along. I've known this back in the day already. When we talked about it [in the previous interview] ten years ago, the same thing, but now it's a grotesque version of ten years ago. Now it's all emotions. It's no common sense. There's no more middle ground. There's no more getting into conversations. It's more, like, 'Oh, you're not on my side. You're probably against me.' I'm totally zoned out, without not caring. I think in this day and age we should just embrace life and make a positive example of how it could be, rather than complaining about the situation. I think that it's not in our hands. But it's not that I capitulate like, 'Okay, you can't do much anyway, and it all sucks anyway, so we can just go down with it.' No, but just make the world a better place by celebrating music, celebrating life. I think that's what's important in this day and age, rather than trying to be the rebellious punk rock kid or the fresh metal kid that is complaining. I think that that doesn't make sense anymore."

Mille added: "It's horrible. Social media has changed everything. As much as I love social media, you can manipulate people a lot easier than back in the day. So it's like your shitty attitude became the mainstream, you know."

"Krushers Of The World" was recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Bogren previously helmed KREATOR's "Phantom Antichrist" (2012) and "Gods Of Violence" (2017) LPs. The "Krushers Of The World" cover artwork was created by Polish genius Zbigniew Bielak (GHOST).

KREATOR will promote "Krushers Of The World" with a monumental European tour across 20 countries, joining forces with fellow metal powerhouses CARCASS, EXODUS and NAILS. The trek will kick off on March 20, 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, at MEO Arena and wrap up on April 25, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Poolen. Highlights include shows in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Stockholm, and more.

KREATOR will also embark on a U.S. tour this spring. The band, which last conquered American audiences and venues in 2024, will make stops at key festivals, including Welcome To Rockville, Sonic Temple and Maryland Deathfest. The tour kicks off on May 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and runs through May 23 in Huntington, New York.

The "Krushers Of The World" cover sees Zbigniew Bielak, renowned for his work for GHOST, art and design, offer an interesting twist to KREATOR's history. Transforming classic visual trademarks dedicated fans will recognize from "Coma Of Souls" (1990),"Out Of The Dark... Into The Light" (1988) and "Pleasure To Kill" (the font!) into a highly detailed tapestry garnered with occult symbolism, Bielak crafted an outstanding piece paying homage to a band he loves since his teenager days yet with a daring and unique flair. The cover of "Krushers Of The World" rewards everyone willing to analyze the grandiose sleeve design.

The official KREATOR documentary, "Hate & Hope", was shown in July 2025 at the 42nd Munich International Film Festival and received a theatrical premiere in September 2025. The 110-minute film was directed by Cordula Kablitz-Post.

Mille's official German-language autobiography, which he wrote with journalist, author and presenter Torsten Groß, "Your Heaven, My Hell - Mein Leben, Heavy Metal Und Wie Das Alles Passieren Konnte", was published in August 2025 via Ullstein Verlag.

Photo credit: Robert Eikelpoth

Professionally filmed video of METAL ALLEGIANCE — the all-star metal band consisting of a rotating cast of musicians, including core members David Ellefson (MEGADETH),Mark Menghi (KING ULTRAMEGA),Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT) and Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER) — performing its latest single, "Black Horizon", on January 22 at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, California can be seen below. Joining the "core four" members at the gig were a number of guest musicians, including Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT),John Bush (ex-ANTHRAX, ARMORED SAINT),Doc Coyle (ex-BAD WOLVES, GOD FORBID),William DuVall (ALICE IN CHAINS),Jack Gibson (EXODUS),Gary Holt (SLAYER, EXODUS),Phil Demmel (KERRY KING, ex-MACHINE HEAD),Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA),Alissa White-Gluz (ARCH ENEMY) and Troy Sanders (MASTODON).

Earlier this month, METAL ALLEGIANCE released the studio version of "Black Horizon", via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The band's first release of original music since 2018, the song features roaring opening riffs from guitarist Alex Skolnick and DuVall's ominous howls, painting an apocalyptic scene. Menghi on bass and Portnoy on drums keep the dread looming low in the sky, ready to explode with ferocity at any moment. Systems fail, shadows fall, and the doomed cry for salvation in this desolate world. Gloomy, minimalistic verses bookend thunderous choruses, chronicling a desperate flight for survival.

Menghi commented: "Who would have thought we'd be here 12 years later with new MA music? Very excited to have one of my favorite vocalists from one of my favorite bands on the first new MA music in 8+ years, which opens up a new era for MA. As the saying goes, you can't kill what doesn't die."

DuVall chimed in: "I was pleasantly surprised and absolutely honored to be asked to contribute to this song and I'm very happy with the result."

Skolnick said: "This song is a gift from the ghost of MA past. It's salvaged from a stockpile of riffs we'd started long ago but never quite finished. Now, in combination with a first time voice for the band — the great William Duvall — we are pleased to announce a brand new track, forged from what once was, here to kick off a new era. Check it out!"

