Cro-Mags frontman and bassist Harley Flanagan says his heavy touring days are winding down, following a pair of Instagram posts on August 4 that Loudwire reported on the next day. Over a photo of a concert crowd, Flanagan wrote, "I can feel it in my bones," Flanagan wrote, saying his touring days are winding down after being on the road since the 1970s, and adding "don't know how many more I got in me."
Flanagan, 59, said he still enjoys playing music but not the travel that comes with long tour runs. "I have nine more shows booked after this tour," he wrote. "I'm gonna take a break for a little while and think this through." He added that a new Cro-Mags album is "almost done" and could be "the best one I've ever written."
He was careful to say he isn't quitting outright. "I'm not saying I'm gonna stop playing altogether," he wrote, calling steady touring "a young man's/woman's sport" and saying he would rather play when he feels like it than keep grinding on the road. He said he wants to hold onto the life he has built rather than keep using music to escape it.
A follow-up post gave more detail on his health without naming a specific diagnosis. "Old injuries are acting up," Flanagan wrote, "but I will be fine." He said his doctor's appointments are already scheduled and that he will start physical therapy once home from the current tour.
Fellow musicians voiced support in the comments, including Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt, former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum and guitarist Joe Satriani. Flanagan co-founded Cro-Mags in 1981, and the band's 1986 debut, The Age of Quarrel, remains one of the defining records of New York hardcore, a corner of the wider rock scene. After a series of breakups and a long legal dispute over the band's name, Flanagan regained full ownership of Cro-Mags in 2019; their most recent studio album, In the Beginning, arrived in 2020, and the band signed a new record deal earlier this year with another LP expected in 2027.
The facts
- Harley Flanagan says his heavy touring days are winding down
- He has nine more shows booked before taking a break
- He is 59 and has toured since the 1970s
- Old injuries are acting up; he has doctor visits and PT planned
- A new Cro-Mags album is almost finished
- Cro-Mags formed in 1981; The Age of Quarrel came out in 1986
- Flanagan regained full ownership of the Cro-Mags name in 2019
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