SAVATAGE FRONTMAN / CO-FOUNDER JON OLIVA TALKS NEW STUDIO ALBUM

Capping off 2024, every Savatage fan in the world was taken by surprise when the band was announced to be taking part in the Monsters Of Rock festival to be held in Brazil in 2025.

Later on, we knew the Savatage’s line-up for that one-off show would be comprised of Johnny Lee Middleton (bass) Chris Caffery and Al Pitrelli (guitars), Jeff Plate (drums), and Zak Stevens (vocals), which left everyone with the same question: Where’s Jon Oliva?

Clarification came from Oliva himself, via a Facebook post on the Savatage Legion group, made on his behalf. The statement reads:

“Hello Savatage Fans

This is Jon Oliva. I want to set a few things straight for everyone. First of all, I am very excited for Johnny, Chris, Zak, Jeff & Al to play again. I feel it’s important for the fans to enjoy our music live, and believe me these guys will kick ass.

As far as I go, I was going to do these shows but unfortunately, I’ve run into more health issues. I want you all to know that if there was any way I could do these shows I would, but my health issues are more serious than I originally thought. As most of you know I fractured my spine in 3 places and have recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis as well as Meniere’s Disease. My doctors are working with me to get healthy again.

I am working closely with the guys and will be involved in every other aspect of the show. I am 100 percent behind the guys doing this and I promise I will return as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I am working in the studio on new material I love you all, and thank you for understanding my situation, I know my brothers will deliver the goods.

Enjoy Sava Legions, much love to you all

Jon Oliva”

Now, speaking with Brazilian journalist Igor Miranda, Oliva discussed his injuries and plans for a new Savatage album. Following is an excerpt from the chat.

Oliva: “I basically have an album ready. I’ve been working on it off and on. We were talking about touring before my accident. I’ve been working on stuff for about a year. If I get the guys together to record, it’s ready. But we wanted to do this tour first. We have enough for four albums. The lyrics aren’t written yet, but musically, it’s done. And it’s my fault everything stopped because of the fractures.”

“I said it might be the last one, but now I’m not sure. I have all this material. What am I going to do? Release a quadruple album? I don’t think it will be the last one.”

The complete interview is available here.

Savatage (Johnny Lee Middleton – bass, Chris Caffery – guitars, Al Pitrelli – guitars, Jeff Plate – drums, and Zak Stevens – vocals) have announced tour dates across Europe for summer 2025, with a mix of festival appearances and headline shows.

It has been confirmed that the band’s June 14th show in Overghausen, Germany is officially sold out, and the June 19 in Munich, Germany has been moved from the Tonhalle to the larger Zenith venue due to ticket demand.

Says Zak Stevens: “As you can imagine, there are so many special things about these shows that are racing through my mind. We get to play a series of headline shows for the first time in over twenty years that will put us right back in front of all of the unbelievable fans who have given us so many unforgettable memories over the last three decades. Here’s our chance to directly give back to everyone who’s been there supporting us all these years! All the great festival shows are going to be off-the-charts amazing. It’s even hard to imagine the scale of excitement that’s going to take place with those shows.”

Savatage mastermind Jon Oliva expressed his disappointment at not being able to join the band for the shows, but shared his excitement, stating: “I am very excited for the guys to be doing some shows. Unfortunately, due to health issues, I will not be able to join the guys for this run. Hopefully, this is just temporary. I will continue working in the studio on new music for the future. These shows will be awesome and I will be working with them to get it all ready for you. I know everyone is going to love it!!! Me and the guys are very excited and ready to kick ass! So from me, thank you all for the support for all these years and we can’t wait to rock you!”