AL JOURGENSEN: 'I Think That MINISTRY Has Run Its Course'

In a new interview with Hit Parader, MINISTRY leader Al Jourgensen spoke about his decision to call it quits after the touring cycle in support of the band's final album, "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)", which will arrive on October 30 via Cleopatra Records. Asked why now is the right time for him to hang it up, Al said: "I figure it's time. We've taken our genre and this band as far as we can go.

"I'm really happy with this album and I think it's a culmination of 40 years of the same elements," he explained. "Like I said, it's a good one to go out on. I'm really happy with the way this came out. But I'm not enthused about continuing to keep doing this kind of music or music in general.

"I just think that MINISTRY has run its course," Al added. "And I'm glad it was here when it was here. But I have no regrets looking back on it and everything. It would get boring, and it would get really repetitive. And I don't think the product would be as good if I tried to do another one. So, I think it's the proper time. Plus, I'm 68 years old. It's, like, God bless THE ROLLING STONES. They're in their 80s. They do a new record and this and that. But I just have other interests. Basically, I never wanted to do this anyways. It's pretty well documented that I just wanted to be a history professor for high school and college. And then I had these demo tapes that started selling and all of a sudden, I'm in a band and I'm trying to put together the band. I auditioned like 10 or 12 singers. I did not want to be singer. If anything, I always wanted to be Jimmy Page, not Robert Plant. And here I was, it just kept dragging me in. I kind of felt like Michael Corleone in 'Godfather 3'. Every time I try and get out, they pull me back in. So, it just kept getting to be more and more of this behemoth. I didn't really set out to do this path to start with, but I guess I was able to do it well enough to sustain a 45-year career but there comes a time."

Since 1981, MINISTRY and Jourgensen have been recognized as pioneers of industrial music with a history built upon 17 studio albums, eight live releases, eight side projects, multiple touring campaigns across five continents, an autobiography, two documentaries, the administration of last rites no less than three times, and the countless numbers of devoted acolytes and fans.

Notably, "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)" — MINISTRY's 17th release — features one final collaboration with legacy member Paul Barker on the final album track "We're Still Here", alongside the handiwork of current MINISTRY bandmates, guitarists Monte Pittman and Cesar Soto, bassist Paul D' Amour, sampler/synth player John Bechdel and drummer Pepe Clarke Magaña.

MINISTRY will bring tracks from "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)" and other classic hits on the road in 2027 with an international goodbye tour. The "Goodbye Europe" tour with special guest DIE KRUPPS begins April 2027. It will be followed by a full U.S. run.

Born in 1981 in Chicago, MINISTRY has been the lifetime passion project of founder Al Jourgensen, considered to be the pioneer of industrial music. In its early days, MINISTRY was identifiable by its heavy synth-pop material in line with the new sounds and technology that were being developed in the '80s. MINISTRY's output began with four 12" singles on Wax Trax! Records in 1981 before the first LP "With Sympathy" in 1983 via Arista Records. As time progressed, however, so did MINISTRY, quickly developing a harsher, and more stylized sound that the band soon became infamous for on seminal albums "Twitch" (1986),"The Land Of Rape And Honey" (1988) and "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" (1989). With the release of "Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs" (1992),MINISTRY hit an all-time high in the mainstream musical realm and received its first Grammy nomination. In total, MINISTRY has been nominated for a Grammy Award six times. Eight more albums would follow before an indefinite break in 2013, only to be unearthed again in 2018 with "AmeriKKKant", continuing to reflect Jourgensen's views on the frightening state of society and politics. The 2021 album "Moral Hygiene" marked a new creative era of Jourgensen and the band. It was followed by MINISTRY's 16th studio album, "Hopiumforthemasses", released in 2024, as well as "The Squirrely Years Revisited", with reworked songs from the band's synth pop era, in 2025.