George Harris to Quit Touring with The Raven Age Due to Illness
Melodic metal mavens The Raven Age (I love a rhyme) is losing one of their founding members—George Harris. The guitarist, who happens to be the son of Iron Maiden bassist Steven Harris, has just announced that his band’s upcoming U.K. run of tour will be his last with the band.
He made the announcement this morning (Saturday, November 15) via an emotional post on The Raven Age’s social media pages, where he shared about a longtime illness he’s been dealing with that makes it hard for him to keep playing guitar. He wrote:
“This is a tough one to write, but I wanted to be honest with you all and let you know what’s been going on with me and the band.
“Our upcoming ‘Monarchy Tour’ in the UK at the end of this month will be my last time playing live with TRA. Even just typing that feels strange. I’ve lived and breathed this band for so many years, and it’s been such a huge part of my life. I started TRA with Dan back in my late teens/early twenties and have poured my heart and soul into making it work ever since.
“What most people don’t know is that I’ve been dealing with a health issue for just over six years now that’s made playing guitar really difficult. I first noticed it on tour in 2019, at first I thought I just needed more practice or focus but after a while, it became clear it was something physical. Over time it’s just become worse, to the point where every time I pick up a guitar it feels more like a fight than the thing I used to love doing most. For a long time, I really found that hard to deal with. I’ve tried everything over the years to fix it… physio, rest, treatments, therapy, even surgery to move a nerve but unfortunately, nothing’s worked.
“I didn’t want to just post one of those ‘unforeseen circumstances’ statements because I think you guys deserve the truth. So yeah, I’ve made the really hard decision to stop playing live. The band will carry on with someone else on guitar, and I’ll be right there supporting them. I’ll still be working behind the scenes with the lads on writing, recording, and keeping TRA moving forward. Luckily most of my writing comes from my head and not my hands, so that side of things isn’t going anywhere.
“To the boys in the band and the crew….thank you for everything. The shows, the laughs and the madness.. Sharing the stage with you all has been one of the best things I’ve ever done, and I’ll miss it immensely. Thank you to Dan for initiating the weekly Wednesday evening jam session all those years ago which accidentally snowballed into us being signed to a major record label and catapulted us into becoming a touring band. But honestly, I’m actually looking forward to standing in the crowd for once and watching the boys smash it from the other side. Thanks for all the support over the years!
“See you all one last time on the ‘Monarchy Tour’ in a couple weeks. Let’s make it count.”
The Raven Age’s U.K. leg of their “The Monarchy Tour – A Decade Of The Raven King” starts on November 25 in Southhampton and ends just a few days later at the Islington Assembly Hall in London.
It sucks to see something you love doing, that you’ve made your life of, taken away from you in a way you can’t control. A painful way. We feel for you, George.
