ACCEPT To Celebrate 50th Anniversary With Tour And Album Of Re-Recorded Classics

German heavy metal legends ACCEPT will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2025-2026. To mark this mammoth milestone, the band will ring in the band's golden birthday with a very unique anniversary tour at the end of 2025. An anniversary album will be released early 2026.

Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was not only significantly involved in the songwriting of every single ACCEPT song, his work has shaped an entire generation of metal musicians. As a founding and the longest standing member, Wolf has made the most impactful contribution to the band's unmistakable sound and success.

Since joining ACCEPT in 1976 at the age of just 16, Wolf played a central role in the band. His instantly recognizable and signature guitar style not only created the ACCEPT "sound" but influenced a plethora of other highly successful bands and guitarists. Because of Wolf's unflinching dedication, ACCEPT has become one of the most significantly defining bands in heavy metal. Not only did he lay the musical foundations for the band, he also carried the band through the highs and the lows that come with a long-term career — 50 years.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, ACCEPT is embarking on a spectacular world tour that will take fans on a musical metal journey through time. Fans can look forward to a unique stage show with surprise guests, all the classic hits from the band's history as well as rarely performed songs.

Hoffmann comments: "It's an incredible honor to be able to look back on five decades of a musical career and share our music with so many people. But nothing lasts forever and who knows how much longer we'll be touring… This tour will be very special because we think 50 years of ACCEPT is a GREAT reason to celebrate in style!"

In spring 2026, ACCEPT will release a special album that covers the band's entire musical history. This anniversary album will contain a carefully curated selection of the best ACCEPT songs from the last five decades, re-recorded — partly with well-known surprise musical guests and colleagues, as well as with some rare tracks that have not been played so often before.

"We wanted to create something that captures the essence of ACCEPT while offering something new to our loyal fans," explains Wolf. "This album is a tribute to our journey and to everyone who has accompanied us along the way."

Over the past five decades, ACCEPT has sold millions of albums and inspired countless musicians. Their energetic live performances and iconic albums such as "Balls To The Wall", "Restless And Wild" and "Metal Heart" have left a lasting mark on the heavy metal genre. Hoffmann's guitar style and musical vision have made the band one of the most respected on the heavy metal scene.

After a hiatus in the band's career, Wolf was introduced to New Jersey singer Mark Tornillo in 2009. The chemistry and fit between them was so remarkable, ACCEPT reformed and almost immediately rose to global success with chart-topping albums. ACCEPT continues to be celebrated for each of their new records with Mark, who is now the longest-reigning frontman of ACCEPT, placing the Hoffmann-Tornillo partnership firmly in the Metal Hall Of Fame.

For decades, ACCEPT has been recognized as a guarantee of high quality and each of their albums has reached the top of the charts, delivering energy, melodies, killer riffs and an impressively powerful stage presence for 50 years.

ACCEPT states: "Celebrate with us! We invite the world of heavy metal to join us in the celebrations of this extraordinary anniversary!"

ACCEPT's latest album, "Humanoid", was released on April 26 via Napalm Records. The LP was once again produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by critically acclaimed heavy metal producer Andy Sneap.

ACCEPT recently announced a massive European headline tour, with more than 20 shows across the continent for autumn 2024. This summer, ACCEPT will also return to some of the world's most important rock and metal festivals, like Wacken Open Air.

ACCEPT and KK'S PRIEST will join forces this fall 2024 for a North American tour. The run will begin on August 31 in Los Angeles, California, visiting a slew of major cities in the USA and Canada — such as Toronto, Montreal, New York and Nashville — before coming to an end in San Francisco, California on October 7.

In February 2022, it was announced that ACCEPT had inked a worldwide deal with Napalm Records.

ACCEPT's previous album, "Too Mean To Die", came out in January 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, the aforementioned Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

Tornillo joined ACCEPT in 2009 as the replacement for the band's original lead singer, Udo Dirkscheider. He can be heard on ACCEPT's last six studio albums, "Blood Of The Nations" (2010),"Stalingrad" (2012),"Blind Rage" (2014),"The Rise Of Chaos" (2017),2021's "Too Mean To Die" and 2024's "Humanoid".

Photo credit: Christoph Vohler