TONY HARNELL Says TNT Reunion Rumors Are 'A Bit Premature'

Singer Tony Harnell (pictured below) has shot down reports of his reunion with Norwegian hard rockers TNT as "a bit premature."

TNT guitarist Ronni Le Tekrø has confirmed to Norway's TV 2 that the band has parted ways with its frontman of the past seven years, British vocalist Tony Mills (ex-SHY). In addition, he has expressed his desire to rejoin forces with Harnell for a possible appearance at the Ulturuka festival on August 17 in Vestre Toten, Norway. 

But while Harnell has not closed the door on a possible reunion with his former TNT bandmates, he is adamant that the chances of anything happening this quickly are extremely slim.

"I'd just like to say that the 'press leak' in Norway was a bit premature," Harnell wrote on his Facebook page. "Meaning, if anything were to happen, it's not happening this soon. And I'm not saying anything is gonna happen."

Mills told VG that it was his choice to end his collaboration with the Norwegian act. "Most of this year, we barely played together, and we have not written anything or recorded something new. For me, that's not the way it should be when you're in a band."

Harnell confirmed in an email to VG that he has been in contact with Diesel Dahl and Ronni Le Tekrø about a reunion. "It is true that the three of us have talked about it, but there are still details that remain to be worked out before I commit to anything," Harnell is quoted as saying. He also made it clear that he did not want to "fill in" for Mills, but instead build a completely new and separate show.

"It's best to start afresh with a solid plan and proper preparation," Harnell said. "Next year is the 25th anniversary of the release of TNT album 'Intuition', so we're talking about taking advantage of that and making it a special tour."

Harnell rejoined TNT on stage for their 30th-anniversary concert on June 2, 2012 at the Clarion Hotel in Trondheim, Norway. The group performed a special setlist while accompanied by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Trondheim Symfoniorkester). Also making a special appearance with the band was TNT's original singer, Dag Ingebrigtsen.

After leaving TNT in 2006, Harnell was replaced by Mills, who has since appeared on three studio albums from the band: 2007's "The New Territory", 2008's"Atlantis" and 2010's "A Farewell To Arms".

Harnell's final release as a member of TNT was the "Live in Madrid" DVD, which came out in September 2006 via MTM Music. The set, which was filmed on April 1, 2006 in Madrid, Spain, was accompanied by an 82-minute audio CD plus booklet liner notes from Harnell about his work with the group as well as an additional tour documentary by Darren Paltrowitz.