BLUE MURDER Reunion 'Probably Will Not Happen,' Says TONY FRANKLIN

During a brand new interview with Rock Titan, bassist Tony Franklin was asked about the persistent rumors of a reunion of the power trio/supergroup BLUE MURDER. The band was by formed by guitarist John Sykes and featured Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice.

"That probably will not happen, because — well, not for any negative reasons," Franklin said (see video below). "We actually almost came very close to doing it. We were gonna talk this time last year, and then Carmine, unfortunately, had some big health challenges. We almost lost him, but he's doing fine now — I mean, he's back playing gigs and touring and everything. But he was caught overseas, and that was part of the challenge. And so he no longer wants to travel overseas, into Europe, because they weren't able to help him, and it was touch and go. So, understandably, I think, wisely, he's not gonna travel outside the U.S. He's still got plenty of work that he's doing — he's touring with THE RASCALS, he does his VANILLA FUDGE stuff, his 'Drum Wars' thing. So he's plenty busy. And then also, John wants to do more than just BLUE MURDER. He wants to play some of his amazing catalog — WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER, of course. And he has a new album which is coming out this year. And so we have put together a new band, and we shall be making some headway with that pretty soon."

Franklin said that his new band with Sykes does not yet have a name. "It might be just under John's name," he explained. "I don't know."

Upon Sykes's firing from the most successful version of WHITESNAKE, the former TYGERS OF PAN TANG and THIN LIZZY axeman set out to create a similar sounding bluesy hard rock band. They released two studio albums and one live album before breaking up in 1994. The late Ray Gillen, most famous for singing for BLACK SABBATH and BADLANDS, sang for an early version of BLUE MURDER, and the band reportedly recorded demos with him, but he didn't appear on any of the group's albums.

BLUE MURDER's 1989 self-titled debut album featured Sykes, Franklin, Appice and keyboardist Nik Green. A follow-up effort, "Nothin' But Trouble", arrived in 1993.

Sykes will release his first album in 19 years later this year via Golden Robot Records.

John's best-known work was when he joined WHITESNAKE and co-wrote the band's self-titled seventh studio album, released in 1987. It produced a major power ballad hit, "Is This Love", along with the No. 1 hit "Here I Go Again". The album was a major crossover hit, eventually selling over eight million copies in the U.S. alone.

Sykes announced his departure from THIN LIZZY in July 2009, explaining that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own music."