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KING DIAMOND PART WAYS WITH ANDY LA ROCQUE AFTER 40 YEARS, NAME GUS G AS NEW GUITARIST

Photo: Miikka Skaffari/FilmMagic King Diamond and guitarist Andy La Rocque have parted ways after forty years together, bringing one of heavy metal's longest-running creative partnerships to a close. Firewind founder Gus G will take over the role. The band announced Friday that the two had "mutually decided to part ways," looking back on the run with pride and gratitude and emphasizing that the friendship and respect between them remain unchanged. No reason was given for the split. La Rocque's tenure stretches back further than almost anything else in the band. He joined in 1985 during the recording of Fatal Portrait and became, alongside King Diamond himself, one of only two fixed points in a lineup that more than fifteen musicians have moved through. His fluid, neoclassical lead work defined the sound of Abigail, Them and Conspiracy, and stayed central to every King Diamond record that followed. He earned a Grammy nomination in 2007 while building a parallel career as a producer at his own Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden. ORDER THE EYE Welcoming Gus G to the lineup, King said the guitarist will be involved in writing, recording and touring, adding that his commitments to Firewind and his solo career will continue alongside the band through careful scheduling. Work with the new lineup is already underway. Gus G founded Firewind in the late 1990s and spent 2009 through 2017 as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist, playing on the Grammy-nominated Scream. He released his fifth solo album, Steel Burner, in April, with Firewind's eleventh studio record slated for this year. The change lands at a delicate moment for Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920, the horror concept album that would be King Diamond's first since 2007's Give Me Your Soul... Please. La Rocque said in March that he had sent King eight songs, three of which were selected, and reported in May that instrumental tracks were largely finished with final takes planned for the summer. Whether his playing and writing credits survive to the finished record is unresolved. La Rocque launched a new band, Lex Legion, earlier this year with Pete Blakk, Hal Patino, Mikkey Dee and vocalist Nils K. Rue, releasing its self-titled debut in June.