ULI JON ROTH Undergoes Kidney Removal Operation, Postpones North American Tour

Legendary German guitarist Uli Jon Roth has been forced to postpone his previously announced North American tour due to health reasons. The trek was scheduled to launch on September 6 in West Hollywood, California and conclude on October 1 in New York City.

Earlier today, Roth's social media was updated with the following statement: "Dear Fans of Uli, we regret to announce the postponement of Uli Jon Roth's upcoming North American tour due to health reasons. The tour is now being rescheduled for Spring 2024.

"Following an unexpected, yet successful, kidney removal operation, Uli is fit to play, but has been advised not to embark on a full-scale major tour just yet. Uli will be performing at selected shows in continental Europe during his recovery period.

"We want to assure you that this decision was not made lightly but the health and well-being of Uli is our utmost priority.

"All purchased tickets will be honoured for the rescheduled dates, and refunds will be available for those who can't attend the new dates.

"We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

"Stay tuned for the updated tour schedule which should be available soon.

"Uli will also make a personal statement on his website and on his Patreon channel next week."

The 68-year-old Roth was in the SCORPIONS for five years before leaving the group in 1978, following the release of the live double album "Tokyo Tapes".

In recent years, Roth has revisited the early music of his period with the SCORPIONS, which resulted in the "Scorpions Revisited" double CD and "Tokyo Tapes Revisited" DVD/Blu-ray releases.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest guitar players ever, Uli pioneered a unique style of guitar playing which — for the first time — combined complete mastery of the instrument with an intensely melodic and emotional appeal.

From his earliest days onwards, Uli has always been a bold and uncompromising musical innovator of the first order. Being the first guitar player in rock to incorporate complex melodic arpeggio sequences, Uli Jon Roth — in the eyes of many of his peers — practically reinvented modern guitar-technique almost singlehandedly during his SCORPIONS tenure, but even more so during his ELECTRIC SUN days.

This past April, Roth told Canada's The Metal Voice that he used the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to write a book. He explained: "The book's called 'In Search Of The Alpha Law', and it's a book which is not about myself — it's not about my life on the road or my life. It is about my — well, my philosophy of life. Something which I've… Ever since the early SCORPIONS days, I was a closet philosopher. I love thinking about things, thinking deep thoughts. Not that I mind shallow thoughts occasionally as well, just like everybody, but sometimes I go into this zone, and then, for me at least, interesting things come out. And a lot of that has to do with the inner spirit and architecture of music, the laws of music, which I found are the same laws that govern pretty much everything else that we see and perceive, if not the whole universe. I think these laws are these fundamental laws of nature, and even beyond that, because they also apply to our mind and our spirit, our soul. These laws are, to me, very fascinating to look at them and try to understand what they even are. And it's not easy to put these things into words, but I tried. And I'm quite happy with the outcome."

According to Uli, his book will be incorporated into his upcoming North American tour, although not in a way his fans might expect.

"It's different from any tour I've done before, but it's got elements of what I've done before," Roth said about the trek, which is scheduled to kick off in September. "It's different, because it's actually… The show consists of two very different halves. And it's a three-hour show — which sounds scary, but I've been doing three-hour shows for a long time, and we always have an intermission in the middle… So this show is a three-hour integrated show. And the first half is called 'An Evening With Uli Jon Roth'… So in the first half, it will be 'An Evening With…', but I will integrate a 15-minute 'TED Talk'. I've never done that before, but where I'm just introducing the book. There's a lot to talk about in the book, and it's impossible to put 560 pages plus a thousand photographs into a 15-minute thing, but it'll be a nice challenge. And rather than it being all complete, I will just pick certain things and just a taste of what it is, just present it."

He added: "[So] the first half of the show has this 'TED Talk', but it has also quite a few new music pieces which don't really fit into the band format. They're more orchestral. They are very melodic throughout when the guitar is leading, but I have orchestra backing… Then we have an intermission, so everybody can recuperate… But after the intermission, it's a full-on band show. So I'm bringing my band. Because originally I didn't want to do that for the next North American tour, but since it's been such a long time — I think [it's been] four years now since we were last in your neck of the woods — I'm bringing the band because I know most of my core audience wants to hear that and they want to get the full flow of also my earlier musical existence, including, of course, the SCORPIONS, ELECTRIC SUN, some SKY OF AVALON, a touch of Jimi Hendrix. It'll all be there. And that rounds off the show."