Portnoy added: "After having recording these drum tracks some time ago, I'm stoked that they finally get to see the light of day! Thanks to William for finishing it up for us and welcome to the MA family! \m/"

In a recent interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET, William stated about his collaboration with METAL ALLEGIANCE: "I think it is a nice kind of departure. It's the kind of thing that presents a welcome challenge. I'm not going to write anything like that. There's definitely some stuff Alex Skolnick can do on the guitar that's not part of my thing, but even if I were to write some of the riffs like that, that's just not where my particular focus lies, even if I were able to do some of it. It's not where I want to go. It's really great when you get something where, 'This is where those guys want to go.' Then I can just say, 'Well, yes, send the music.' Then they send it, and I'm able to listen, and I react as a listener first, but then, as a writer and put on the writing cap, so to speak. That kind of music puts me in a similar mindset as the GIRAFFE TONGUE ORCHESTRA, where all this stuff is happening. There is a lot of information coming at you, and there are a lot of shifts in tone and mood, just even within one song. It puts you in this mindset where I have to write myself a role to play in this."

Asked if he was surprised to get the call to do it, William said: "I was pleasantly surprised to get the call. It came out of nowhere, even though I had a little bit of communication with Mark Menghi beforehand. It was a surprise. It was like, 'Oh, wow. Okay. Would I like to do a song with them?' They sent it, and I was like, 'Oh, okay!' What was interesting was that they sent the music, and immediately the title 'Black Horizon' came to mind. Then, the narrative, this sort of kernel of the narrative, came to mind almost right away. The music, again, conveyed this idea of movement, and that made me think of a journey. At the time, there was all this stuff going on every other week about some new rocket launch and 'We're going to Mars. We're going to colonize Mars!' I was like, 'Well, okay. Whether that happens or not, it put me in the mindset of 'What might the journey of the first civilizations to colonize Mars be like?' Not astronauts, not pilots, not trained military personnel, just regular people. The first regular people to take that trip, and that's kind of what set me off on that path. Then, taking that narrative of possibility and putting words and melody to it. That took a bit more time. The initial idea came quickly but fleshing it out took a bit more time. The music presents all of these challenges, and you want to rise to the challenge as a singer. It's almost like writing myself a role, then acting it. That's what it was like for GTO and 'Black Horizon'."

Beginning as a celebration of the metal genre, METAL ALLEGIANCE has forged a legacy all their own while collaborating with metal's most revered trailblazers. With two albums of original music and an EP, the supergroup proves that legends never die, and can even reinvent themselves.

METAL ALLEGIANCE "Black Horizon" recording lineup:

Alex Skolnick - Guitar
Mark Menghi - Bass
Mike Portnoy - Drums
William DuVall - Vocals
Josh Wilbur - Mixing, Mastering

A year ago, Skolnick told Metal Insider about how he first got involved with METAL ALLEGIANCE: "I had bumped into Mark [Menghi] once or twice. He had worked in the music manufacturing world but with none of the companies I was connected with. Mike Portnoy I would run into at events and concerts but did not know him well. I didn't know David that well either, but in his case, we had been on tours together before. So I wouldn't have predicted this, but it made sense that we all hit it off as we are all very open-minded musically; we all like to write and play not in just one style. I've been doing projects outside my band back when it was not so cool to do so, and even Portnoy, he has had a reputation in being in many different bands with different styles, but it just makes a lot of sense on that level and also the fact that we don't have other members that are too close outside of METAL ALLEGIANCE. For example, any MEGADETH guitarist (in the core group) would have overshadowed it being METAL ALLEGIANCE if you had half of MEGADETH. Or if you had John Petrucci, it then becomes a DREAM THEATER side project so not having those associations made us a logical combination."

Regarding the METAL ALLEGIANCE live shows, Skolnick said: "It's really caught on over the years and it's developed its own fan base. You never used to see this in the old days. Occasionally you we see a 'one off' tribute project like Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder in a project paying tribute to Andrew Wood and then there were some charity concerts back in the '70s with George Harrison who would get people from different groups. I also remember there was [Jimmy] Page, [Jeff] Beck and [Eric] Clapton on tour together, but now it is not uncommon to have folks from many different groups to play together. But if I can toot my own horn, it is pretty rare to have one like this [METAL ALLEGIANCE] — which is a very well-run live show which we pride ourselves in."

During a January 21 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", guitarist Phil X spoke about his involvement with TRIUMPH's first tour in more than 30 years. The North American run of shows will celebrate the legendary Canadian rockers' 50th anniversary, and feature support from APRIL WINE. The 2026 trek will kick off with a series of dates in Canada, beginning April 22 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and running through a May 8 show in Calgary, Alberta. From there, the band will hit the U.S. starting May 13 in Rosemont, Illinois, and wrapping up June 6 in Boston. In all, 10 Canadian and 16 American cities are included on the tour. For the 2026 tour, TRIUMPH's classic lineup consisting of Gil Moore (drums, vocals),Rik Emmett (guitar, vocals) and Mike Levine (bass, keyboards) will be joined by Phil X, drummer and keyboardist Brent Fitz and bassist Todd Kerns. Phil X, whose real name is Theofilos Xenidis, is a member of BON JOVI and a former member of TRIUMPH, while Fitz and Kerns are both members of SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS.

