For me, the highlight is when I step on that bandstand. The fans came to hear us and we’re ready to rock. Every night I play for people can be the biggest night of my life.
Mercy! We’ve been at it for more than 50 years now spanning 6 decades. Words don’t seem enough to express how grateful I am to be able to do what I love to do, and make a living at it. It’s only possible because of the support of our awesome fans…so thank you! My family’s support and sacrifices give me the ground to walk on. I’m not stopping until someone tells me that I have to…Rock On!!!”
Performing live never gets old. We’ve always strived to give the best show possible to our fans around the world. It’s been a thrill and an honor to perform for over 50 years!”
When I joined the Destroyers as guitarist back in 1999, it was a dream come true. I'd been listening to the albums for years and I had seen them with the Rolling Stones in New Orleans in 1981. Since then, it's been a wild and exciting ride and the dream continues. Let's rock!
I had several years of formal school training and was taught to follow the rules of music theory. Since joining The Destroyers, I have also been taught how music with raw energy, emotion and passion can bring so much happiness to so many people. For that, I’m very grateful.
Courtesy: Ivor levene | Goldmine
George Thorogood has always been an artist who, wherever he is, that’s the best place to be. He explains the rock and roll attitude that has always worked for him.
George Thorogood has always been an artist who, wherever he is, that's the best place to be. If you've seen him live, you know exactly what that means.
Whether Thorogood headlined a gig or opened for The Rolling Stones, he was always in the right place at the right time. When Thorogood opened for The Stones in Hampton, Virginia, in 1981, it was the first-ever pay-per-view broadcast. Most people know this concert as the one where Keith Richards bashes a fan with his guitar for storming the stage. (Note: It was classic Keith. He took his guitar off his neck, swung it like a bat, and POW! And then he strapped the guitar back on without missing a beat.) But George Thorogood and the Destroyers had shown the masses that they were a party on wheels, too, and the great thing about it is that most of the members of the band have been with Thorogood since the very start.
With The Destroyers, Thorogood has released more than 20 albums, including two Platinum-certified records, contributing to over 15 million albums sold worldwide. Over the decades, George Thorogood and the Destroyers have lost none of the vigor they've championed, and they're coming to rock a town near you in early 2026.
Thorogood performs concerts for many charities as well. Most notably, the Marla Thorogood Memorial Fund for Ovarian Cancer Research was started by his daughter, Rio Thorogood. The fund honors Thorogood’s late wife and Rio’s mother, Marla, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2019.
GOLDMINE: How are you doing, George? It's an honor to talk to you!
GEORGE THOROGOOD: Thank you. You say that like you mean it.
GM: I do mean it. You’ve been on my bucket list of musicians to interview. I’ve seen you play live more times than I can remember, and with you, you get what you see; you see what you get — no gimmicks, no flash, no bullsh*t. You are the least full of sh*t artist ever!
GT: I don’t have diarrhea. (laughs)
GM: I’ve seen you open for the Stones before, and you were the best opening act that they ever had. And I'm putting that up against Ike and Tina, Stevie Wonder and Billy Preston.
GT: Well, if you go up in front of 80,000 people, baby, and the Stones are waiting in the wings, you better deliver.
GM: You always did, man. I have a VHS copy of the Stones' 1981 show in Hampton, VA. I'm sure you remember; it was Keith Richards’ birthday, December 18th. It’s the gig where a fan jumped onstage and Keith hit him with his guitar. The official release from the Stones doesn't include any of the opening acts, but I have the entire show as it aired. What an amazing set you played, just amazing. You were the perfect artist to open for the Stones. But now you're kicking off your 2026 tour ... at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on February 13, aren't you?
GT: That's the rumor. I guess you could say yes, we're starting. That's gonna be our first date of the year. And then we will move on in March to really kick off the whole year tour.
GM: Have you ever played the Opry before?
GT: Yes, we have, haven't we? Ryman Auditorium. Yeah. We've done 'em both.
GM: That's quite an honor to be asked to play there. They don't have a lot of rock acts there, from what I understand.
