W.A.S.P.'s BLACKIE LAWLESS On Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine: 'People Thought That This Could Never Happen Again'

For his birthday on Tuesday (May 24),Ukrainian metalhead Vladyslav Stadnyk, who goes by the name Metal Pilgrim, received an unexpected surprise in the form of a chat with W.A.S.P. leader Blackie Lawless courtesy of BBC Radio 5 Live host Nihal Arthanayake. During the conversation, Lawless touched upon several topics, including Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Blackie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oddly enough, today is the 24th, and it's been three months today, to the day, that this invasion of the Ukraine started. And the first day it happened, I remember thinking to myself… When we did the album 'The Headless Children', the title track, I actually dreamt that. I'm one of those songwriters that occasionally will dream songs and they get up real quick and write them down. It was on a Saturday afternoon — I remember where I was — I was lying down on a couch and I almost dosed off for a second. And in my head I heard, 'Father, come save us from this madness we're under. God of creation, are we blind?' And I got up immediately and wrote it down. And when I saw that invasion taking place three months ago today, it's the first thing I thought of. Nothing changes. Human nature, yes, we can become more educated, but the basic us as people still remains the same. And people thought that this could never happen again, and we are seeing that it can happen again."

Lawless went on to praise Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was recently awarded with the JFK Profile In Courage Award.

"I've gotta tell you from my own selfish perspective that what the world, myself, everybody that's really interested in following this, the courage that has been displayed by your leader and the Ukrainian people is historic," Blackie said. "Our generation, the people that are alive right now, have never really seen anything like this. And I'll tell you, if it doesn't make you wanna stand up and salute, something's really wrong with you."

"I said it's three months ago today [the invasion] started. The world was saying this was gonna be over in two or three days, and the Ukrainian people have proven that wrong. And not only proven it wrong, they're kicking the shit out of the Russians.

"As painful as this may be right now, history shows us over and over and over that when people are defending their homes, they are the most dangerous," Lawless added. "And even modern armies [when they] try to go in… Look at Afghanistan. Russia tried it 25, 30 years ago. America just left. If people in those homelands are determined that they're gonna fight, they are truly a force to fear, because those people will fight to the death."

W.A.S.P. will embark on its first U.S. tour in a decade this fall. The trek will coincide the band's 40th anniversary and will include support from ARMORED SAINT and MICHAEL SCHENKER on select shows.

Lawless has led W.A.S.P. as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for four decades.

Joined by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 26 and 18 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester, Lawless will take the band and the fans back to where it all started.

W.A.S.P. recently postponed its European 40th-anniversary tour, originally scheduled for spring of 2022, until the spring of 2023. The new dates will take place in March, April and May of 2023. All tickets previously purchased for the 2022 tour will be valid at the rescheduled 2023 shows.