Ex-Type O Negative guitarist Kenny Hickey has discussed the possibility of reuniting with surviving bandmates for a Peter Steele tribute concert, and revealed the substantial financial offers the group has received for such a show, speaking on HardLore podcast.
Hickey addressed the logistical challenges involved in staging a tribute to the late Type O Negative frontman and the reasons why a single high-paying performance would not work for the band.
“We’ve had offers, yes,” Hickey said. “We got offered one show for a lot of money. We couldn’t do one show for a lot of money. It’s such a large undertaking. It would have to be a lot of shows for a lot of money.”
The guitarist explained the scale of work required to pull together such a project. “To get the band back together, to figure the music out again, to get a visual going for the show, everything you would need, find a guy that can pull [Peter’s vocals] off with taste, never mind his bass playing,” he continued. “The bass playing is the hardest thing. There’s a lot of guys running around singing with a deep voice pretending they’re Peter, but play bass like him? Forget it. Nobody can play bass like him.”
Hickey acknowledged that while interest remains high, the practical obstacles make such a project difficult to realize. “The offers are out there, but, logistically, it’s just not gonna happen now, if it ever happens,” he said. “It’s not gonna happen. Well, it might happen. I never say never… [I don’t see it happening] outside of maybe a tribute show sometime in the future, if it can be logistically put together, yeah, and it’s viable doing.”
Hickey’s comments came as he discussed the prospects of bringing Type O Negative members together for a Steele tribute concert with guest performers.
The guitarist left open the possibility that such a show could occur under the right circumstances.
Peter Steele died on April 14, 2010, at age 48 from heart failure. The death of the Type O Negative frontman led to the band’s permanent breakup, ending their run after their seventh and final studio album, Dead Again, which was released in 2007. Hickey has previously stated that the band has never seriously considered doing a reunion or putting something out as Type O Negative without Steele, saying his musicianship and character made him irreplaceable.
Keyboardist Josh Silver stepped away from music after Steele’s death and spent years working as a paramedic for the New York City Fire Department. In 2025, Hickey expressed openness to tribute shows featuring guest singers, a shift from his earlier position. Recent talks about a tribute show have occurred, though Silver has remained unwilling to commit due to his work as a paramedic. Hickey revealed that Silver is “about to retire” from his paramedic job, which could open the door for his potential involvement.
Hickey’s openness to a Peter Steele tribute concert, combined with Silver’s impending retirement, suggests a possible window for the project to move forward. However, the guitarist’s emphasis on the enormous logistical demands and the difficulty of finding musicians who can capture Steele’s distinctive style indicates that any such tribute would require significant planning and resources to be viable.
