Duke TV from France shared a 13-minute video report about the former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes and his UK tour in June 2023, where the musician recommended that some ‘old rockers’ retire from playing.
He was initially asked about his own retirement plans, and Holmes replied:
“Deep Purple’s still going. They played some cruise; they played on it. They’re getting up there in age. As long as people wanna see you play, you play. I personally don’t know how long I’ll be able to do this.”
The guitarist then added, without openly naming any rocker:
“There are some people that shouldn’t be playing — there are some that just don’t look the same. They don’t look very good. They shouldn’t be on stage.”
In February 2022, Chris received a diagnosis of throat and neck cancer, leading him to postpone his scheduled tours as he began treatment. Blackie Lawless released a statement right after the news on W.A.S.P.’s social media and said:
“The entire W.A.S.P. family are all optimistic of a positive outcome concerning the diagnosis for Chris. I certainly wish him the very best.”
After seven weeks of radiation therapy, the musician was feeling better. And later, in July last year, Holmes shared the good news with the fans by announcing that his cancer had completely disappeared. He had also expressed his wish to embark on a tour in September, even though he anticipated not being entirely back to his usual self. He explained:
“I’m slowly getting better and better. When I plan on touring in September, I don’t know if I’ll be at 100 percent. I might be at 80, but I’m still gonna go out and tour anyway because I haven’t played for a long time. I’m gonna try my best. I’ll play at 100 percent – I’ll put 100 percent into my playing. I’m just talking about entertaining. It depends on if I’m eating full then or not.”
After the diagnosis, the guitarist postponed his ‘Rock On’ solo tour to September/October, and he continued touring in later months. He is scheduled to perform in Europe, starting on November 29 with a show in Belgium. He will also visit Germany, Italy, and Holland during December.
You can watch the rest of his interview below.
