Singer JOE LYNN TURNER (ex-DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN) has issued the following update:

"Hey everybody. My first solo live CD is coming out this fall. Europe release first, USA a little later.

I will play the Waterfront fest in Newburgh, NY on August 31, so if you are in that area try and make it!! Should be a great time! we will do Dexter's again in Riverdale, NJ on October 4th - but between all this it is a tour if Iraq with BIG NOIZE! Here are some of my thoughts on this once in a life time event!!!

We really have no idea how long our shows will go in Iraq. We talked about it today in a conference call...if we feel like playing for 90 minutes or 2 hours we will do it!! We are very excited about entertaining our troops!!! They deserve so much! And for a time they can forget about what's happening around them and just rock out !!!

There are so many things about touring Iraq and Kuwait that are unique. For example...we are issued military orders. We have to carry our orders everywhere... we may be musicians but for those days in the middle east we will be part of our allied forces !!! I'm so psyched!!!

When we arrive in Kuwait we will be issued "iba" (individual body armor), and no, I am not joking!!! This will weigh about 40 pounds and we will have to wear this on all flights on the tour and in any situation where we are told to wear it. It's for our own protection!!! Also ...we must stay together as a team!!! No one is allowed to go off anywhere on their own!!! So it will be a strong bonding experience as well!

We look forward to meeting the brave men and women of the multi-national forces on bases, in camps and in hospitals. We will do many meet and greets as well!!! As performers we have some special privileges!!! It will be so cool to be invited to the flight deck of a C-130, ride and drive a tank and blackhawk helicopters and maybe shoot howitzers into the hillsides!...pretty crazy!!! We have been told that we may have to endure the legendary "corkscrew" or "combat" landing which has been described as similar to what used to be an "e" ticket ride in Disneyland. If you are close to my age you know what an "e" ticket is. Lol!!! Most civilians pass out or vomit due to the rough maneuver!!!

Some of the things we are not used to...they include possibly having to walk 50 feet to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (no big deal considering!) and hanging out in 136f in the shade!! We will stay in barracks with the troops. It's very rare that we will get any "Hollywood" treatment as far as accommodations! No hotel suites in the desert!!! But I'm sure we will get through it. We will also be eating with the service men and women at schedule meal times and if we are hungry after a show we hear there is a thing called "midnight ration." one thing the military does is feed you very well!!

I am absolutely sure I will have a life changing experience and I am going into this with a 100% positive attitude. I am not going to lie and say it is not scary...it is!! But the united force that is music is so powerful that I am willing to bring it to the troops!! They give us the freedom to follow our dreams...and this is at the very least what we can give to them! Wish us luck! See you soon!....all the best."

Big Noize line-up for Iraq and Kuwait - Joe Lynn Turner, guitarist Carlos Cavazo (QUIET RIOT), drummer Simon Wright (DIO, AC/DC), bassist Phil Soussan (OZZY OSBOURNE, BILLY IDOL) and keyboardist Alex Bubenheim.