GEORGE LYNCH On Still Touring With LYNCH MOB: 'We Actually Were Not A Band For, I Think, 24 Hours, And Then I Changed My Mind'

In a new interview with Dawn Osborne of TotalRock, legendary guitarist George Lynch spoke about why he is still playing shows under the LYNCH MOB banner, nearly a year after the completion of the band's "The Final Ride" farewell tour celebrating LYNCH MOB's 35-year legacy. Joining Lynch on stage at all the recent gigs were vocalist Andrew Freeman (LAST IN LINE),drummer Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER, OZZY OSBOURNE) and bassist Jaron Gulino (TANTRIC, HEAVENS EDGE). Regarding why vocalist Gabriel Colón and drummer Jimmy D'Anda (BULLETBOYS) are no longer involved with the group, George said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[Gabriel] is very sweet, and I love Gabriel and I just felt like we needed... I don't know. There was a thing with Gabriel that I wondered about. He is wonderful and a great singer. LYNCH MOB is known for 'Wicked Sensation'-era records and style, that bluesy dark thing, whatever it is, and Gabriel is not that kind of singer. And we knew that when we joined forces with him. And it introduced us to a new style which we thought would ingratiate us maybe to a larger audience. I don't know if it did that, but it certainly was off brand. And in some way I loved what he did and in some ways I thought we're getting off what we're known for a little bit. And so when we did disband last year — we actually were not a band for, I think, 24 hours, and then I changed my mind — and I took that opportunity to sort of switch things up a little bit, 'cause Jimmy left. And he said, 'No. You said this is the end of the band, so that's it. I'm done.' And we're best friends and everything. I'm, like, 'Whoa, that's a little harsh. I mean, guy can't change his mind?' And so he was gone. So I thought, 'Well, all right. Let's switch singers.' And so Jaron and I got Andrew Freeman and Brian Tichy, and we've been banging away ever since."

On the topic of the musical direction of LYNCH MOB's ninth full-length studio album, "Dancing With The Devil", which came out last November via Frontiers Music Srl, George said: "We always run the risk of chasing 'Wicked Sensation', and there's always gonna be a little bit of that in the back of our minds. At the same time, that was a long, long time ago, so it's like trying to recreate the DOKKEN era — you just can't do it. We're all made of different stuff and too much time has passed and we're not the same creatures. The world's not the same place. Unless you're just completely plagiarizing, copying something, it's not gonna come from the same place, so it's not gonna very disingenuine. So, as much as people wanna hear 'Wicked Sensation' and continue that legacy and that style and that sound, that was just a culmination of a thousand different things that happen once in a lifetime, and that won't happen again. So we were trying not to chase that. And then again, you wanna do new, fresh stuff, but nobody wants to hear you do that either. So, it's tricky."

Circling back to the fact that LYNCH MOB is still continuing to tour, George said: "I've learned something through all this, and I was talking to Jaron about this the other day. I've learned that I shouldn't be making any decisions at all about anything other than which notes I'm gonna play and which chords I'm gonna put together to write a song. And that's about it."

Asked by Osborne if that means that "Dancing With The Devil" is, in fact, not LYNCH MOB's "final" studio album, despite the fact that it was marketed as such by Frontiers Music Srl prior to its release, George said: "No, it's not." He then added: "I did stop [LYNCH MOB] for 24 hours — until I got bored. Because in that 24 hours I was kind of on the porch and I had this rocking chair and I had one of those ear things so you can hear good. And my little dog was there, [and I was] just smoking a straw pipe, my corn cob pipe. And my wife says, 'Honey, you want some more lemonade?' And she goes, 'You wanna get back on the road. You wanna be back out with your boys, right?' I go, 'Yeah.' So, yeah, the next day I got back out there. It was really interesting. My agent was, like, 'You can't quit. We've got all these gigs and everything.' And then I go, 'Well, I'm just getting older, man. I probably should not keep doing this.' 'Cause I felt I was looking silly up on stage at 71… You know, it was, like, make room for other people and go do other stuff. But all of a sudden I got all these offers from my agent. And I think what happened was when people thought it was the end, all of a sudden they appreciate you. It's like after you die and they say all this nice shit about you, but the day before, they weren't. You know what I'm saying? You know what I mean? And all of a sudden we're the greatest band since sliced bread. It was, like, 'Oh, LYNCH MOB. I wish we would've appreciated them when they were still together.' So we're, like, 'Okay, we'll reluctantly come back and play your stupid gig.' And then we've done about a hundred more since then. But our new album is gonna be called 'The Final, Final Ride'. Not kidding."