Regarding how the singing duties will be split between all the musicians each night, Phil X said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Right now it's just been talk, but [some] people think that [Rik and Gil] only gonna jump up on for a couple of songs or something like that — that's gone around as well. But that's bull. They're playing the entire set. And if anything, Gil might sing a couple of songs and not play drums. And that's when Brent will come in and play drums. And the thing about Brent that's so amazing is that he's amazing on keys as well. So he'll be playing piano and keys. And then there are parts, if Rik feels comfortable with his ability, and he'll be, like, 'Hey, Phil, take this line,' or, 'Hey, Todd, take this line,' and then something continues."

Phil X continued: "They're probably getting better every day, but I think they're excited about not having to carry the entire bag and having us there instead of [using backing] tracks, like a lot of bands do. Gil is Mr. Quality Control, and he wants it to be as good as it can be. And instead of running tracks, he'd rather have guys up there doing it. And Rik feels great about that too. I mean, as a three-piece, they never had some of the harmonies [when they performed live] that were on records, so they're both excited about having that, the ability to just open up with five guys singing. So that's another thing that they couldn't do in the past."

Phil X added: "I think once you get on stage and there's the adrenaline, and then after there's a few shows under our belts and you have the momentum, I think anything could happen. But when I talked to Rik, he's all about sharing the moments, like, 'Hey, Phil, after I do this and this song, I'd like you to have a moment and do your guitar thing here.' And it's pretty amazing. I'm, like, 'What? Really?' [Laughs] They're very sharing people."

Regarding how many of the shows Levine will be able to participate in, Phil X said: "I'm not up to speed on that. I don't know if anybody is. It's just something that we have to see when we get to that bridge."

As for when the rehearsals will begin for the TRIUMPH tour, Phil X, who also plays guitar for BON JOVI, said: "Well, we were actually exchanging texts today about it, so it'll be soon. There hasn't been any dates per se, but we're looking at the availability of everyone right now. And I think there's one time where we'll be rehearsing TRIUMPH, and then I'll have to leave for a few days to rehearse with BON JOVI, and then come back and rehearse with TRIUMPH again. So there's I'm jigsaw puzzling the fuck outta my calendar. [Laughs]"

Earlier this month, Moore was asked by Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon of The Metal Voice how Rik agreed to take part in TRIUMPH's 2026 tour after previously saying that he was not interested in hitting the road anymore, Gil said: "Same way I did. I mean, I said exactly what Rik said. I said, 'Sorry. I love you guys, but my life… I'm in a different spot now and I'm doing the stuff I love to do, which I'm still doing with [my studio] Metalworks and things like that, that are near and dear to me. So it was a big challenge to do this. But, man, there's just something about the magic of when we got together with Brent and Todd and Phil, and seeing people's faces again and talking to people and receiving the messages online. And it all came together. I said it was like a laundry hamper that opened on the floor. It was also just these puzzle pieces that are sort of scattered on the table and they sort of all come together."

Referencing the fact that Phil X, Fitz and Kerns previously played with Gil and Rik on June 6, 2025 at the Rogers Festival At The Final, a free outdoor concert in the ICE District ahead of Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Moore continued: "We're sitting in the trailer backstage in Edmonton looking at each other and we're singing harmonies together and talking about music, and all of a sudden we're, like, 'Man, this feels good.' I'm sitting there, I'm looking at Rik Emmett and Phil X play, two of the greatest guitar players, I would say, in rock and roll. Anybody that argues with me, get off this interview. Those two guys are a double-barreled shotgun. So me as a drummer, I'm sitting and I'm watching these guys and I'm watching how well they play together and how they got off on each other's playing. And Phil's complimenting Rik. Rik's complimenting Phil. Phil's complimenting Rik. Rik's complimenting [Phil]. 'No, you take this part.' 'No, you take this part.' 'No, you do it.' 'No. Hey, let's do it together.' This is magic. It's happening. It's lightning in a bottle. It's right in front of you. Or me and Brent. I've never met a drummer that, for some reason or other, he's a technical dude like me; he's into all of this tech and the science behind drums and every little tidbit of minutiae in the erector set. [It's] fantastic the way we jell. And Todd Kerns, he's taller than me, so I nicknamed him Too Tall. He's a hell of a singer, he's a hell of a bass player, but let's face it: he's six-foot-four. What are you gonna say about that?"

