In a new interview with Anthony Bryant of The Hair Metal Guru, former BRITNY FOX drummer Johnny Dee was asked about the possibility of a reunion of the band’s classic lineup. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, I’ll say what I always say, which is I’m always optimistic and open. But I have to say after the last [attempt] — there’s been various times [where we tried to put it back together], but after the last thing, I just don’t… I don’t know, man. I don’t think so. ‘Cause we tried. Billy [Childs, bass] tried to talk to Mike [Michael Kelly Smith, guitar], and Mike tried to talk to Dean [Davidson, vocals/guitar] and Dean tried to get over whatever he hates about all of us, and this and that. And I literally thought for a little bit that, man, this might actually fucking happen. And then all of a sudden, as quick as that came, it was gone again and Dean just disappeared and didn’t wanna do it. And that was that. So I don’t see how it could ever happen. And I think even Tommy‘s [Paris, later BRITNY FOX vocalist] over it now, so it’s really a bummer.”
Asked about the fact that Dean never does interviews, Johnny said: “Yeah, I think he’s not a… I guess he’s not a very talkative guy, really. I mean, he’ll talk your fucking ear off if you get him on the phone, but it’s gotta be what he’s talking about. You know what I mean? He’s not good with any kind of… I know he blew up his social media thing because he couldn’t deal with the negativity or getting into shit with people. If anyone addressed him in a negative way, he would lose his shit, just like he always did. He couldn’t just sit back and go, ‘You know what? If that’s your opinion, fine. I don’t really give a fuck.’ But he gets really, really testy about people that talk shit. So I don’t think he wants to put himself in that position where something might be brought up and then he has to get nuts on film or whatever. But it’s a shame, really, because he’s showed that he could hang out up there with a lot of other musicians, but some aren’t cut out for all the rest of parts of it. I guess it’s just a bit of a flaw in that sense. You’ve gotta have some steel fucking balls and you can’t let shit get to you too much, ’cause you’ll never go anywhere. But I think he’s just quiet and happy to be away from any bullshit.”
He continued: “Really, for me, the bottom line is music is everything, and if you can’t do it, there’s a major hole in your soul somewhere. And that would just eat at me. I fucking love the fact that I have two great bands and I’m still playing shows and making music and entertaining people, making people happy. When I see people and how much they appreciate it, I’m just, like, this is the best gig ever, to be able to do that. So I feel that, but then I don’t really understand how come everybody that plays music doesn’t feel the same? But I guess they don’t get that same reaction, or they just can’t deal with certain parts. Some people don’t like to fucking leave home. Some people don’t like to be on stage or whatever, or eat fucking bad food, or whatever reason it is that you have to adapt to these things to make your career work. Some people just figure it’s not worth it, and that’s fine. That’s their priority. But when you see somebody that actually should be or wants to be doing it, but can’t make it happen, then it’s, like, ‘I wonder what’s going on there?’ So that’s why I feel like it probably won’t happen, because those guys, in particular, have been away from it for so long. It’d be really hard to come back at this time because shit’s so different now.”
BRITNY FOX‘s self-titled debut became one of the best-selling first albums of 1988, peaking at No. 39 and going gold. The first two singles, “Long Way To Love” and “Girlschool”, both broke the top 100.
After Davidson exited BRITNY FOX, he was replaced by Las Vegas native Tommy Paris, who sang on the band’s last two studio albums, 1991’s “Bite Down Hard” and 2003’s “Springhead Motorshark”.
In 2010, Davidson unsuccessfully attempted to reunite the surviving members of the original BRITNY FOX lineup.
In April 2015, BRITNY FOX announced that it had reformed, featuring a lineup of Childs, Dee, Paris and new lead guitarist Chris Sanders, and that the band was recording a new album. Two years later, Childs stated that the album project had been abandoned, but he stopped short of saying that the band had broken up.
In 2022, Childs formed his own incarnation of BRITNY FOX without the involvement of any other past members. They toured throughout 2023.
As of 2023, Smith confirmed in several interviews that he was in touch with all surviving original members of BRITNY FOX and was considering bringing the band back for a reunion with the lineup from the first two albums. Smith also teased the possibility of a new studio album.
