{"id":16521,"date":"2025-10-13T18:57:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=16521"},"modified":"2025-10-13T18:57:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:57:19","slug":"type-o-negative-guitarist-kenny-hickey-confirms-there-have-been-talks-about-staging-peter-steele-tribute-concert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=16521","title":{"rendered":"TYPE O NEGATIVE Guitarist KENNY HICKEY Confirms There Have Been ‘Talks’ About Staging PETER STEELE Tribute Concert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In a new interview with\u00a0Scott Penfold<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a0Loaded Radio<\/a>, ex-TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong>\u00a0guitarist\u00a0Kenny Hickey<\/strong>\u00a0was asked if there has been any talk about teaming up with the other surviving members of\u00a0TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong>\u00a0to stage a\u00a0Peter Steele<\/strong>\u00a0tribute concert with various guest musicians. He said (as transcribed by\u00a0BLABBERMOUTH.NET<\/strong>): “There has, yes. A lot of people are approaching us. There are a lot of agents [contacting us]. There’s money in it, so the more the value goes up, the more they’re gonna hound us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Hickey<\/strong>, former TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong> keyboardist Josh Silver<\/strong>, who is married to Kenny<\/strong>‘s wife’s sister, is still unwilling to commit to a Peter Steele<\/strong> tribute project, having spent “a long time” working for New York City as a paramedic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Josh<\/strong> is really, at this point, he’s very resistant,” Kenny<\/strong> told Loaded Radio<\/strong>. “But we’ll see. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. Josh<\/strong> is about to retire [from his job as a paramedic] soon, so we don’t know what’s gonna happen. It all depends on how much money it’s worth and how much is waved [in front of us].”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if he has a particular singer, or several vocalists, in mind as far as whom he would want to front TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong> for such a concert or tour, Kenny<\/strong> said: “No, no. It’s a very hard thing to get my head around. If something really gets concrete, then I’ll really start thinking about it and painting over it, because there’s [also] the issue of the bass playing. [Peter<\/strong>‘s] bass playing was more unique than his vocals. Deep, baritone vocals \u2014 a lot of people with a deep voice could do that shit and roll your Rs\u2026 But his bass plan was very<\/em>, very<\/em> unique.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past February, Hickey<\/strong> told Joshua Toomey<\/strong> of the Talk Toomey<\/a> podcast that he was open to the idea of staging a Peter Steele<\/strong> tribute concert. “I think so. I would do something like that, absolutely,” he said at the time. “Because at this point, the band seemed to transcend into a whole new generation and stuff. And I think it would be really cool to get a couple of key singers, real guys, or maybe one guy or whatever, to come and do it as a tribute. Absolutely. Maybe four or five shows, something like that. If we can get Josh<\/strong> to do it, yeah, [I’d be up for it].”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if Josh<\/strong> was “the sticking point with stuff like that”, Kenny<\/strong> replied: “Josh<\/strong> is just, like, he’s done with music. He feels like he’s moved on, but I don’t know. We’ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You get nostalgic after a time, you know what I mean?” Hickey<\/strong> added. “So you never know. You can never say never.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in June 2023, Hickey<\/strong> was asked by Loaded Radio<\/a> if he was surprised by the enduring popularity of his former band, now 15 years after the passing of the TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong> frontman. He responded: “Yeah. It’s surprising, and I’m very grateful for it. I mean, the band has transcended, which is amazing. It’s reached a whole new generation. We’re doing better than we were doing before Peter<\/strong> passed. [Laughs<\/em>] [There’s] a whole resurgence on it. Which is good. It’s a testament to the work we put into it and the honesty we put into it and the years of sweat. There was realism to the music.