JOHN BUSH Says Solo Tour Celebrating His Era With ANTHRAX Could Happen In 2023

John Bush has indicated that a solo tour of his ANTHRAX era may take place in 2023, celebrating not only his time with the band, but the anniversary of the release of two of their key releases. Bush made the comments while speaking to Eonmusic about the new ARMORED SAINT album "Punching The Sky", which is scheduled for release on October 23 via Metal Blade Records.

On how the idea behind the "Bushthrax" shows, which first came up in a 2017 interview, had been developed, he said: "We talked about it, and then nothing really happened, really because I don't think there was enough of interest at the time, and I went back to what I was doing in life. It was really just my agent throwing out some feelers. But you know, one day maybe that can happen. I don't think it’s something that should happen in some kind of grandiose way. If it happens, it would be maybe a couple of select festivals or a few headline shows here or there. It has to be the right time, and there has to be enough of a desire for people to want to hear it. I mean, hey, all of these things are challenged by my age at this point. Not that I fell that old — because I really don't — but I’m also honest with my age, and I think that this material, it's not easy when your older, so you have to be ready to tackle those things."

On the possibility of re-teaming with guitarist Paul Crook, who played on ANTHRAX's "Stomp 442" and "Volume 8" albums, Bush said: "I said something about wanting to do it with Paul if I did it, because I really love Paul. He's a really great guy, he's an amazing player, and he was involved in those couple of records. And I just like him as a person; he's just one of the nicest guys and fun to be around."

Although the project never came to fruition, John revealed that it's still a possibility, and even offered a timeframe.

"There is something cool about, well, '[Sound Of] White Noise', I guess in 2023, that would be 30 years [since its release], so you know, who knows? Maybe something in conjunction with that, at that point. And 'White Noise' came out in '93, and 'We've Come For You All' came out in 2003, so it was 10 years later, so there's an anniversary of both of those albums, because they both fall on the same year. So, I don't know."

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Joey Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 39 years, with guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group's studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX's debut LP, 1984's "Fistful Of Metal", before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite "Among The Living" (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.