HAIL! replaces Paul Gray

With three weeks of dates booked throughout Europe and Asia, the all-star band HAIL! - featuring vocalist Tim Ripper Owens (BEYOND FEAR, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, ex-JUDAS PRIEST), guitarist Andreas Kisser (SEPULTURA), and drummer Paul Bostaph (ex-SLAYER, TESTAMENT) - have announced that they will not cancel their tour in the wake of their bassist Paul Gray's untimely death.

The band released the following statement: "On Monday we were dealt a devastating blow with Paul's passing two days before our departure. We discussed the situation and unanimously thought that in the face of this tragedy we needed to remain strong and push forward because Paul would have vehemently insisted that the show must go on. In a desperate situation we made an emergency call to James Lomenzo (ex-MEGADETH) and James responded with a Herculean effort, on only one day's notice, to fly to Portugal and rescue the Rock In Rio Festival. His immediate and unselfish call to arms single-handedly saved this entire tour.”

James Lomenzo has had a long and very successful career, having played with WHITE LION, OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and most recently Megadeth.

Hail! have epitomized the old-school unity and brotherhood of the metal culture that they have all grown out of and this is another example of that close knit circle of friends coming together to help in a time of need.

A list of complete tour dates can be found at the band's MySpace page.

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Tags:  HAIL!, Paul Gray, tour, James Lomenzo, Megadeth

Jason Fisher    May 26, 2010