In a recent conversation with Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio, former Type O Negative guitarist Kenny Hickey discussed the growing interest in a tribute concert honoring the late Peter Steele.
When asked whether there had been discussions about reuniting with the remaining members of Type O Negative for such an event, Hickey admitted (via Blabbermouth): “There has, yes. A lot of people are approaching us. There are a lot of agents [contacting us]. There’s money in it, so the more the value goes up, the more they’re gonna hound us.”
The idea of celebrating Steele’s life and music continues to hover around the surviving members, but it seems one key figure remains hesitant. According to Hickey, former Type O Negative keyboardist Josh Silver, who also happens to be his brother-in-law, isn’t yet ready to commit. Silver has spent “a long time” serving as a paramedic in New York City and appears reluctant to step back into the music world.
“Josh is really, at this point, he’s very resistant,” Hickey added. “But we’ll see. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. Josh is about to retire [from his job as a paramedic] soon, so we don’t know what’s gonna happen. It all depends on how much money it’s worth and how much is waved [in front of us].”
The guitarist admitted he hasn’t seriously thought about who could fill Steele’s shoes on stage. When asked about potential vocalists for such a tribute, Hickey explained: “No, no. It’s a very hard thing to get my head around. If something really gets concrete, then I’ll really start thinking about it and painting over it, because there’s also the issue of the bass playing. Peter‘s bass playing was more unique than his vocals. Deep, baritone vocals — a lot of people with a deep voice could do that shit and roll your Rs… But his bass plan was very, very unique.”
Back in February, Hickey had already hinted at being open to the idea while speaking with Joshua Toomey on the Talk Toomey podcast. “I think so. I would do something like that, absolutely,” he said. “Because at this point, the band seemed to transcend into a whole new generation and stuff. And I think it would be really cool to get a couple of key singers, real guys, or maybe one guy or whatever, to come and do it as a tribute. Absolutely. Maybe four or five shows, something like that. If we can get Josh to do it, yeah, [I’d be up for it].”
When asked if Silver remained “the sticking point with stuff like that,” Hickey was candid:
“Josh is just, like, he’s done with music. He feels like he’s moved on, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Despite Silver’s current reluctance, Hickey isn’t ruling out the possibility entirely. “You get nostalgic after a time, you know what I mean?” he reflected. “So you never know. You can never say never.”