As for which musicians will perform certain songs during TRIUMPH's 2026 tour, Gil said: "Well, for starters, Mike, like we've said from the beginning, has got some health challenges. But, man, I'll tell you what: he wants to be there. He's got the spirit and the will. He's part of the brotherhood, of course. So when I say we're a brotherhood, he's the number one brother, and we're hoping that he's gonna be at as many shows as possible. But I can't predict that part of it. As far as Rik and I are concerned, unless we get hit by a bus, we will be on the bus. We will be at every show. We will be playing all the way through every show. Now, let me say this. When you've got guys like Phil and Todd and Brent, these guys are not side sidemen. That is not who we're talking about here. We're talking about guys that are rock stars, big time, in their own right. I mean, what Brent and Todd have done with Slash, what Phil's done with TRIUMPH or what he's done with BON JOVI subsequently… I mean, Rik and I are not puck hogs. Okay? So these guys are gonna shine in this show. And we would be idiots not to let them do that. These guys are great players and great singers, so we're gonna share the stage. We're not gonna hog the stage. And as far as individually who does what in which songs, those are things that we work out in rehearsals. We have a template, obviously, like who's gonna sing which song, or blah blah, blah, but once we get into the arena and we get [our lighting director] Paul [Dexter at Masterworks in Los Angeles] and we get the big sound and lighting system set up and everything, and then we start working on it, that puck's gonna get passed around a little bit. And I'm not sure exactly what, but just think of guitars, for example. You got two guys like Phil and Rik. When they get together, they're, like, 'Hey, man, you take it.' And, 'No, no. You're doing better than me. You take it.' They're just passing it back and forth, back and forth like this. And then, when they start playing together, holy crap. It's amazing. So, it's gonna be a lot of fun working out those parts. With Brent and myself, I don't know. I've never done double drummers before. It's gonna be fun. It's a double-barreled shotgun we've got going. We've got this massive riser that we're building and we're both gonna be up there. How we're gonna trade it back and forth, or what we're gonna do... Rik is talking about wanting me to sing upfront as well. I never could really do that well in TRIUMPH before because you have no drums. Now we have drums. So I don't know if that's gonna happen until we get in a rehearsal environment and then we see, how does it feel? And no wine before its time."

Moore added: "We're entering into an environment that is new to us. So it's not like when we practiced for a TRIUMPH tour back in the day when it was just Mike, Rik and Gil and there was — I don't know — a simpler environment, whereas we're trying to elevate the whole concert experience to another level and we're trying to use our talents wisely and have something sustainable. I mean, Live Nation's already talking about more dates, and we're getting bombarded with, 'Oh, you're not playing here,' you know, the different cities. They're, like, 'Hey, come on. What, do you hate us?' Like, 'Why are you not here?' So we're getting, we're already getting the, Hey dude, it's time. So, once we get in that big arena to rehearse, that's when a lot of the details are gonna get sorted out. But anybody that thinks that Mike or Gil and Rik aren't playing, I mean, I don't know — I guess they think O.J.'s not guilty."

Last month, Levine was asked by SiriusXM's Ozzy's Boneyard (Channel 38) host Mark Strigl whether he expects to appear at all of the upcoming TRIUMPH tour dates. Levine said: "I'm going to attempt to play as many shows as I can. I have a problem with my hand that precludes me from being able to really play well. That is a big issue. I don't want to go up there and not be able to execute properly. There is that. In the meantime, we are going to do some shooting. There is going to be some really neat video stuff, special effects. So I am going to pre-record a couple of things, just so… when I am feeling good, and they will get pumped into the show at various times. I will be there physical or virtually in one way shape or form."

In a separate interview with the Preston & Steve show on Philadelphia's active rock station 93.3 FM WMMR, Emmett stated about TRIUMPH's upcoming tour: "There's these three guys now that are gonna sort of step in. We've got Brent Fitz on drums and keys, and he can sing. Phil X on guitar, and he can sing his head off. He's unreal — he's like a force-of-nature guitar player. And then Todd Kerns on bass. But Todd Kerns can play anything, and he can sing like — one minute he sings like me, next minute he sings like Axl Rose. He can just go so high and so great, and I'm going, 'This is gonna be such an ass kicking. I'm gonna love this.' Here's these younger guys."

When the interviewer joked that this means Rik, Mike and Gil can "take every other show off" if they need to, Emmett said: "Well, I don't think we can take the shows off, but honest to God, [Gil] and I are sitting around every day doing script meetings and going over stuff on Zoom like this, and we're going, like, 'Well, maybe after the second verse we could kind of back out a little and then pick it up the next song.' I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be able to make it through all of the songs, singing all of the vocals. When I did the Hall Of Fame thing with Phil, I sang the intro and the first verse, and then when it came to the really high notes, I just went, 'Phil.' But that's kind of so much fun that you're seeing the songs move to the next generation and they get the energy that these people bring and the character and the personality. And it's not me; now it's gonna be them, but I go, 'Yeah, good. Take the legacy. Run with it.'"

Earlier in December, Moore spoke to "The Afternoon Rock Ride With Bilal", which airs weekdays on Canada's legendary rock station CHOM 97.7 FM in Montreal, about how all the musicians involved plan to perform the classic TRIUMPH songs on the 2026 tour. Gil said: "There was a lot of confusion, I think, that came from a number of sources and so on, and that's why we posted [a statement on our social media clarifying that]. But Rik and myself will be on stage playing the whole show. With us, we brought Phil X back into the band, who, of course, played a tour with us and recorded an album with us in 1992. So we got a double-barreled shotgun on guitar. And we're hoping Mike Levine will be there. He's gonna be at selected shows, but Rik and I will be at every show. And we also have — we borrowed Brent Fitz and Todd Kerns from Slash's band, so they're gonna be there to help us as well."

