ANTHRAX Drummer: JOHN BUSH 'Declined' To Take Part In 'Reunion' Tour

ANTHRAX's most recent vocalist, John Bush, "was asked to be a part" of the group's upcoming reunion tour "but declined," according to an e-mail allegedly sent to a fan by the band's drummer Charlie Benante.

In a posting on ANTHRAX's official message board, an ANTHRAX fan from Australia calling himself Fuelee2004 wrote:

"Thought I would share this with everyone, here's what I wrote to Charlie:

"I think it sucks you guys doing this reunion, Charlie. I really dont see the point especially when you have a singer like John Bush, one of the best in the biz, and i dont think the ['Among the Living'] lineup is better than the band with John and Rob [Caggiano, guitar]. It's great that Frankie [Bello, bass] is back but I'm real bummed about John getting a raw deal out of this. If it was any other band doing a reunion like this, I probably wouldnt mind so much but I've been a fan of ANTHRAX since before John joined, so I'm disappointed and for as long as I've been a fan that's the one thing that ANTHRAX has never done, dissapoint."

"And here was the reply I received:

"I'm at the point now where I will tell people to keep their comments to themselves, I don't want to hear it anymore. John was asked to be a part of this but declined. End of story."

ANTHRAX's reunited lineup of Benante, Bello, Scott Ian (guitar),Dan Spitz (guitar) and Joey Belladonna (vocals) will play two warm-up shows in Chicago on April 30-May 1 before embarking on a world tour that will include dates in Australia and Europe. A full U.S. tour is planned for the fall.