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hickey<\/strong> also once again talked about the possibility of him and the other surviving members of TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong> staging a Peter Steele<\/strong> tribute concert with various guest musicians. He said: “People have approached us to try and reform the band with a singer and go on the road. ‘Cause everybody wants a money grab. We personally don’t think Peter<\/strong> is replaceable by anybody, and it just wouldn’t work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued: “A tribute I’d love to do. I’m sure Johnny<\/strong> [Kelly<\/strong>, drums] would love to do it. I know Josh<\/strong> wouldn’t do it, because Josh<\/strong> is picking up body parts in East New York [during his work as a paramedic]. He’s not gonna stop that to start rehearsing. But yeah, we would do it with guest musicians and stuff. If somebody had the idea and got it together and got the logistics together, sure \u2014 I would be into it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Penfold<\/strong> noted that Kelly<\/strong> previously picked HEART<\/strong>‘s Ann Wilson<\/strong> as a singer he would like to tackle Steele<\/strong>‘s parts during a hypothetical tribute concert, Hickey<\/strong> said: “Ann Wilson<\/strong> would be great, but she probably never heard of us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for whom he would choose to sing at such an event, Kenny<\/strong> said: “Axl Rose<\/strong> [of GUNS N’ ROSES<\/strong>].” He added that “it would be very fucking cool” to hear Axl<\/strong> sing a song like TYPE O<\/strong>‘s “Love You To Death”<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steele<\/strong> passed away in April 2010 from heart failure at the age of 48. Born Petrus T. Ratajczyk<\/strong> on January 4, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York, he stood 6′ 7″ (201 cm) tall, and had a low, bass-heavy voice, which was one of the most recognizable features in TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong>‘s music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before forming TYPE O NEGATIVE<\/strong>, Steele<\/strong> played for the metal group FALLOUT<\/strong> and the thrash band CARNIVORE<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a February 2022 interview with Loaded Radio<\/strong>, Kelly<\/strong> was asked if there had ever been any talk of staging a concert in honor of the band’s late frontman Peter Steele<\/strong>. He responded: “Coffee talk. There was never any serious consideration, like, should we do something? Is there even a point of doing it? Or also, is it just a blatant cash grab? So all these things go through your head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People celebrate [Peter<\/strong>] all the time,” he continued. “They do it daily. I see it online all the time and the impact that he had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Maybe somewhere down the road there may be something that’s\u2026 I don’t know. But I know that for me, it would have to include Kenny<\/strong> and Josh<\/strong> as well. Anything that we do, it would have to be the three of us. And there’s no way you’re getting Josh<\/strong> to do anything like that. [Laughs<\/em>]”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked who would handle Peter<\/strong>‘s vocal parts if they ever did end up doing a tribute concert, Johnny<\/strong> said: “I don’t know. I’d want a girl to do it. I’d want a female vocalist \u2014 like Ann Wilson<\/strong> or something like that. [Laughs<\/em>] But even so, that’s the first thing. When you think about doing some kind of tribute show, you’re just gonna get all these people\u2026 Yes, Peter<\/strong> was very highly regarded by our peers and stuff like that, and you’ll just get a bunch of dudes up there just trying to sound like Peter<\/strong>. And you can’t do that. And it’s, like, all right, so what’s the most remote thing from Peter<\/strong>? You’d have to do something completely abstract. And I would say get a female vocalist. I think Peter<\/strong> would get a kick out of\u2026 He would get off on seeing a girl sing his songs, seeing a female sing them. And it would really stress the point of doing something as a tribute instead of trying to recreate something.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years ago, Kelly<\/strong> told Meltdown<\/strong> of Detroit’s WRIF radio station<\/a> about Steele<\/strong>: “Peter<\/strong>, for the most part, he was a clown. He was always joking around \u2014 sarcastic, very self-deprecating humor. Just the opposite of what the music portrayed. When we were working on music and stuff, the end result, he was very serious about what he wanted, how he wanted something to sound. Other times, he was a clown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I always said that he wanted to be a normal person, but because he was Peter<\/strong>, that was just not in the cards for him; it was completely impossible,” he continued. “I bet he would love to just be able to hang out, go to the bar, have a few drinks. And we would try to do that, and the minute he would come out to the bar, everybody gravitated towards him. He couldn’t go to the store by his house without something happening to him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked if that was because of Peter<\/strong>‘s size, Johnny<\/strong> said: “I think so. He just had this very striking look. He didn’t look normal. And he had fangs. [Laughs<\/em>] He was six and a half feet tall, [had] long black hair and fangs. You’re not gonna get the normal response when you’re going grocery shopping.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n