Because of the extensive back injuries suffered by Blackie Lawless during the European leg of W.A.S.P.‘s 40th-anniversary tour, the band’s previously announced 2023 U.S. tour has been canceled and will be rescheduled for spring 2024. Tickets and VIP packages can be refunded at the point of purchase.
Lawless comments: “The extent of the trauma I endured on the 2023 European tour was far greater than originally diagnosed and surgery will now be needed to correct the problem. In addition to the original herniated disc, as that tour continued, a second disc became herniated. Upon returning home, a second MRI also revealed a broken vertebrae to my lower back.”
“I’ve been fortunate to work with the best specialists in the U.S. and I’ve been in intensive rehab since we got home. It’s going well but the damage was pretty extensive and all the doctors agree moving the tour a few months back will be the safest thing. It’s all been as the result of an injury that happened several years ago. I’m working my butt off to get ready and I’ll be up riding on [my mic stand nicknamed]Elvis… bigger and badder than ever. If the Torture Never Stops, then the 40th Never Stops!”