Ex-W.A.S.P. Guitarist CHRIS HOLMES Cancels May 2026 Tour Dates 'Due To Health Issues That Require Immediate Attention'

Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes has canceled his previously announced tour of the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, scheduled for May 2026. All Chris Holmes shows taking place after July remain unaffected.

On Friday (April 10),the social media of The Abyss club in Gothenburg, Sweden, where Holmes was scheduled to perform on May 27, shared the following official statement from the the 67-year-old musician and his wife/manager Catherine Holmes: "Due to health issues that require immediate attention, we must unfortunately cancel the May tour. We will keep you updated as soon as we have more information. We would like to thank each and every one of you for your understanding, and we ask that you please accept our apologies."

In February 2022, Holmes was diagnosed with throat and neck cancer, and he immediately postponed his touring commitments while he received treatment. He completed seven weeks of radiation therapy and five months later, he shared the good news with fans that his cancer was "gone".

Holmes joined W.A.S.P. in 1982 and remained with the group until 1990. In 1996, the guitarist returned to W.A.S.P. and stayed with the band until 2001. Chris has not played with W.A.S.P. since.

In 2021, Holmes told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that W.A.S.P. was "a group, a band" on the first LP. "And after that, the second album, it wasn't a group — it was a one-man show," he said. "And it's been a one-man show after that ever since. It's the way it is. Look at the records. It's the way it is in that band."

According to Chris, he, guitarist Randy Piper, drummer Tony Richards and Blackie Lawless were all part of W.A.S.P. initial management contract, but Blackie was the only one signed to the record label. "Everybody thinks we [all] signed to the label, but it wasn't [like that]," Holmes told "Trunk Nation".

Despite the fact that he only got songwriting credit on a couple of the songs on each of the first four W.A.S.P. records, Holmes was adamant that his input was essential to the band's overall sound.

"If I would have quit after the first album, the way I play guitar, the way I play is really important to writing those songs," he told "Trunk Nation".

"If I hadn't joined in the beginning, it would have never worked. Blackie told me that the first day, when he came and talked to me to play in W.A.S.P. He says, 'I've got this band. It's not gonna work unless you're in it.' He told me that to my face."

Image credit: Perry Denton