In a new interview with ‘The Hook Rocks’ podcast, Dokken and Foreigner bassist Jeff Pilson revealed his wish before Don Dokken’s retirement.
When asked if he thinks there is still a chance of the classic lineup of Dokken reuniting for a new album or live shows, Pilson brought the topic to retirement and said:
“Yeah, I kind of detach from it. I know [George Lynch] have done shows together [where George joins the current lineup of Dokken on stage for a few songs at the end of the set], and I don’t think there’s gonna be a whole lot more of those, for some reason. But I don’t think it’s animosity, really; it’s not that. It’s just… I mean, Don has his [new Dokken] record [‘Heaven Comes Down’] out and he wants to promote that. And I think Don wants to retire soon; I mean, he’s 70.”
The bassist wants one thing before Dokken’s career comes to an end, and it seems that it’s the only reason he leaves the door open:
“My attitude is I leave the door open only because there is a part of me, I will be honest, that would love to do one last Dokken record and really do it right. But the logistics of that, I recognize, are very difficult. Don lives in New Mexico now. I can’t see either one of us traveling to work together long enough to collaborate. And my interest would be in us collaborating to do it. But having said that, who knows?”
Mick Brown’s Retirement
While Don Dokken himself has not talked about retirement yet, the rest of the members have.
The original drummer, Mick Brown, retired from touring due to health-related reasons in 2019 and sold all of his equipment. At that time, he said he was taking a break, but later revealed that he was retiring. In an interview, Brown mentioned that the injuries he had accumulated over decades of playing drums had started to affect his body, thus leading to retirement. But he would not stop if the pain was not there, he says:
“I wouldn’t have stopped if the pain wasn’t there. But the pain was, and it was getting too much for me. And the traveling — listen, after 40 years of traveling that fast, the last thing I wanted to do was go to another airport or sit in a van going to the hotel or on a tour bus. I was done. And I just let the higher power go, ‘All right. You’re done.’ And I followed that.”
Is A Reunion Possible?
The retirement plans may already have started to take place in the band, and George Lynch, too, has high hopes that the band would do something for a reunion.
Lynch shared his thoughts on the possibility of a reunion for a live show. Apparently, it’s not possible since the band’s drummer had already retired, who ‘disconnected from the whole world’ for his own mental and physical health.
As opposed to Brown, Lynch thinks that Pilson and he could do something together for Dokken since they live close to each other and always work together.
You can hear the interview below.
