JEFF LOOMIS On NEVERMORE In 2026: We’ll Play The Classics & “Possibly New Songs As Well”

Nevermore are set to return to the stage in 2026 for the first time in over a decade, with guitarist Jeff Loomis confirming the band will debut a revamped line-up — and possibly new material — at Wacken Open Air.

“Great news for everyone,” Loomis said in a new video message. “We are going to be making a return to Wacken after almost 16 years. Next year in 2026, we make our return to the Wacken stage along with some new band members and possibly new songs as well. But we’ll definitely be playing you the old classics and rocking the stage.”

The confirmed line-up so far features Loomis alongside founding drummer Van Williams, plus a new bassist and vocalist, both yet to be revealed. The group launched a global search earlier this year, receiving more than 650 submissions from hopefuls around the world before settling on their final choices.

Nevermore‘s comeback comes 15 years after internal differences saw Loomis and Williams leave in 2011, leading to the cancellation of planned tours. Vocalist Warrel Dane maintained at the time that the band hadn’t broken up, but acknowledged it would be hard to continue without Loomis — insisting he wouldn’t make another Nevermore record without him.

While both men left the door open to a reunion, Dane‘s death in 2017 from a heart attack at the age of 56 made the prospect far more complex. Loomis has since said part of the reason for leaving Arch Enemy, the band he’d played with for a decade, was to relaunch Nevermore. “I wanted to kind of be behind the driver’s wheel of my own music again,” he told Metal Magnitude. “Reforming my old band… was a very big part of my life for a long time.”

Not everyone welcomed the move. Co-founder and original bassist Jim Sheppard publicly criticized the decision, calling it “completely disrespectful” and saying no one had contacted him before moving ahead. He later softened his stance, adding: “With that said, I wish them the best.”

Despite the pushback, Loomis says the new line-up “honors our legacy while forging a new path forward” and promises the band will be “bigger and better than it ever was.” Wacken 2026 is set to be the first major performance of the reactivated Nevermore, though earlier shows haven’t been ruled out.

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