Last October, George told Tim Caple of Rock 'N' Blues Experience about still playing with LYNCH MOB: "Well, I think you can see a common thread throughout this interview that I make really bad decisions [laughs] throughout my life. Horrible. You do not want me in charge of any of your decision making. So, if I give you any advice, do the opposite for a better outcome. I don't wanna be in charge. I shouldn't be managing anything or making any decisions about anything other than just playing my guitar and writing music. Having said that, I still try to do the right thing and be smart, but whatever.

"So we decided, or I decided, I think earlier [in 2025], if I'm not mistaken, that this was the 35th anniversary, I believe, of the band, so maybe let's go out with a nice bookend and put out a good record and call it a day," he explained. "And we called it 'The Final Ride' — the tour was called 'The Final Ride'. And so I did that and sort of — not fired the band; we just all agreed to do this. So everybody went their separate ways. And there was some momentum and some interest because of that announcement. So all of a sudden my agent started getting all this work opportunity. He talked me, as agents do, talked me out of quitting LYNCH MOB touring. He said, 'Well, just add a few more shows.' Well, that's parlayed into, we just kept it going. So here we are. We're still touring, we're still putting out records. It's a different band than it was last year, but… Brian Tichy's back in the band. Andrew Freeman, Jaron Gulino and myself. It's a great band. And why not?"

He continued: "So, people are, like, 'Well, you said you were retiring LYNCH MOB.' I go, 'Well, I lied. I changed my mind. I'm sorry. Sue me. I'll see you in court.' I mean, what do you want me to tell you?

"So that's what it is. I make silly decisions — off-the-cuff decisions — sometimes that aren't well thought out. Here we are."

Tichy was previously a touring member of LYNCH MOB in 2010, 2012–2013, 2015, 2020 and 2025; Gulino was in LYNCH MOB from 2022 to 2025; and Freeman played with LYNCH MOB in 2003, 2010 and 2019.

In July 2025, the same four musicians played their first two shows under the name of what at the time was supposed to be George's new touring entity, GEORGE LYNCH & THE MOB.

Earlier in 2025, George told Talking With Cars that he would put together "another" touring band with "a revolving door of different people." He added that he was "tentatively calling it GEORGE LYNCH & THE MOB, so people can identify with my name and the fact that there's still the LYNCH MOB aspect to that name without the bad connotations."

LYNCH MOB played what, at the time, was being billed as the group's "final" concert on March 22, 2025 at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina, Minnesota.

LYNCH MOB was formed in 1989 after Lynch parted ways with his former band DOKKEN. Their debut release, "Wicked Sensation", was met with critical and fan acclaim and went on to be certified gold in sales by the RIAA. The band would continue on through the years with a cast of talented players joining Lynch throughout their musical journey over the course of six more studio albums.

In August 2020, Lynch announced that he was ending LYNCH MOB due to the racial insensitivity of the moniker, saying he would no longer record or perform under that name. Two years later, George had a change of heart, explaining that he had to "live with the fact that [the name LYNCH MOB] has some negative connotations that I probably have to continue explaining for the rest of my life, and I don't mind doing that. But it is a brand that I built, and I'm just gonna stick with it. As far as a marketing thing and a brand thing and a business thing and a working thing, and it keeps my band guys working and it keeps the fans happy, it makes sense."

As was the case with LYNCH MOB's eighth studio album, 2023's "Babylon", "Dancing With The Devil" features Lynch alongside Colón, Gulino and D'Anda.