British heavy metal legends, Saxon, have announced that guitarist Paul Quinn has decided to "step back from touring". A message from the band follows:

"After much soul searching our great friend and fellow warrior Paul Quinn has decided to step back from touring with Saxon. After many years on the road, with the subsequent stress and tiredness that accompany long tour schedules, Paul doesn't want his performance to suffer and let his fellow band mates and fans down.

Paul will continue to record with the band and may play select special shows in the future.

Saxon stand by Paul's decision and will keep you all informed regarding our next journey.

The current run of March shows in Europe will continue as is but the band will be cancelling their April dates in South America and the MOR Cruise to give time to re-group. These territories will be re-booked as soon as time permits.

All summer festivals will continue as booked.

Keep the faith!"



Meanwhile, Quinn eluded to his decision early yesterday morning in a since-deleted Facebook post: 

“You need to know I will miss you & my Saxon co-workers for the great times on and off stage, so with regret I will leave while I can still hold my head high and not worry about my fingers or brain forgetting riffs, keys or stumbling over licks, as they do occasionally. I am not taking this lightly, and I want to do Saxon proud, whilst continuing to love and play music with The Cards and other projects.”

The Cards is a classic rock trio which Quinn founded in 2016 with Doro/U.D.O. alumni Harrison Young, and Vandenberg drummer Koen Herfst. They are currently poised to release their second album this year.

(Paul Quinn live photo by Rob Van Dalen)