Veteran Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose recently opened up about the incredible career resurgence his band is currently experiencing. During a recent interview with George Dionne of KNAC.COM, the acclaimed musician discussed the overwhelming success of their latest tour and how viral social media trends have breathed massive new life into their historic catalog.
When asked what keeps the long-running alternative metal/hard rock outfit motivated to create fresh music after so many years, Rose explained that their deep love for the writing process is what ultimately drives them forward.
“It’s funny ’cause we’ve said a hundred times, it’s, like, ‘Man, maybe this’ll be the last [full-length album we make],’ or ‘maybe it’ll turn into an EP world,’ or ‘maybe it’ll be singles,’ or maybe… I think the thing is we just really love writing songs. We’re gonna write songs regardless. We all have our hands in a thousand different pots, whether it’s producing, co-writing, side projects — it’s constantly writing — so if we’re gonna do all that stuff, we’re, like, ‘Well, maybe we’ll do more over here, too,'” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Addressing past rumors and comments that the band was on the verge of splitting up, the drummer cleared the air, noting that while tensions were high at one point, the group is now firmly united and has zero intentions of retiring.
“I made this comment maybe a year and a half ago, where I was, like, ‘The band almost called it quits’ or whatever, and motherf**king thing went crazy. And half the band hated me and all this. I’m, like, well, it’s kind of true. I was gonna be gone. Even now, bringing it up, it’s such a weird thing. Even though it’s not happening and we have no plans on retiring — it just was a moment, and there was a reason — but now that that’s not there anymore, still just the thought of it, I know that there’s guys that’ll hear it and be, like, ‘This guy, he won’t stop talking about it.’ It’s, like, dude, we’re not going anywhere right now. We’re good,” Rose explained.
Discussing the relevance of releasing new material, specifically their fifteenth studio album, One, which dropped on May 1, he admitted that he completely understands why some fans might only want to hear the classics, but he remains incredibly proud of what they are still producing today.
“The new music thing is just, like — who knows what’s really gonna happen with it?” he added. “We’ve had people that have come up and said, ‘God, man, 15 records. Do you think anybody really wants to hear anything new?’ And then this one comes out, and it actually did really well. And it’s, like, we’re not really a legacy band yet. So I guess we’ll keep making ’em. I know that I see some of my favorite bands and they play new songs, and I think the same thing. I’m, like, ‘Dude, you know they just wanna hear this [song], or this [track], or this other 10 [songs]. They don’t really wanna hear the new one.’ But occasionally, even those bands pop a new song and you’re, like, ‘New song’s good.’ So we’ll keep making ’em. I don’t know how many at a time we’ll make, as far as a full-length or who knows what’s gonna happen with that. But we’re gonna keep making music for a bit.”
The conversation then shifted to Sevendust‘s wildly successful spring 2026 U.S. tour alongside Atreyu, Fire From The Gods, and American Adrenaline. Rose detailed how an initial triumphant run in Europe perfectly set the stage for an explosive return to the States, fueled heavily by younger generations discovering their music online.
“This is the craziest time for this band. It’s weird,” Rose continued. “It started with Europe. We went to Europe first. We did that in January, and we hadn’t been to Europe… We had never done a proper tour of Europe in our entire career. The business and the people that we were aligned with were not good people, and there was talk that we would never go back there again. So we did a very long tour there — seven and a half weeks, seven weeks — and fell in love with it, and the people there were super receptive, and that was the start of it, where it was, like, ‘Oh, damn. There’s an audience here.’ And that just kind of worked itself into the States, where we go to do this run, and we got done with it. I mean, first of all, looking at it, we’d be looking out in the crowd, and I’m, like, there’s 10 or 15 people that are crowd surfing at a time. It’s a sea of people that are coming over this barricade. And then I’m looking closer, and I’m, like, ‘These are children, dude. There’s some kids out here.’ And when I say children, it was, like — I mean, one of the last shows, there was a kid, he had the headphones on. I’m, like, ‘This dude’s got shotgun headphones on.’ They’re nervous that his ears are gonna get damaged, but they’re okay with this eight-year-old being flipped around like a bowling ball on top of a crowd of people that are beating each other up. It was a trip. And then I asked some people, I’m, like, ‘What’s happening?’ And they’re, like, ‘Well, you guys went viral on social media, a few different songs.’ So then John [Connolly, Sevendust guitarist] starts doing research, and he goes, ‘Dude, ‘Denial‘ and ‘Rumble Fish‘ are like two of our biggest songs, period.’ And I’m, like, ”Rumble Fish‘? Well, that song’s not a single.’ And they’re, like, ‘It went viral.’ So that’s where these kids are coming from. That and the combination of this style, this genre found its way back into being relevant again. Not that it ever went away. I mean, Korn‘s not gone anywhere. They’re still the kings. And the Deftones went viral too, and System of a Down. All this, quote-unquote, nu metal stuff came back around, so the tour just went bananas. And then my manager is, like, ‘Well, congratulations. You sold more tickets than you’ve ever sold. You sold more merch than you’ve ever sold, and it was the most successful tour that you’ve ever had.’ And we’re, like, ‘Wow.'”
