Would ACCEPT's WOLF HOFFMANN Consider Inviting Former Members To Perform With Band? 'Never Say Never'

In a new interview with Metal Talk, ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann was asked if he would ever consider having old and current bandmembers onstage at the same time, like Alice Cooper did a few years ago. He responded: "It has never come up yet, so until it does, I don't know what to think of it. But you never say never.

"It is weird, you know. When someone leaves the band, you tend to never see them again. There is never any run-ins during festivals because, I don't know… it hardly ever happens. There was one time, though, we met [original ACCEPT singer] Udo [Dirkschneider] at a festival. We were performing, and it was maybe in 2011. It was bizarre, because I went over to hug Udo, to say, 'Hey, let's let bygones be bygones. Nice to see you,' that kind of thing. He didn't want to have anything to do with me. He brushed me off. It was kind of weird. But…whatever, just let it go. But generally, you never really run into each other."

This past summer, Udo told "The Rock N Ragni Show" that "it's not possible to do a reunion with ACCEPT. There is only one [original] guy left," referring to Hoffmann. "Sorry, but there is no reunion with ACCEPT. Definitely not."

Back in 2015, Hoffmann dismissed Dirkschneider's comment that the band's then-lineup — which included bassist Peter Baltes and ACCEPT's singer of more than a decade, Mark Tornillo — performed live "without any emotion." "It's just hilarious at this point," Wolf said. "It's just a big joke in our lives. And we just go on about our lives, and we do our thing, and we just… We let these things go by and laugh about it. He's actually sort of our press agent, in a way. He keeps us [in the news]."

Udo last performed with ACCEPT in 2005, when the band completed a 25th-anniversary tour with a touring lineup of Dirkschneider, Hoffmann and guitarist Herman Frank, along with Baltes and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann.

For the last few years, Udo has been touring the world and performing nothing but ACCEPT songs with his DIRKSCHNEIDER project.

The DIRKSCHNEIDER tour, which was launched in early 2016, was originally supposed to conclude with the band's North American run in January/February 2017, has now been extended indefinitely.

Asked what his thoughts are about his former bandmate playing a full set of ACCEPT classics while the Tornillo-fronted version of ACCEPT is still actively recording and touring, Wolf told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" radio show in a 2018 interview: "Well, I have lots of thoughts about that, but I'm not gonna share 'em with you. I'd rather not comment on that, because that seems so much 'back and forth,' and I think I should stay away from it… You can draw your own conclusions all day long, but I'm not gonna get into it; it's just not worth it.

"I get asked [about Udo] so many times, and, man, it's been so many years — it's such an old story by now," Wolf continued. "We've moved on way past that, and we've had 10 brilliant years [with Mark Tornillo], we're making cool albums; I think we're doing fine. So I don't spend any time thinking about it.

"I'm very proud of the history we have together and all that, but I'm just not gonna get into the current 'he said, she said' whatever — it's not worth it," Hoffmann concluded.

ACCEPT's new studio album, "Too Mean To Die", will be released on January 15, 2021 via Nuclear Blast. The LP will be the group's first without Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during last year's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH),who has been responsible for the magnificent studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

ACCEPT's last album, 2017's "The Rise Of Chaos", marked the band's first release with guitarist Uwe Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively.

ACCEPT's latest release was "Symphonic Terror - Live At Wacken 2017", featuring the band's performance at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.