Asked by host Bilal Butt if that means that Moore and Emmett will be "taking a break here and there" during TRIUMPH's set while the other musicians perform on their own, Gil said: "I doubt it. I mean, it's possible that we'll take a break for a song or something like that and pass the baton around, so to speak. But I would say for the majority of the show, we'll both be on stage. I mean, until we get into rehearsals, it's hard to say. Rik's got a lot of vocals that are very high, and I did too, so I know that I'm working… I actually got a vocal coach to start getting back in shape and stuff, so I'm gonna sing as many of my songs as I can. And so far it's going pretty well. But, yeah, anybody thinking that we're not gonna be on stage or whatever, it's just false Internet nonsense. We will be there, and we'll be playing."

Moore also addressed Mike's health, saying: "Well, Mike, he's had some struggles, so that's why I say he'll be at select shows as he's able, but he can't commit to being at all the dates. He's very, very pumped up about the tour, so he's very much part of everyday discussions with TRIUMPH. He's not as interested as Rik and I are in what's going on, and we've got every hope that he's gonna be at as many shows as he can make."

As for a possible setlist for the upcoming TRIUMPH tour, Moore said: "We're taking some suggestions from the audience. I mean, obviously there's some songs that are just obvious that they have to be played. But our manager Jason [Murray of Vector Management], he's got a big organization and they have a big reach into social media, and I think they're picking up requests from people. And we'll do as many songs as we can that people want, and try not to disappoint anybody. But you can never avoid that. But we'll do our best."

During a December 9 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Emmett was asked how Phil, Brent and Todd will be involved in "filling out the sound" and "filling in" where Rik, Gil and Mike are no longer able to reproduce the original material,.Emmett said: "That's an ongoing thing. And every day I sit down with the script and I look at the tunes and I think about it. And the big thing is, first of all, they're incredibly skilled and talented and experienced musicians in their own right. And they deserve to end up feeling like they're as much a part of this as Gil and Mike and I are. I want them to feel that sense of sort of ownership and pride in what's going on, because — and this goes back to the songs again and the way that we present them, those songs have a life of their own. But I think this hunger that everybody is understanding is out there now for TRIUMPH to come back and play these songs, I think that hunger will be sustained by those guys, even if we get old and infirm and we can't necessarily do it. I think the songs are still gonna be there, and if those younger guys wanna start carrying a bigger workload, I think they could in."

Referencing the fact that Phil X, Fitz and Kerns previously played with Gil and Rik on June 6, 2025 at the Rogers Festival At The Final, a free outdoor concert in the ICE District ahead of Game 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Emmett continued: "In the short term, I'm gonna tell you this: I know that they can all sing fantastic. And there was a moment in Edmonton, and it actually made it on social media, where Gil and I and those three guys, in the trailer, we were just singing 'Lay It On The Line' background vocals to warm up. And I thought, 'Okay.' This was a great moment — it was one of my favorite moments in that experience out there — and I thought that should be part of the show. We should have moments where the band should cut out in 'Lay It On The Line' and we should just sing the harmonies. And we can do that in 'Fight The Good Fight'. We can do that in songs that we never did it originally. It's like another arrow in my quiver, it's another tool. I go, 'Okay.' There's things I wanna try and take advantage of. And they're all incredibly skilled. Fitzy can play keyboard parts, and Todd is as good a guitar player as he is a bass player. There's so many playing cards that are on the table now, I go, 'Oh…' Those people that are only listening on radio, I'm rubbing my hands in glee. That's what's happening. This is gonna be a really fun thing to get to play with over the next little while. And then those weeks that Gil was talking about, those dress rehearsals and stuff, man, I think there's gonna be an opportunity to build some things. And never mind the [stage] production that Gil's talking about and where this whole thing started, just musically, artistically, there's gonna be something here that's gonna be quite something."

Regarding how Fitz and Kerns were chosen to take part in the TRIUMPH 2026 tour, Gil said: "When I convinced Phil that this was something [that was gonna happen] — and at first I think he thought, 'Oh, this is fanciful. It's not gonna happen.' And then he realized, 'No, no, it's serious. It's gonna happen.' So when it came to filling the other spots in and stuff, and he said, like, 'Who do you want me to get?' And he was kind of going through this, this, this and this. And I said, 'It's really simple. We've gotta find some people that have great hearts.' All these guys we're talking about, they're really good players, but we want people that are gonna be good in the dressing room. So we wanna get good people. And immediately he goes right to Todd and Brent. And he says, 'That settles it. I got the guys.' And it's because of how they are as people, in addition to all their talent. They're very, very talented, as Rik said, tremendously talented people, but it's who they are. That's why they were picked. And Phil picked them."

Noting that Phil X already replaced Rik in TRIUMPH once before, host Eddie Trunk asked Emmett if he was "worried" that he would have to take a step back and give the spotlight to the younger musician on the upcoming tour. "No, no, no. The total opposite," Rik said. "If somebody had said, 'Well, it's just gonna be the original three guys,' I would've been far more reluctant than when they came to me and said, 'And guess who else we've got?' And in my mind I'm thinking, 'Phil X.' I definitely wanna give this guy so much rope that he hangs himself, because he's such an incredible player and he's a different kind of a player than I am. Tahat whole world of sort of the Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads — he's got a virtuosity that it's not a part of my playing at all. But he has all this experience. He's been out on the road with BON JOVI and that. And I think, well, I think maybe he's gonna get an opportunity to stretch himself a little bit more and maybe have a little bit more leeway.

