After what were believed to be their final performances last year, rock band Winger has announced a handful of tour dates for 2026.
Drummer Rod Morgenstein discussed the group’s decision to continue performing during a recent episode of “The Classic Metal Show.” He described 2023 as a difficult year after the band initially ended its run.
“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. “A lot of musicians understand that, but a lot don’t really until it hits them in the face.”
Morgenstein, who previously played with the Dixie Dregs before joining Winger, said the decision to slow down was largely due to the physical demands on lead singer and bassist Kip Winger, who is known for his high vocal range.
“We’ve been talking about the end of the band for years,” Morgenstein said. “When the band formed, Kip, Reb [Beach, guitarist] and Paul [Taylor, keyboardist] were in their twenties, and I was in my thirties. Back then, singing in the stratosphere was no problem. Nearly 40 years later, it becomes an issue for every singer.”
Despite these challenges, Morgenstein said the band never officially announced a final show.
“We knew it was coming,” he said. “At the last concert, instead of saying, ‘This is the last show. You’ll never see Winger again,’ we said, ‘Never say never. Circumstances change.’ Sure enough, we have four shows on the books this year—a festival in Brazil and a festival in Cancun.”
Kip Winger has previously addressed the band’s uncertain future and expressed reluctance to declare a definitive end, referencing other bands’ extended farewells.
“At some point I’m going to play a final show with the band,” Winger said in March 2023. “I don’t know when it is. But that’s not to say I might not do a cruise or something. I’m not saying, ‘Hey, this is the last show we’re ever going to do,’ because, well, Kiss did it for 10 years.”
Winger, who has focused more on classical music in recent years, also noted he will not miss the rigors of touring.
“The biggest thing is the traveling,” Winger said. “If you do 40 gigs in a year—and sometimes we do more than that—you have twice that many days on each end traveling. You spend half the year sitting in an airport. We’re not a huge band—we don’t fly around in our own Learjet—so it takes a toll. All my personal goals just end up drifting away in an airport somewhere in Chicago. So my life will be different in that way.”
Winger released their most recent album, “Seven,” in 2023. The band currently has two 2026 tour dates listed on its website: April 26 at Bangers Open Air in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Aug. 27 at the Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater in Decatur, Illinois.