KINGDOM COME To Celebrate Debut Album With 30th-Anniversary Tour

Hard rock band KINGDOM COME was formed in 1987 and was quickly signed to Polydor Records. They released their first single "Get It On" which had a stranglehold on AOR radio in early 1988, prompting their self-titled debut album to ship gold. The quintet, comprised of guitarists Danny Stag and Rick Steier, bassist Johnny B. Frank, drummer James Kottak, and singer Lenny Wolf, took to the road immediately as part of the North American "Monsters of Rock" tour alongside VAN HALEN, SCORPIONS, METALLICA and DOKKEN. In addition to touring and extensive radio airplay, they also became MTV favorites with such videos as "Get It On" and "What Love Can Be" helping the band to sell two million debut albums worldwide.

2018 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of that classic album prompting James Kottak to revive KINGDOM COME. Along with original members Danny Stag, Rick Steier, Johnny B. Frank, a tour to commemorate the success of the band and album is born. Original singer Lenny Wolf declined to participate in the tour, but wishes the rest of the guys all the success and best in the world. Keith St. John (formerly of MONTROSE and LYNCH MOB) will be stepping up to fill that large void, "but is definitely up to the job” according to the bandmembers.

Stag says: "We all love each other like brothers, get along, and laugh a lot. It's like a miracle that this is finally happening!" Frank adds: "It was 30 years ago The Wolf recruited us, The Rock produced us, MTV aired us and VAN HALEN made us Monsters Of Rock. Grateful to rock another day!!!"

KINGDOM COME will tour in 2018 and 2019, performing its debut album in its entirety (when headlining) along with music from its second album, "In Your Face".

KINGDOM COME 30th-anniversary tour dates:

Sept. 27 - Seattle, WA - Club Sur Rocks
Sept. 29 - Sacramento, CA - Holy Diver
Oct. 03 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky a Go-Go
Oct. 05 - Las Vegas, NV - Vamp’d
Oct. 06 - Ramona, CA - Ramona Mainstage
Oct. 11 - St. Charles, IL - Arcada Theatre
Oct. 17 - Warrendale, PA - Jergel’s
Oct. 18 - Sellersville, PA - Sellersville Theater
Oct. 21 - Derry, NH - Tupelo Music Hall
Oct. 23 - New Bedford, MA - Greasy Luck Brewpub

More shows will be added.

Kottak played on KINGDOM COME's first two albums, 1988's "Kingdom Come" and 1989's "In Your Face" before leaving. The drummer went on to play on MCAULEY SCHENKER GROUP's 1992 "MSG" album before joining SCORPIONS in 1996.

Last year, Kottak told Shut Up & Rock On that he is "so proud" the first two KINGDOM COME albums. "I co-wrote on both of them on a few songs," he said. "They're just great albums. The songs are great. Lenny's incredible. We just killed it."

LED ZEPPELIN comparisons dogged KINGDOM COME throughout the latter band's '80s peak, in particular, Wolf's vocal resemblance to ZEPPELIN singer Robert Plant and the group's penchant for blues-based hard rock, a style ZEPPELIN helped pioneer. Kottak was asked by Shut Up & Rock On how he felt about these ongoing claims. "If you're going to be accused of something, at least rip off the best," he said. "It was just great music. My drumming compared to [legendary ZEPPELIN drummer] John Bonham? Thank you, I'll take it. I think some of the responses from a couple of the guys in the band maybe misled people.

"The press is so funny when a band comes and they get huge really fast. They love to knock them down, some press people do. Sometimes the press won't. It's like, good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster. That's what happened to KINGDOM COME. The same thing happened to QUIET RIOT in the early days. It's what it was. I'm super-proud of this stuff. I never had a problem with it. Call us 'ZEPPELIN rip-offs.' Who cares?

"Before I even went to audition, I got this tape and these four songs were on there. It was just Lenny with his drum machine and him singing. I went, 'Oh my God! This is phenomenal.' I listened to the tape three times in a row. It was 'Get It On' and 'What Love Could Be' and '17' and some other song. I was just going 'This is great!' If anything, '17', if you listen to STP's [STONE TEMPLE PILOTS] 'Vasoline', it's a complete rip-off of '17'. It's the exact same riff. It goes round and round. Who cares? It's just rock and roll."

After its early run of success in the '80s, KINGDOM COME released several albums, with Wolf remaining the only constant member of the band. The group's most recent effort was 2013's "Outlier".