"TRIUMPH is a band that doesn't really have a musical leader," Emmett explained. "Gil's kind of the leader in certain ways. When we first started in the early days, Mike was kind of the guy that was the producer in the studio and was a leader in that respect. But I think all of these guys that we've got, and Phil in particular, they have leadership capability in certain ways, and I want Phil's star to shine. I'm happy to kind of take a backseat, move back upstage a little bit and let him have some room."

Formed in Mississauga in 1975, TRIUMPH rose from playing high school auditoriums and rock 'n' roll bars to selling out iconic arenas, from Toronto's famed Maple Leaf Gardens to Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Their virtuosic musicianship, soaring vocals, and dazzling, high-production live shows helped define an era of arena rock. Blending hard rock power with progressive ambition, TRIUMPH has sold over 15 million albums worldwide and earned multiple gold and platinum certifications, building a global following through headline tours and landmark festival performances, including the 1983 US Festival before 500,000 fans. With hits like "Lay It on The Line", "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight" — combined with pioneering stage productions featuring pyrotechnics, laser lighting, and theatrical flair — TRIUMPH became arena rock legends, securing a permanent place in Canadian and international rock history.

The band's return to the road follows a defining year honoring TRIUMPH's impact across generations. In June 2025, the band was celebrated with "Magic Power: All-Star Tribute To Triumph" (Round Hill Records, June 6, 2025),a 15-track tribute album featuring rock luminaries such as Phil X, Sebastian Bach, Slash, Nancy Wilson, Joey Belladonna, Dee Snider, Lawrence Gowan, Deen Castronovo, Alex Lifeson, Jeff Keith, Mickey Thomas and produced by the world-renowned Mike Clink (GUNS N' ROSES, MÖTLEY CRÜE, WHITESNAKE).

Further solidifying their celebrated status, TRIUMPH was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame in October, a prestigious honor recognizing their enduring influence, masterful songwriting, and contributions to Canada's cultural legacy. This induction adds to their long list of accolades, which includes membership in the Canadian Music Industry Hall Of Fame (2007),the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame (2008),and Canada's Walk Of Fame (2019).

2026 "Triumph 50th Anniversary" North American tour dates:

United States

April 10 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live Universal Orlando

Canada

April 22 - Sault Ste. Marie, ON - GFL Memorial Gardens
April 24 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
April 25 - Hamilton, ON - TD Coliseum
April 28 - Halifax, NS - Scotiabank Centre
April 29 - Moncton, NB - Avenir Centre
May 1 - Laval, QC - Place Bell (Montreal)
May 2 - Ottawa, ON - Canadian Tire Centre
May 5 - Winnipeg, MB - Canada Life Centre
May 7 - Edmonton, AB - Rogers Place
May 8 - Calgary, AB - Scotiabank Saddledome

United States

May 13 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena (Chicago)
May 14 - Milwaukee, WI - Miller High Life Theatre
May 16 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
May 17 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
May 20 - Irving, TX - The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory (Dallas)
May 21 - San Antonio, TX - Frost Bank Center
May 22 - Houston, TX - Smart Financial Center at Sugar Land
May 24 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
May 26 - Atlanta, GA - Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
May 28 - Camden, NJ - Freedom Mortgage Pavilion (Philadelphia)
May 30 - Sterling Heights, MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill (Detroit)
June 3 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Amphitheater
June 4 - Boston, MA - Leader Bank Pavilion
June 5 - Wantagh, NY - Northwell at Jones Beach Theater (New York)
June 6 - Boston, MA - Leader Bank Pavilion

Regarding why now was the right time for TRIUMPH to reunite for a tour, Rik told Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station in a separate interview: "I think we all had to sort of bow to the ambition and desire of Gil Moore, who wanted to get the rock and roll machine back up on the road so that he could mount some sort of show thing that only he can imagine. And that Mike and I just go, 'Oh, God, what are we getting ourselves into?'"

Asked by Meltdown if it's correct to say that Gil was "the mastermind behind all the TRIUMPH stagecraft" back in the day, Moore replied: "I'll take one for the team for that, yeah. I always felt better behind the scenes, to be honest. I always liked the technology and the big spectacle and all that. But I think we tried to use the stage in a way that we really enhanced the music. And what I see now in a lot of tours, I'm seeing a lot of flashing, kind of gratuitous flotsam and jetsam of effects and stuff. And that's not the intent here. What we're really trying to do is tell the story of TRIUMPH from the early days to the present and really trace the interest that our fans have had that's gone on for years and now decades to become what they tell us, so how they own the songs, how they have been impacted by the lyrics. And we've noticed that in that feedback that it's all about kind of the positivity in some of our songs, the uplifting messages within the 'never surrender' and the 'hold on to your dreams' kind of content that was in the lyrics. So hopefully the show will add another dimension to that, I'll say, and not just be a bunch of flashing nonsense. It's gonna be something that's very, very well crafted. I've been working on it for about six years with our back-in-the-day lighting director Paul Dexter, who's really a kind of a genius in this area. So we're gonna try to bring that to the stage and really have a show that people will never forget. That's what we're trying to do."