GT: Hey, baby, every night they pay me to play someplace is an honor. OK? This might be just a little bigger honor. It's an honor to me, pal.
GM: That's really cool. See, that's what I mean about being the least full of sh*t artist ever? You were then. And you still are. That's so refreshing. And I actually saw that it was Goldmine that called you the "All American Rock and Roll Party Band" — the quintessential one, which I think is a great title for what you do. You've had the same band together almost in its entirety since you started, right? What's the secret? I mean, you guys must just have a ton of fun together.
GT: The answer is respect. That's how you keep a band together. Respect.
GM: Interesting.
GT: Now you'd wanna say respect. This is respect (Thorogood makes the hand-sign for money).
GM: OK. So you make sure everybody's paid accordingly.
GT: So, yeah, I won't mention any other names. The tour announcement says we're playing some great venues. It's guaranteed we can make you feel like a teenager again.
"If you go up in front of 80,000 people, baby, and the Stones are waiting in the wings, you better deliver."
GM: Just talking to you already makes me feel like a teenager. What are some of your favorite venues?
GT: Oh, you know, the usual ... Massey Hall, Burton Cummings Theater. I like 'em all. What can I say? Greek Theater, House of Blues. We have wonderful management. Our booking agents are fantastic, and so is our manager. They don't put us in anything that's not top of the line. And matter of fact, in this day and age, there is nothing else but places [that are] at the top of the line. I'll tell you why. Because the bad places go out of business. You know what I'm saying? The good ones last. And we're fortunate enough to get table offers from some of these places. So when we go to the place, they're all four or five-star venues.
GM: You have had more than 8,000 live performances and over 15 million albums sold.
GT: I'm gonna faint! (laughs)
GM: I heard that you just lent the Rock Hall your signature ES-125 TDC [guitar]. How long have they got that for? Are they gonna give it back to you when the tour starts?
GT: Well, they stopped making them in 1970, and I kind of wore 'em out. So I said, "Well, I guess I can't play it anymore." And they don't make the guitar. So our manager made a deal with Epiphone and they did a copy of the same exact guitar. So it's the 125, although it says Epiphone on it.
GM: OK. I was gonna ask about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You and a number of other artists aren't in there. Sorry if I'm being blunt, but I know I've read what you've spoken about it, and I'm not gonna ask you out of respect because ... you know what: I know what you've said. You've already played with the people that are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and that puts you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, pretty much, right?
GT: Well, when you're playing ... we've been getting close over the years to Stevie "Guitar" Miller. There's an artist that's very close to my heart; he's kind of adopted me as a little brother. You know, he's a wonderful man, great artist, and I wanna wind up him. And I congratulated him, saying, "Steve, I apologize for not congratulating you sooner for making it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." And his retort was ... he looked me right in the eye, put his finger right up against my nose, and said, "George, I will not sleep until I get you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." So for me, I've made it.
GM: Well, that's great. I would love to see that. I mean, you deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
GT: Hey, it's all rock and roll, baby. Every night is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
GM: (laughs) I’m looking for a good word to describe you. Authentic? Yeah, that’s a good word to describe you.
GT: Well, thanks!
GM: In those five decades that you've had the band together, do you have any particularly memorable moments?
GT: Yes, there are. There are a few that stick out. You know, I do remember there was a place in upstate New York, I think it's in Rochester, and it was called the House of Guitars. And during tours, we used to go play there in the afternoon because we would get people who were not of the age that could get into the other places. So they would come, and we called it an afterschool session. And it was in the heart of winter. The snow was up to our earlobes, and we played in it, and we'd done it several times. A young lady came up, and she was kind of slurring her words. I guess she was about 17, and she had a cast on her leg. I asked her if I could sign the cast, and she slurred and said, “No, it is still too soft to sign.” I said, “What are you talking about? Did you just have the cast put on?” She said, “ I just broke my leg in a car accident on the way down here to see you play.” She got her leg broken in a car on the way to see us play! She went to the hospital, got the leg set, put the cast on, got full of painkillers, and still came to see us.
