In a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker was asked if he would ever consider playing with UFO or the SCORPIONS again. He responded (hear audio below): “No. I think it’s all done. I don’t wanna open another can of worms. Phil [Mogg, UFO singer] is happy having the name UFO back, which I owned 50 percent. I gave it back to him for free. The SCORPIONS have the SCORPIONS, and Michael Schenker has Michael Schenker. I think we are all happy; we are all doing our thing. And there’s no need to get back into being controlled, like it used to be in the past.”
He continued: “Eventually, it all trickles down. There was always a little bit of a possibility as time went on, but eventually, I really don’t wanna open the can of worms and re-experience discomfort. We all do our thing, and we should just be happy with what we have. Getting back together, it would just create turbulence for me.”
Schenker first joined UFO in 1973 and last played with the band in 2003,
Mogg, who has been the only constant member of UFO throughout the band’s existence, announced his plans to retire from the group in 2018.
The singer, who will turn 73 in April, released a statement confirming that he will leave the band after UFO completes a farewell 50th-anniversary tour.
Michael gave a number of interviews in the last few years in which he questioned the integrity of his brother, SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker, going so far as to call Rudolf “a con artist” who “completely adopted [Michael‘s] image” as his own. He also denounced the SCORPIONS for “distorting” the story of his brief tenure with the band and criticized what he saw as ongoing efforts to minimize the contributions of the group’s former drummer Herman Rarebell and ex-bassist Francis Buchholz, as well as SCORPIONS‘ long-running creative complacency.
Schenker first appeared on SCORPIONS‘ 1972 album “Lonesome Crow”, earned acclaim in the 1970s on classic UFO albums such as “Phenomenon” and “Lights Out” before rejoining SCORPIONS for 1979’s “Lovedrive”. He departed soon thereafter to launch MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP. And while his sometimes-erratic behavior have derailed parts of his career, Schenker remains one of hard rock and metal’s most influential axemen.