“So we’re gonna ride this wave hard. I mean, we’re, like, ‘Let’s go back out immediately.’ It’s a lot of fun to have this many people coming out to see this and be able to still do it at a level that we feel is respectable. ‘Cause it has to be at that level for us to be comfortable doing it. It’s not gonna be… I see some of these bands and I’m, like, ‘Woo, dude. I’m not gonna be doing that one. You’re not gonna wheel me out there. It’s not gonna happen.’ So we’re keeping it together,” he added.
“The tour was great, though, to answer your question. It was amazing.”
Riding high on this massive wave of renewed momentum, Sevendust will hit the road again later this year, teaming up with Theory Of A Deadman for “The Dead / Seven Tour“. The expansive 36-date co-headlining trek is officially set to kick off in August.
The band, completed by frontman Lajon Witherspoon, guitarist Clint Lowery, guitarist John Connolly, and bassist Vince Hornsby, will continue to tour heavily in support of One, which was masterfully produced by Michael “Elvis” Baskette (known for his work with Alter Bridge and Slash).
“The Dead / Seven Tour” dates:
- 08/07 – Duluth, MN @ DECC Arena
- 08/08 – Rochester, MN @ Mayo Civic Center
- 08/09 – Omaha, NE @ The Astro Theater
- 08/11 – Fargo, ND @ Scheels Arena
- 08/12 – Bismarck, ND @ Bismarck Event Center
- 08/14 – Aberdeen, SD @ Brown County Fair
- 08/15 – Morton, MN @ Jackpot Junction Casino (Theory Of A Deadman only)
- 08/16 – Green Bay, WI @ EPIC Event Center
- 08/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave / Eagles Club
- 08/19 – Decatur, IL @ The Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater
- 08/21 – Gary, IN @ Hard Rock Live Northern Indiana
- 08/22 – Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
- 08/23 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit
- 08/25 – Poughkeepsie, NY @ MJN Convention Center
- 08/27 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
- 08/28 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
- 08/29 – New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
- 09/04 – Anderson, SC @ Wendell’s Dippin Branch
- 09/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
- 09/06 – Dothan, AL @ The Plant
- 09/08 – New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore New Orleans
- 09/09 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
- 09/10 – San Antonio, TX @ Boeing Center at Tech Port
- 09/12 – Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street
- 09/13 – Midland, TX @ Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
- 09/15 – El Paso, TX @ Abraham Chavez Theatre
- 09/16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
- 09/18 – Las Vegas, NV @ Bel-Aire Backyard at Durango Casino & Resort
- 09/19 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound at Del Mar
- 09/20 – Riverside, CA @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium
- 09/22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell at the Complex
- 09/23 – Idaho Falls, ID @ Mountain America Center
- 09/25 – Boise, ID @ Revolution Concert House
- 09/26 – Umatilla, OR @ Rock The Locks Festival (No Return To Dust)
- 09/28 – Great Falls, MT @ The Newberry
- 09/29 – Bozeman, MT @ Gallatin County Fairgrounds
- 10/01 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
