JOEY VERA To Miss MERCYFUL FATE U.S. Tour; Replacement Announced

Bassist Joey Vera will sit out the upcoming U.S. tour from reformed Danish metal legends MERCYFUL FATE due to a scheduling conflict with his longtime band ARMORED SAINT.

In 2019, it was announced Vera would be replacing original MERCYFUL FATE bassist Timi Hansen for the band's summer 2020 European festival appearances due to Hansen's cancer diagnosis. Hansen passed away in November 2019 and MERCYFUL FATE's 2020 summer festival appearances were rescheduled for 2021, and then to 2022.

Earlier this month, MERCYFUL FATE announced its first North American headlining tour in over two decades. The journey, which will feature support from by KREATOR and MIDNIGHT, will commence on October 25 in Dallas, Texas and weave its way through fourteen cities, closing on November 16 in Atlanta, Georgia. The tour follows the band's stunning headlining performance at this year's edition of Psycho Las Vegas.

Earlier today (Tuesday, September 27),Joey released the following statement via social media: "My dear friends: As some of you have done the math and checked your calendars, you may have noticed that it appears as though I've scheduled myself to be on two tours at the same time this Fall. As most of you know, I have been promoting the tour with ARMORED SAINT supporting WASP for almost a year now. A tour I committed to in 2021 and Never You Fret, I am standing by that commitment.

"No thanks to the results of Covid affecting nearly every aspect of the touring industry, touring schedules have since been cancelled and moved to different times in the year. Recently, MERCYFUL FATE received a touring opportunity that was impossible to turn down. Unfortunately, this schedule conflicts with my tour in the fall with ARMORED SAINT. So, it pains me a great deal that I cannot be in two places at one time, because If I could, I most certainly would.

"Over the past 3 months I have been welcomed into the MERCYFUL FATE family with open arms, and this includes all of the fans. I have made new lifelong friends and have had the most amazing time this summer performing with these great musicians onstage and of course for you, the fans. These MERCYFUL FATE shows have been some of the most incredible gigs I've ever been a part of.... ever. I have also been asked to be a full member in the MERCYFUL FATE band for touring and recording their next record, and I have accepted. However, I regretfully have to sit out this upcoming Fall Tour in the USA and S. America.

"Since the show must go on, I hope you will welcome with open arms my stand-in bassist for the MERCYFUL FATE fall tour, Becky Baldwin, who also plans to play the MERCY music with honor and respect to our fallen brother Timi Hansen, just as I have tried to do. I know many of you have seen the live clips on YouTube but I promise you, this is a show you will have to see in person to believe. Prepare yourselves to be completely blown away.

"I will miss my brothers and our crew in MERCY this fall, but I'm very much looking forward to playing with my mates in ARMORED SAINT again and of course seeing all of you on our upcoming fall tour. See ya down front!

"In closing, if I may borrow King Diamond's sign off, 'Stay Heavy!'"

MERCYFUL FATE with KREATOR and MIDNIGHT tour dates:

Oct. 25 - Dallas, TX - The Factory
Oct. 27 - Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre
Oct. 29 - Inglewood, CA - Youtube Theater
Oct. 30 - Wheatland, CA - Hard Rock Live Sacramento
Nov. 01 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
Nov. 03 - Gary, IN - Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana
Nov. 04 - Cincinnati, OH - The Andrew J. Brady Music Center
Nov. 05 - Detroit, MI - Masonic
Nov. 08 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore Silver Spring
Nov. 10 - Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theater
Nov. 11 - Laval, QC - Place Bell
Nov. 13 - Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall At Fenway
Nov. 14 - Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore Philadelphia
Nov. 16 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle

MERCYFUL FATE is currently working on a new album and recently gave fans a taste of the new material when they debuted a song called "The Jackal Of Salzburg" in Germany this past June as well as at Psycho Las Vegas. The band's current lineup is King Diamond on vocals, Hank Shermann and Mike Wead on guitars, Bjarne T. Holm on drums and Vera on bass.

MERCYFUL FATE was formed in early 1981 in Copenhagen, Denmark by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. They were later joined by guitarist Michael Denner and bassist Timi Hansen, and soon thereafter drummer Kim Ruzz would join to complete the band lineup. The band recorded two demos in 1981 and later signed with Rave On Records in Holland for the recording of their successful self-titled EP, released in November of 1982. The "Mercyful Fate" EP was soon in heavy rotation around core metal radio stations, launching a new breed of heavy metal with their unique sound.

The band joined Roadrunner Records in 1983 and their debut full-length, "Melissa", was recorded and released that same year. The following year, MERCYFUL FATE returned to the studio to record their now legendary "Don't Break The Oath" full-length, released in September of 1984.

MERCYFUL FATE embarked upon a two-month U.S. tour in support of the record, which took them across the States several times sharing the stage with the likes of MOTÖRHEAD and EXCITER. The shows had created a brush fire within the metal community. The band reaped recognition globally, closing the year with a five-date tour in Germany with MOTÖRHEAD, GIRLSCHOOL, HELIX and TALON.

MERCYFUL FATE's first concert of 1985 was in their hometown of Copenhagen at an old movie theater with a large capacity. The show sold out and their stage show exhibited a new level of distinction. The night was a huge victory and a new highlight for the band. By April of 1985, however, MERCYFUL FATE decided to part ways for each to pursue new challenges. The KING DIAMOND band was born and reaped critical acclaim the following years with five studio albums on Roadrunner Records. KING DIAMOND has since signed with Metal Blade Records and is going stronger than ever before.

In the summer of 1992, MERCYFUL FATE decided to reunite and penned a new deal with Brian Slagel and his label, Metal Blade Records. "In The Shadows" was released in 1993 and was an instant triumph furthered by a sold-out U.S. tour.

MERCYFUL FATE has gone on to release another five studio albums and have toured Europe, the U.S. and South America multiple times. The highlight of 1999 was their critically acclaimed album "9" which was followed by a European tour with METALLICA, where King Diamond and Hank Shermann joined the band onstage several times for the medley "Mercyful Fate" which METALLICA had recorded on their "Garage Inc." double tribute album the year prior. Tours in the U.S. and in South America followed, marking the band's last live performances for over a decade. MERCYFUL FATE then went on hiatus, but made a brief appearance when members joined METALLICA onstage in 2011 for their 30th-anniversary show in San Francisco, California.