Asked if the success of the 2021 TRIUMPH documentary "Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine" and the recent TRIUMPH tribute album "Magic Power: All Star Tribute To Triumph" was partly the impetus for the 2026 reunion tour, Mike said: 'The doc and the tribute record certainly were, I guess, slight impetuses, if that's a word, for us to do more things. I think the strongest impetus was the fact that that Rogers Communications, which owns the Maple Leafs and the Blue Jays and the cable networks and stuff, used 'Lay It On The Line' in a TV commercial throughout all the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was like a hit record, and people discover were rediscovering TRIUMPH, including brand new fans. And you couldn't go anywhere without somebody singing the song behind you. They'd go, 'Oh, there's a guy from TRIUMPH. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Lay It On The Line', man.' And so that kind of had some influence. And Live Nation started to talk to us about maybe doing something. And as far as [fellow Canadian rock legends] RUSH [reuniting for a tour] was concerned, they contemplated their return a long time ago, and we didn't even know about it while we were talking about what we were gonna do. So, we sat down and talked it out and said, 'Okay, let's toss the coin and do it.'"

Referencing the fact that TRIUMPH's reunion tour will also include Phil X, Fitz and Kerns, Emmett said: "We're not just going do this on our own, first of all. We're gonna have three other musicians join us. And I think that that's gonna make it so that it's not just the good old TRIUMPH that's trying to see if they can survive this thing. It's gonna be a new thing, and there's an energy to that that excites me and makes me wanna be involved and make it happen. I mean, Gil pretty much touched on it, that there's these folks that it was the soundtrack of their lives, and now they're bringing their kids, and there's grandkids involved in this now. So yes, we're old. I think there's going to be a level of curiosity. 'Are they gonna drop dead when they're trying to actually make this happen? Will the flash pots go off and scare them that they're just gonna keel over?' But I feel safe."

Rik continued: "We played out in Edmonton. Gil and I went out there [and played with Phil X, Brent and Todd]. Mike didn't make it, but we went out there and it felt like it was fun. And I think at the bottom of it, all of this stuff that we're talking about, the songs and the big show and all the nostalgia of the three of us getting back together, really the bottom line has to be, well, yeah, but is it gonna be fun? And I think that's something that translates to the audience. I think they get a sense of, 'Look at these guys. They're just having the time of their lives. Yes, they're very old lives. They're in their seventh decade, eighth decade of life. Wow.' But if we're not gonna have fun with that, what's the point?"

Elaborating on what fans can expect from the upcoming TRIUMPH show, Rik said: "Yeah, well, we made it through three songs out there in Edmonton. So there's a little bit of a spine to build from. Of course, that wasn't with any production. We were just playing out — it was all these people that were outside the arena. It looked like a holding pen. And they were going crazy and it was fun, but it was like an outdoor show. What we're planning here is a much more intense, multi-leveled multimedia… There's going to be screens that are doing things at the same time that we're playing… Anyhow, we've got a lot of work ahead of us because there will be an intense period of trying to figure out what the script is for this thing. Then you get to the point where it's, like, well, now we're gonna have to go into the studio and the six of us are gonna have to be bashing away for a while. Then we're gonna have to go into an arena somewhere and set this thing up because it's a massive thing."

Asked if this will be the final set of shows TRIUMPH will ever play, Rik said: "Here's what's gonna happen. If the tickets go on sale and it's kind of stiffin', then we may not even make it up for these shows. If they go on sale and it does pretty good, obviously there's gonna be people like Live Nation and folks that'll be going, 'Hey, you wanna do some more?' At which point there will be discussions between the three of us as to how long this might infringe upon my desire to wanna be going on holidays. I will say this though — last night I was practicing guitar, and I looked at my watch and it was 12:30 at night. I usually go to bed by, like, 10:30, at that time. So I thought, 'Well, this is not so bad, really, is it?' Sitting up and playing guitar until all hours. So, I think that is a harbinger of that there might be a future here. I don't know how it'll compartmentalize and work out, but, yeah, I think it could extend. It seems like it's fun so far."

Rik's memoir, "Lay It On The Line - A Backstage Pass To Rock Star Adventure, Conflict And Triumph", came out in October 2023 via ECW Press.

Moore, Levine, and Emmett formed TRIUMPH in 1975, and their blend of heavy riff-rockers with progressive odysseys, peppered with thoughtful, inspiring lyrics and virtuosic guitar playing quickly made them a household name in Canada. Anthems like "Lay It On The Line", "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight" broke them in the USA, and they amassed a legion of fiercely passionate fans. But, as a band that suddenly split at the zenith of their popularity, TRIUMPH missed out on an opportunity to say thank you to those loyal and devoted fans, a base that is still active today, three decades later.

After 20 years apart, Emmett, Levine and Moore played at the 2008 editions of the Sweden Rock Festival and Rocklahoma. A DVD of the historic Sweden performance was made available four years later.

