Syöpädiagnoosin marraskuussa saanut Stratovariuksen Jörg Michael palaa yhtyeen rumpupatteriston taakse tammikuussa, kun Stratovarius jatkaa Pariisista Seven Sinners -maailmankiertuetta Helloweenin kanssa.
Jörg on julkaissut seuraavan tiedotteen:
"I hope this message finds everybody well and everybody is in an easy-peasy Christmas mood already. The first leg of the European tour with Helloween is over — time to have a few words with you. First of all, let’s not forget the brilliant emergency rescue action and playing of Alex Landenburg. Thanks again for all what you did for the fans, the band and also for me. Surely I hate the idea of somebody is sitting on ’my chair,’ but this special action needed some special treatment and I am proud and happy that it was you, Alex. Thanks again; we’ll get together for a real drink, not like these other Scandinavian pussies in the band 🙂
I was overwhelmed by all the wishes, tons of emails and text messages I received from all over the world wishing me a speedy recovery. Thank you so much for supporting me, and it made me feel very strong when fighting these bastards inside of me. I have some good news to tell you and believe me — I really enjoy to tell the world:
The surgery was done about six weeks ago and the first therapy is done as well. All looks good so far and as Jens [Johansson, Stratovarius keyboardist] told me before: ’Do not worry, Jörg, nothing survives in your body after all what you did to it! Finally he was right, there are only small bits and bobs left — I will fight those with another therapy in about four months’ time.
I think I have been very lucky that it was discovered by one of my friends in a very early state. Very good that my friend decided to become a doctor; he was very lousy when he tried playing the guitar. Besides preparing myself for Christmas, I am currently practicing the drums to be ready and kickin’ again when the tour continues in the New Year. I will be back."
Jörg Michaelin paikalla Stratovariuksen kiertueella soitti Alex Landenburg. Hän on puolestaan kertonut seuraavaa:
"I’d like to take the opportunity to say thanks to Jörg for asking me to step in and to the wonderful Stratovarius fans for accepting me with open arms in this difficult situation. Despite these sad circumstances that led to me doing this tour, I had a lot of fun still. It was a weird situation… Sometimes I almost felt a bit guilty for having such a great time. However, from meeting Jörg right before the tour and seeing that he was doing considerably good already, I knew that he’d back soon and that made things easier right away.
My most heartfelt thank you goes out to Timo, Jens, Mati and last but definitely not least my clone brother Lauri… My bandmates of five weeks! I had such a great time with you, guys… I’m happy things went as good as they did and I’m glad to call each of you a friend. It’s not about touring… It’s about having fun — while you’re touring!
Finally I wanna thank the ’rest’ of the whole tour party….crew, drivers and last but not least the Helloween guys. What a bunch of cool and down-to-earth people!"