• facebook
  • twitter
  • rss

JON OLIVA Unable To Tour Europe With TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA

March 8, 2011

SAVATAGE mastermind Jon Oliva, who co-founded TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA with producer/composer Paul O'Neill, has released the following statement:

"As many of you now know, a member of my immediate family was diagnosed with a serious illness that forced me to leave the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA rehearsals. And while I am still unaware of their complete diagnosis, it is obviously impossible for me to participate in the upcoming European TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA tour. My family needs me here, and that is where I too need to be.

"I would also like to express my sincere apologies to all the SAVATAGE fans who were anticipating a SAVATAGE encore at the end of the show. I sincerely wish we could have given that to all of you. But, as usual, life is often beyond one's control.

"And to those out there who have heard ill-gotten 'rumors' about my health...trust me, I am doing quite well, thank you! I do appreciate the genuine concern from those that have asked.

"The Mountain King's got a lot of work left to do...

"Thank you for your prayers and please take care of yourselves and each other!"

Paul O'Neill told Billboard.com a year ago that he and company were re-recording "Gutter Ballet" (also the name of the second record O'Neill did with SAVATAGE) "in its original Broadway format," though there was no firm timetable on when it might go into full production. It's the culmination of a work that O'Neill began in the 1970s. Many of the songs have already had rock versions recorded by SAVATAGE, but will return to their roots for the Broadway show.

"We want to take it back to the original blues, gospel, Motown sound," O'Neill told TheNewsStar.com in a December 2009 interview. "For SAVATAGE, you've got to metal it up."

He added, "Jon and I are kind of psyched to be doing it because Broadway is something we've always wanted to take on."

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).