AL JOURGENSEN Reveals Date And Venue For MINISTRY's Final Concert

Industrial-metal pioneer Al Jourgensen recently sat down with Lyndsey Parker and a bottle of wine at Licorice Pizza Records for a deep dive into MINISTRY's full-circle journey: from "With Sympathy", the 1982 synthpop album he disavowed for years, to "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)", MINISTRY's upcoming final album, which reunites him with legacy bandmember Paul Barker.

According to Jourgensen, MINISTRY will call it quits on October 30, 2027 — one year after the release of "Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)" — with a huge blowout concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

 Asked if he is going to be sad once the concert is over, Al said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "No. I'm gonna be in my fucking house before they even let people backstage. [American comedian and podcaster]
Bill Burr will helicopter me home. And that night, a lot of people that have said that I've influenced them and all that, the whole night is gonna be a procession of just people saying goodbye… But the last show's gonna be a lot of people you know that are gonna be saying 'hey' and jamming with us, and it'll be fun… It'll be a fun last show."

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.

It's been a long time coming for Jourgensen, whose musical sojourn found him in dalliances from punk (his late-'70s band SPECIAL AFFECT) to polished electro-pop (1983's "With Sympathy") to complete immersion into hammering industrial (1986's "Twitch") before redefining the post-punk axis (1988's "The Land Of Rape And Honey") and successfully adding the suffix "-rock" to industrial's relentless noise avalanche (1992's "Psalm 69") to create an entire new genre and foment a nation of dedicated fans. But with the release of MINISTRY's 17th album, Jourgensen is comfortable calling it a career.

"I absolutely love it," says Jourgensen about the end of MINISTRY and his career coming to a close. "There's not going to be a moment where I suddenly think, 'Wait! I got some ideas, I'm going to do another MINISTRY record.' I'm fucking done. I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I'm amazed at the path that it's taken, from 'With Sympathy' to where we're at today, and all points in between. It's been quite a ride, but I'm completely at peace with the fact that it's done. It's time to herd goats."

"Hate To Go" started taking shape in 2025 in Jourgensen's home studio with engineers Justin Leeah and Michael Rozon navigating the proceedings alongside "Uncle Al." Aided and abetted by his longtime touring band, Jourgensen pulls no punches when it comes to the state of the nation or the rage that he's cultivated throughout his career. The days where he'd have his vocals buried under punishing distortion ended long ago. Today, he readily admits a willingness to be a megaphone. And for good reason.

"Nothing, nothing has changed," he says with a tinge of frustration. He came upon this realization while trying to determine set lists for MINISTRY's final tour. "I'm looking at 55 songs trying to get everything together so everyone knows what to rehearse. I'm listening to my storyline here, and it's pretty much the same thing 40 years later. There are a few exceptions — 'With Sympathy', 'Filth Pig' and 'Dark Side Of The Spoon' — but the rest of them are pretty much the same political messages we've had going on for 35, 40 years." He pauses to consider the epiphany. "It's disheartening, but at least I stuck to it."

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.

Photo credit: Derick Smith