'70s Rock Legend Reveals Why He’s Returning to the Road After Band Announces First Tour in 30 Years

Rik Emmett opened up about Triumph’s plans to tour for the first time in 30 years. In December 2025, the Canadian rock legend appeared on The Preston and Steve Show to share details on the band’s 50thanniversary “Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded” tour, which was announced earlier this month and will kick off in Spring 2026.

Emmett, 72, told radio hosts Preston Elliott and Steve Morrison that while he and bandmates Gil Moore and Mike Levine “thought” they’d retired from the road, things started happening to change their minds.

“I mean, I thought I’d retired and the other guys in the band same thing,” Emmett said. “But the songs have this thing that just keeps pulling you back. And they started playing ‘Lay it on the Line’ during the Stanley Cup here in Canada and “Fight [the Good Fight’], ‘Magic Power.’ There’s, you know, six or seven of these songs, and it just, it pulls the rest of the whole rock and roll machine along with it, you know. And you go, ‘Okay, I guess I better get myself in shape and get back out in the world.'”

Emmett added that drummer Gil Moore was a bit of the mastermind behind the upcoming tour for the hard rock trio.

“The truth of it is that Gil Moore never loses the desire to try to get another, he’s so big on the idea of giant shows and production. And so he’s been planning this for years,” the singer said. “But yes, things started to happen where there was like, ‘Oh, they’re playing this, oh, we’re going into the Songwriters Hall of Fame here in Canada. Oh, this is happening. This is happening.’  And so it accumulates to the point where it’s like somebody’s just getting you on the toboggan at the top of the icy hill and gives you that push, and now it’s like, ‘This seems to be picking up speed. I’m getting a little bit nervous.’”

Fans thought a reunion tour for the classic Triumph lineup would never happen. In 2020, Emmett told Music Life Magazine that his days on the road were done.

“I was just getting old and burned out,” he said. “I mean, I have retired. …I just got to a point where I still love to play, and I don’t mind performing, although there is a little more anxiety now than there used to be. And I had some personal physical challenges in terms of arthritis in my neck and back and arthritis in my wrists and my fingers and stuff. It’s not debilitating to the point where I couldn’t perform, but it changes the nature of the challenge.”

“The big thing was traveling,“ the Triumph singer and guitarist continued. “I just didn’t want to have to go to all these airports and in and out of hotels and in and out of taxicabs and whatever. I didn’t want to have to stand in line at the rental car booth. I had enough. And it’s not like I need the money.”

“I have retired from the road, but I haven’t retired from creativity,” Emmett said at the time. 

Triumph was formed in Canada in 1975 by Emmett, Moore, and Levine.  The band was known for powerful arena rock classics such as “Lay It on the Line,” “Fight the Good Fight,” and “Allied Forces.”  Triumph’s last official tour was their “Edge of Excess” tour in 1993.

In early December, the band shocked fans with an announcement on Instagram that read, “THE ROCK & ROLL MACHINE IS RELOADED! We are so excited to finally share with you all that Triumph is going back on tour in 2026.”

Live Nation also teased, “Triumph, one of Canada’s most revered and influential rock bands, proudly announces their first tour in 30 years with the Triumph 50th Anniversary Tour  …. an expansive 2026 North American run celebrating five decades of musical excellence, pioneering stagecraft, and a legacy that continues to inspire fans worldwide.”

In a statement, the band said the fans have “always been the heart” of Triumph.

“We’ve always said these songs were meant to bring people together – and that’s exactly why we’re coming back now,” the rock legends added. “We knew there was still a chapter left to write. This tour is our chance to do it, together with the people who made the Triumph journey possible.”

Triumph’s “Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded” tour kicks off April 22 in Sault Ste. Marie, ON, and runs through June 6 in Boston, MA.