Winger frontman Kip Winger has explained how his band already has shows lined up for 2026 despite appearing to retire from touring at the end of 2025, and revealed how a high asking price backfired when promoters kept meeting it. He spoke about the situation on Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.
Winger had stepped back from touring after years of intensive schedule and vocal health issues. The band played a farewell show at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in West Hollywood about a year and a half ago, which was mistakenly announced as a retirement gig by another musician.
“We toured a lot for the last five years, and I was wanting more time to focus on the other writing I’m doing,” Winger said. “I had a lot of trouble with my voice. I’ve got this paralysis in my vocal cord, so it’s very difficult to get my voice up and running, but I can do it.”
The farewell announcement came from an unexpected source. “And we did a show at the Rainbow Bar & Grill [in West Hollywood, California] about a year and a half ago. And I was telling everybody, like, ‘This is gonna be my last show for a while, because I’m doing other shit,’ and f*ck if Marq Torien [Bulletboys] didn’t go out there and go, ‘This is Kip’s retirement gig.’ He said it the whole set. So that’s how it got spread. I never announced it, but I was thinking we were gonna go from 35, 40 shows a year down to, like, six or seven, and that’s what we’re doing.”
However, Winger and his band have already exceeded that reduced schedule. “We did ten shows maybe. Twelve. This [The Sands.Rocks music festival in Cancún, Mexico] is our last show of the year. No — we’re going to Chicago and Detroit in two days. And that’s our last show. And then the first show of next year will be the [Monsters Of Rock] cruise. And then we’re getting some offers and stuff, which is weird, because I told my agent — I quoted a number that I thought was so high we’d never get it, and we’re getting it.”
The comments came as Winger was preparing for their final shows of 2025 before what they hope will be a quieter schedule into 2026.
Winger’s decision to scale back touring grew from serious health problems accumulated over five years of heavy performance schedules. His vocal cord paralysis made singing increasingly difficult, and he needed time to recover and pursue other projects, including a solo career in classical music. The band released its seventh studio album, titled Seven, in 2023.
Guitarist Reb Beach recognized that the vocal strain was a major factor in Winger’s choice to step away from the road. The paralysis in Winger’s vocal cord meant he had to struggle to hit certain notes, though the condition was improving. This physical toll shaped the band’s decision to reduce their touring load dramatically.
When Winger’s farewell announcement spread through Marq Torien’s comments at the Rainbow Bar & Grill show on August 31, 2025, the band faced unexpected offers. Drummer Rod Morgenstein had said they chose not to declare finality but instead said “Never say never. Circumstances change.” That flexibility proved useful when promoters began meeting prices Winger thought would be too high to interest anyone.
The Monsters of Rock Cruise is scheduled for May 2027. Winger’s strategy of quoting an inflated asking price to discourage new offers backfired when promoters accepted the terms, showing strong demand for the band’s live performances despite their stated intention to perform fewer shows going forward.