In a new interview with the Everblack podcast, vocalist Winston McCall of Australia's PARKWAY DRIVE was asked about the possibility of new music from him and his bandmates. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. That's what we're doing right now, writing new stuff… It's going real good. I'm very excited. It's gonna be a while. We're in the writing stage, but at this point in time it's a very, very awesome writing stage. It's nice when you do some stuff and you're, like, 'Oh, it's gonna make people's heads explode.' When you do something, you kind of sit there and you're, like, 'Oh, shit. Okay. Cool.' [It's a] nice feeling."

Asked if he and his PARKWAY DRIVE bandmates work on new music separately at home or if they meet up at their jams space to put ideas together, Winston said: "A bit of both. [We] do stuff at home and then we bring stuff together at our space and just chip away at it. And we're just rolling on momentum at the moment. While stuff's going, we just keep working. We've got a lot of stuff that we're working on, like lots of — I'm gonna say material, but by material I just mean melodies and ideas and concepts and riffs and all of that. And we're just smashing things out, and we just keep rolling, like, 'Cool. Awesome.' Just keep the momentum going. Once something's done, you move on to the next one... Lots of good stuff. Sweet."

Regarding the musical direction of the new PARKWAY DRIVE material, Winston said: "It's the most powerful PARKWAY has been in a... Thus far we want it to make an impact, and it's probably the most intense-sounding music that we've created in a very long time, which is great. [Laughs] There's some stuff where we're, like. 'All right. What's the fastest we've played? Let's play it faster than that.' [Laughs] 'Let's make it the heaviest thing we've done.'"

As for what else PARKWAY DRIVE has planned for the rest of 2026, Winston said: " Just writing music. That's it. Writing music. There's a few things here and there, but we're writing music. That's it. We wanted to have an album written quite some time ago. And the Opera House [career-defining Sydney Opera House show in June 2025, where PARKWAY DRIVE performed alongside a full symphonic orchestra for the one-night-only event] opportunity popped up, so that's gonna be coming. We've got the live Opera House album is gonna be dropping, as well as the film for it will be hitting cinemas. And the live album sounds absolutely mental — like fucking mental, man. I got the masters back for it a couple of days ago and I was, like, 'Holy shit.' So I'm very excited for people to hear that, 'cause for the people that weren't in the room at that point in time — even for the people that were in the room, who would've just been hit by shock and awe for two and a half hours, it's absolutely stunning. So I'm really, really proud of that. So that will be coming. And we're still working another album at the same time. So you're gonna get some new PARKWAY things."

Last November, McCall told Poland's Pełna Kulturka that "focusing on making new music is literally all of the [2026] for [PARKWAY DRIVE]. We've said, 'Okay, we're not gonna be touring much [in 2026] at all. It's all gonna be about create[ing] new music.' In the meantime, there's gonna be a live album from the Sydney Opera House and a movie coming out of that as well, so people can hear some interesting stuff that we've created with that. But brand new songs is definitely the next on the PARKWAY list."

In May 2025, PARKWAY DRIVE dropped a new track called "Sacred". The single marked the band's first release since PARKWAY DRIVE's critically acclaimed 2022 album "Darker Still", and arrived alongside a music video directed by Third Eye Visuals.

When "Sacred" was first made available, McCall said in a statement: "The mission statement for 'Sacred' is pretty damn simple. An anthemic wrecking ball of positive energy. Our lives and the way we exist in the world has been pushed further and further through the lenses and frames of negativity and hopelessness. Obsession with everything we lack, everything we hate, everyone we blame, everything that keeps us down. We sell the unique parts of us most precious just to buy back manufactured pieces of self in order that we may feel whole again. 'Sacred' is our identity. 'Sacred' is our time. Never lose sight and never lose hope."

In the summer of 2025, PARKWAY DRIVE co-headlined the "Summer Of Loud" 2025 tour across the U.S. and Canada, which saw them playing some of their biggest North American shows yet. PARKWAY DRIVE served as a co-headliner on "Summer Of Loud" tour alongside BEARTOOTH, I PREVAIL and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.

PARKWAY DRIVE's 2025 concluded with the band's 20th-anniversary arena tour across Europe. Joining them on this momentous tour were fellow Australians THY ART IS MURDER and THE AMITY AFFLICTION. This massive arena run featured PARKWAY DRIVE's most ambitious production to date, performed with the passion and power that has defined PARKWAY DRIVE as one of the most important forces in modern metal.

PARKWAY DRIVE's concert at the Sydney Opera House will be part of the band's forthcoming feature film "Home", produced by Hype Republic and directed by Allan Hardy and Macario De Souza. The film is expected to be released in theaters in Australia later this year.

McCall told Rolling Stone Australia that recording the concert was a key factor in booking the iconic venue.

"We wanted to build something which was a reconceptualization of what PARKWAY DRIVE is in a place that's very iconically Australian and create a very iconically Australian show," he said. "It was all seated, black tie, played on grass with a full symphonic orchestra backing, a flipped-up set list from what you're used to, [and] everyone is in ball gowns and suits. It was the exact opposite of what you'd expect. And that was kind of what we wanted to do. We wanted to make something worthy of the moment."

He continued: "It was literally the loudest show that the Opera House has ever had before… You're confined to seats. There's no crowd surfers, there's no barrier."

Photo credit: Third Eye Visuals