Former TNT frontman Tony Harnell guested on The Chuck Shute Podcast for a career-spanning interview. Harnell discusses on and off relationship with TNT, looks back on the band's career, his future with TNT, his Echobats project, Starbreaker, Sebastian Bach, Vince Neil, and more. Check out the interview below.

On the success of TNT's Tell No Telaes album, released in 1987

Harnell: "We were trading #1 positions (in Norway) for weeks with Michael Jackson's album, and I think we kept going like this. Yeah, it was a big album. Someone told me one in four households in Norway had the album, which is pretty funny. We won a Norwegian Grammy Rock Album of the Year for that album. And and also there was a point in time where '10,000 Lovers' and the record were both sitting #1 for a period of time over there. So that was the first initial success, and then it came out in America, and it did it did really well. We had okay management and the label seemed to be pretty behind us. We did the Stryper tour, which was really big arenas across the country, and then we jumped on the Twisted Sister / Great White tour, that was fun. We did our own sold out club shows here and ther, but before the album really had a chance to take hold, because we were kind of going upward, they put us back in the studio to make another album. It did great in the States. It definitely put us on the map. MTV played our videos a lot. And the European thing... we were definitely on our way. We're actually also booked on a Mötley Crüe tour a little bit before that album came out in Europe, but for some reason it was decided again that we needed to be in the studio."

On the possibility of returning to TNT

Harnell: "Ronnie (Le Tekrø / guitar) and I, contrary to popular belief, we talk often. We have a great relationship. Whatever happens, we'll be on a beach someplace when we're in our 70s laughing and hanging out. Most of the things that that pushed us apart - again, contrary to popular belief - are business related. I'll just leave it at that. So never say never is a good way to put it. There might be a time and a place."

Harnell recently posted an acoustic cover of the Judas Priest classic "Before The Dawn" accompanied by the following message:

"There’s really no way to put into words the impact that Rob Halford had on me and my decision to make music my life, but I’ll try.

It all started when my junior high school buddy Ed Gotti gave me my first Priest album, Stained Class, in 1978 when I was just 15 years old. It blew my head apart. I listened to it every day, several times a day, it was my sonic bible that year. Of course I immediately went to the record shop and found Sin After Sin, Sad Wings and Rocka Rolla. I fell pretty hard for Sad Wings as well. And I was the first in line to buy Hell Bent For Leather when it came out later that same year and for me, it was the THE most bad ass album I’d ever  heard or seen! That cover! I literally played the 8 track to death in my first car when I was just 16.

What always struck me about Rob was his versatility. All the colors and textures in his voice, the use of various tones from beautiful to brutal and his ability to convey so many emotions in one single phrase. And of course his superhuman range and pure voiced stratospheric notes.

I surfed nearly every morning and listened to these albums to and from the beach singing full blast and honing my craft, but I didn’t know this at the time. I was literally training my voice without even thinking that’s what I was doing. I was just in a musical trance. Next to surfing it was all I cared about and all I thought about and Judas Priest was driving my obsession.

On the midst of all this heavy music there was this beautiful song 'Before the Dawn'. I just loved singing along to it so much. I performed it in my storyteller set on tour in Norway in September 2019 and it went over so well I figured at some point I’d record it. So here it is. With absolutely beautiful guitars from my brother Hans Petter Vik Sæther and a wonderful mix by my friend Ronny Wikmark.

I hope you like it. It’s from my heart to you."

Photo courtesy of Tony Harnell's official Facebook page