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Winger<\/a> just can’t get enuff of the stage.<\/p>\n After playing\u00a0their purported final shows last year, the “Seventeen” rockers have a handful of dates booked for 2026. Drummer Rod Morgenstein explained the band’s decision to continue playing in a new\u00a0episode of\u00a0The Classic Metal Show<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n “Well, let me start by saying last year turned out to be a very rough year emotionally for me because I didn’t realize how much my life and my vision of who I am is tied up in my band,” Morgenstein told host Chris Akin. “And I think a lot of musicians understand that, but a lot don’t really until it hits them in the face.”<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Cheap Trick, Night Ranger, Winger Announce ‘Farewell Japan’ Tours<\/a><\/p>\n Morgenstein \u2014 who played with Dixie Dregs before joining Winger \u2014 said much of the decision to stop touring dealt\u00a0with the physical demands on lead singer and bassist Kip Winger, who’s known for his stratospheric high notes.<\/p>\n “So we’ve been talking about the end of the band for years,”\u00a0the drummer\u00a0added. “Hindsight is 20\/20. When the band formed, Kip and Reb [Beach, guitarist] and Paul [Taylor, keyboardist], they were in their twenties, I was in my thirties. For a singer to sing in the stratosphere, it was no problem. Well, when nearly 40 years later, all you’re doing is detuning your guitars and basses a half-step, which is not very much, singing in those registers becomes an issue for every singer.”<\/span><\/p>\n Still, Morgenstein said Winger was careful not to announce their definitive end. “So we knew it was coming,” he explained. “And the last gig that we did, and at the concert, instead of saying, ‘This is the last show. You’ll never see\u00a0Winger again,’ we said, ‘Never say never. Circumstances change.’ And sure enough, we have four shows on the books this year \u2014 a festival in Brazil, a festival in Cancun.”<\/span><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 10 ‘Glam Metal’ Albums Released After ‘Nevermind’ That Don’t Suck<\/a><\/p>\n Morgenstein’s insights echo Kip Winger’s previous statements about the end of Winger.<\/p>\n “At some point I’m gonna play a final show with the band,”\u00a0the frontman said last March<\/a>. “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,\u00a0Kiss<\/a> did it for 10 years, so … [laughs].”<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> The Heaviest Song by 11 Big Hair Metal Bands<\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0bandleader, who’s pursued\u00a0classical music more intensely in recent years,\u00a0also revealed which parts of being in a touring rock band he won’t miss \u2014 specifically, the\u00a0touring<\/em> itself.<\/p>\n “The biggest thing is the traveling,”\u00a0Winger\u00a0said. “If you do 40 gigs in a year \u2014 and sometimes we do more than that \u2014 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 \u2014 we don’t fly around in our own Learjet \u2014 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.”<\/p>\n Winger released their most recent album,\u00a0Seven<\/a><\/em>, in 2023. So far, they’ve got two 2026 tour dates listed on their website<\/a>: April 26 at Bangers Open Air in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Aug. 27 at the Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater in Decatur, Illinois.<\/p>\n See what other rock bands are hitting the road in our 2026 rock tour guide:<\/em><\/p>\n Rock reunions are creating some of the biggest headlines for 2026 \u2013 but there are lots of other huge shows on the way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow Winger Left the Door Open for Future Shows<\/h3>\n
Kip Winger Didn’t Want to Pull a Kiss With Winger Farewell<\/h3>\n
2026’s Biggest Rock Tours<\/h2>\n