In a new interview with Steve Mascord of White Line Fever TV, Kip Winger spoke about WINGER‘s recent announcement that it was embarking on “farewell” tours of Australia and Japan in 2025. Asked what he will miss about playing with WINGER, Kip said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Listen, I’ve been well-known my whole life. But I was never, like, ‘Hey, I’m a rock star’ or anything like that. It’s very matter of fact to just talk to people. What I’ll miss is playing with these guys that I really love so much, but I’m very excited to move on to this other world that I’m really inspired because I’m hearing so much of the music.
“At some point I’m gonna play a final show with the band,” Kip explained. “I don’t know when it is. But that’s not to say I might not do a cruise or something. I don’t really know. I’m not going, ‘Hey, this is the last show we’re ever gonna do’ because… Well, hey, KISS did it for 10 years, so… [Laughs]”
Asked if he has any thoughts about where the last WINGER show will be, Kip said: “I do have some thoughts about it, but nothing’s totally worked out yet. So as soon as I know, I’ll let you know.”
Regarding the possibility of guests coming up for the final WINGER concert, Kip said: “That would be cool. I did think about that, but it depends on the location, like where we would be. So I don’t know yet.”
Kip also talked about how his daily routine will change once WINGER has stopped touring. He said: “Well, the biggest thing is the traveling. If you do 40 gigs in a year, and sometimes we do more than that, you have twice that many days on each end traveling. So, you spend half of the year of your life sitting in an airport, and it really… Listen, we’re not a huge band — we don’t fly around in our own Learjet — so it tends to take a toll on you. And then, all of a sudden, all my personal goals just end up drifting away in an airport somewhere in Chicago. So my life will be different in that way.”
Kip continued: “Listen, interruption is the death of creativity. So my focus is to get myself into a place where I can be 100 percent creative and keep it rolling because it’s really difficult to have it all broken up so much. And I’ve written every kind of rock song possible. I’ve made my final statement on the last WINGER record. And a lot of people think that’s, like, if not our best record, it’s close to being our best, along with ‘Pull’. And I kind of brought back the original guys and put the original logo on and gave it a nice full circle. So, there’s nothing else that Reb [Beach, WINGER guitarist] and I could do with WINGER that wouldn’t just be, like, ‘Okay, let’s write another one of those’ or ‘another one of those.’ And now I’m in this whole other mentality where the sky’s the limit and I’ve got 30 more years of expressing myself in a world of things that haven’t been done by me.”
WINGER issued its seventh studio effort overall in 2023, the appropriately titled “Seven”. Kip is also a respected and successful symphonic composer, having issued recordings under the name C.F. Kip Winger, while Reb has been a member of WHITESNAKE since 2002, and drummer Rod Morgenstein has served as a professor at Berklee College Of Music (in addition to playing in a variety of other more jazz-fusion-based projects).
WINGER formed in the late 1980s and soared to immediate success with its 1988 self-titled release. The album spawned the hit singles “Seventeen” and “Headed For A Heartbreak” and achieved platinum sales status. “Winger” also stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for over 60 weeks where it peaked at #21. Their next album, “In The Heart Of The Young”, also achieved platinum status behind the singles “Can’t Get Enuff” and “Miles Away”. The change in musical climate of the mid-’90s, compounded with unprovoked ridicule on MTV‘s popular “Beavis And Butt-Head” show, led the band to go on hiatus in 1994. In 2001, WINGER reunited and has not looked back since. Kip also earned a 2016 Grammy nomination for the classical album “C.F. Kip Winger: Conversations With Nijinsky”, recorded with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.
𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥
💨 𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗪 & 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗧ℹ️ 🎫 bit.ly/wingerau25
The anticipation for Winger in Australia is sky high. Catch the original line up of the band on Australian soil for the first and last time ever in a show that will give Aussie fans the chance to witness Winger in their full glory, as they bid farewell with an explosive, career-defining setlist that promises all the hits, classics and deep cuts that fans have cherished for years.
Special guests: Shotgun Mistress
✈️ 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
🗓️ Melbourne – Fri 4 April – 170 Russell
🎫 bit.ly/wingermel25🗓️ Sydney – Sat 5 April – Manning Bar
🎫 bit.ly/wingersyd25🗓️ Adelaide – Sun 6 April – The Gov
🎫 bit.ly/wingeradl25🗓️ Brisbane -Tue 8 April – Princess Theatre
🎫 bit.ly/wingerbne25🗓️ Perth -Thu 10 April – Magnet House
🎫 bit.ly/wingerper25⭐️ VIP Upgrades may be purchased from wingertheband.com
ℹ️ 🎫 bit.ly/wingerau25
Posted by Silverback Touring on Monday, March 3, 2025
WINGER OVER AUSTRALIA APRIL, 2025 TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT!!!
Legendary hard rock band Winger is set to electrify…
Posted by Utopia Records – Home Of Metal on Thursday, February 6, 2025
🔥 WINGER 🔥
Farewell Japan Tour 2025
🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wso9Yh5JQdk
🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Taxd5-d1Lp4🔥 KIP WINGER 🔥
▶️ Booking : http://metallianprod.com/kipwinger/Posted by Metallian Productions on Sunday, March 9, 2025
Source: blabbermouth.net