UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER Says 'Money Problem' Is To Blame For U.D.O.'s Absence From America

Metaleater publisher Tony Antunovich recently conducted an interview with former ACCEPT and current U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below.

Speaking about the difficulties U.D.O. has faced in touring America, Udo said: "We tour a lot with U.D.O. And it's a shame. I mean, we tried to come to America also with the 'Decadent' album [2015], but the offers… I mean… Sorry, but… The offers they gave us. We said, 'No. Sorry, but for this offer, we cannot come to America and make a tour in America.' And they came up with some stupid things, like, 'Hey, why you are not taking American musicians?' and blah blah blah. And I said, 'Hey, sorry, I have my own band. I don't wanna be a singer with always foreign people around me. I mean, U.D.O. is a band. And they came up with stupid ideas. And I said, 'No no no. It's just not possible to come over with my own band, and there's a money problem. They don't offer enough money that we can do a tour in America, and that's the only problem. We tried very hard. And then, of course, on the business end, normally, in the old days, the record companies, they gave you support money, but this is also over; they said, 'No,' they don't do this anymore."

He continued: "Believe me, Canada and North America, they are the only two countries where we have a problem to tour. I mean, we get a lot of offers — we can do a tour for two months in North America, with all these offers and what they gave us — but money-wise, it doesn't work. I mean, South America is not a problem. The whole Europe… all the Eastern countries… And now we go back to Japan on the next tour. I mean, everything's easy. But it's a shame. I would love to do a tour in North America. But we're still working hard on it."

As previously reported, Udo Dirkschneider will embark on a special tour next year during which he will perform ACCEPT songs one last time before he closes the chapter for good.

During this ACCEPT "farewell" tour — which the 63-year-old German singer will perform under the DIRKSCHNEIDER banner (not U.D.O.)— Dirkschneider will only showcase songs from the Udo era of ACCEPT. The German rock staple will close a huge chapter of music history forever. In the early '80s, the Solingen-raised singer skyrocketed to worldwide acclaim with the band ACCEPT and with his unmistakable voice, he had several hits such as "Balls To The Wall" and "Princess Of The Dawn". Now he has announced that he will perform these much-loved hits on this special tour one more time before he removes them from the setlist forever.

After this tour, Udo will only play songs from his extensive library of U.D.O. material.