Ex-TNT Singer Confirms His Mother Is Battling Cancer

Former TNT and current STARBREAKER vocalist Tony Harnell, who announced earlier in the year that he was canceling his appearance at Firefest V (scheduled to take place October 24-26, 2008 at Rock City in Nottingham, England),has issued the following update:

"Some of you may know I canceled Firefest due to an illness in my family. Well, I like to keep these things private, but I am forced to give a little more information.

"It is my mother and she has cancer. That is all I will say.

"The timing of Firefest was such that I could not attend due to the urgent nature of my mother's condition and my presence being required right now. It was necessary for me to stay in the country and be of service to her while she is receiving treatment. Let's just say the clock is ticking on her situation and I had to adjust my life immediately. But that doesn't mean I am stopping working and it doesn't mean I am not looking to the future.

"Now I got an offer to come to England next year in May [as part of Z Rock 2009 festival] and I felt that was far enough away to commit to the show and a great opportunity to make up my absence from Firefest.

"I think it's obvious why May of next year would be OK as opposed to right now. Some have already been critical of the announcement and assuming that the family situation is somehow handled due to this announcement, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I agree if I could have waited till after Firefest to announce I would have, and indeed asked to wait out of respect for the Firefest fans and organizers but due to the manufacturing of posters and other release material for Z Rock, I was forced to announce now.

"I hope this clears this matter up and thanks to all of you for your good wishes, I have received so many nice letters and I really appreciate it."

Tony Harnell has confirmed his appearance at the Z Rock 2009 festival, set to take place May 29-30, 2009 at JB's in Dudley, England. According to a press release, Harnell's set "will be a 'best of' from his long and successful career with TNT, WESTWORLD and much more."

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

Friday, May 29:

WIG WAM
TONY HARNELL
STORMZONE

Saturday, May 30:

JOHN WAITE
BIG NOIZE
VON GROOVE
EDEN
NEWMAN

Tickets are available at www.zrecords.net, priced at £42.50 and £25.00. This special discounted early bird offer will run until October 31 when prices will revert to £47.50 and £30.00. They will go on general sale from various outlets at full price from November 1.

Tony Harnell recently made high-quality demo versions of six solo tracks available for purchase via his official web site. Entitled "Cinematic" and recorded in Sweden for his upcoming solo album between 2006 and 2007, three of the songs on the CD were previously featured on MySpace, including the fan favorite "The Show". According to a posting on the site, "not all of the great songs featured here will end up on the finished album so this is your chance to own something very special and be a part of the creative process."

STARBREAKER — the band featuring Tony Harnell, Magnus Karlsson (ALLEN LANDE, PRIMAL FEAR) and John Macaluso (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TNT, ARK) — its sophomore album, entitled "Love's Dying Wish", in North America on November 18 through Blistering/Ryko.

Released in Europe on August 1 via Frontiers Records, the follow-up to the group's 2005 self-titled debut was written and produced by Harnell and Karlsson and was mixed by respected producer Tommy Hansen (TNT, JORN).