STRYPER Singer Says God's Hand Was Involved In The Band's Reunion Tour

STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet recently spoke to Glam-Metal.com about the band's decision to reunite this fall for their first nationwide performance junket in more than 12 years.

Asked about his alleged statement when he left the band in 1992 that he would eventually rejoin STRYPER when it was the right time, Sweet said, "I don't ever recall saying that I would rejoin the band, I do remember saying that the only way that it would happen is if I felt beyond the shadow of a doubt, 100% that God was saying go, do it again. Other wise I would not, I would just keep doing my solo thing or whatever else. I just really felt that this was the right time because the way that everything fell into place, there were things that really shouldn't have worked out and did, everyone's paths aligned, which is difficult to do when you have four guys living separate lives. You know that I'm on the East coast and they're on the West coast. It just worked out, the label was behind it, and the money was there. Everything just fell into place, so I really believe in it because I feel that God's hand was involved in it. We wanted to do just a few shows and now we are scheduled for 32. We are not calling it an official reunion, we are not back together as a band. . . We are going out, doing a one-time tour. I don't know what people think, but we are going out and doing this tour and then all going our separate ways. We are friends, there's no feuding or problems or anything like that. It's just that we all have separate and different lives. I just don't want to lead people on and have them think that we are back together forever. I want people to know exactly what's going on, I've always been like that. I don't want people to be let down, but WE ARE NOT BACK TOGETHER AS A BAND. This is not the first of many tours together or the first of many records together. I don't say that with a happy heart, but that's just the way that it is. I'm sure that it will bum some people out, but I just want to be honest."

When asked if part of the reason that the band can't continue is the fact that he lives on the East coast while the other guys in the band live out west, Sweet said, "No, not at all. In today's world so much business is handled over the internet and phone so it really doesn't matter where we live. If you want to do a tour or record, you fly in and do it. It really doesn't matter where you and your bandmates live. . It's more of a thing where we are just all in different place in our lives. I don't know. I'm speaking for myself, the other guys in STRYPER may tell you differently and they may want STRYPER to continue forever. I don't know, but speaking for myself, I love the other guys and I'm really excited about this tour, pumped about doing it, but I'm also excited about the future, I'm working on a new solo record, I got a 'Hymn' record coming out shortly. I have a lot of plans and things that I'm looking forward to after the STRYPER tour." Read the rest of the interview here.