BIG‘s ongoing last worldwide tour is aptly titled “The BIG Finish”. Since the band’s original drummer and co-founder Pat Torpeylost his battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2018, the band now feels it’s time to mark the end of this chapter of their legacy. The first leg kicked off in Japan and Southeast Asia in July and August, where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows including Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. Now MR. BIGis ready to bring “The BIG Finish” to the U.S. The first batch of shows throughout the States will start January 12, 2024 in Houston, Texas at the Rise Rooftop. Joining MR. BIG on drums for this special final world tour is longtime friend of the band Nick D’Virgilio (SPOCK’S BEARD, BIG BIG TRAIN),stepping in for Torpey.

Last month, MR. BIG singer Eric Martin was asked by Troy Patrick Farrell of the weekly live “This That And The Other” radio show why he and his bandmates feel that now is the time to officially pull the plug on MR. BIG. He said: “Well, I really didn’t wanna end it. I think we’re gonna be done with it. I would just keep the door open forever. I didn’t wanna ever end something. I hate the end of anything, but Pat Torpey is not there anymore. And that’s kind of taking the wind out of the sails. He was the anchor of the band. And Nick D’Virgilio is a great replacement. He’s phenomenal drummer. He sings just like Pat. Nick‘s great. But everybody has so many other projects. I don’t. I really like the MR. BIG project… I have a couple of irons in the fire. But, yeah, it’s over. To me, it’s kind of a bummer. But it’s time. It’s been 35 fucking years, man.”

Martin went on to say that it “feels great” to have a drummer in MR. BIG who can not only reproduce Torpey‘s parts on the band’s classic songs but who also has the voice to harmonize with him during MR. BIG‘s live shows.

“No offense to Matt (Starr),” Eric said, referencing the drummer who played with MR. BIG for four years prior to Torpey‘s passing. “I thought Matt Starr was great. He was fine. The thing about Matt is that he came when Pat just couldn’t do it anymore. He had this little cocktail kit on the side and he would play drums with us once in a while. Matt did it. It was just too soon for me. I wasn’t ready to give up Pat Torpey. And when Matt did it, Matt has his own style. He’s more like a John Bonham. He’s not a Pat Torpey, and I was looking for somebody to play exactly like Pat, because I could. I wanted it, and I was really bummed that Pat couldn’t do it anymore. And Matt did it, and he did a fine job for us. We sounded like a different MR. BIG. Pat Torpey has this finessey kind of things, and he’s like Steve Gadd meets Vinnie Colaiuta meets maybe like a John Bonham. But Matt has got that form, heavy rock (approach), but there’s a lot of finesse in the MR. BIG style — you know, ‘Colorado Bulldog’ and all that. And Matt did a great job; he really did. But then, after Matt, we didn’t do anything. COVID thing, Pat passed away first, actually. And then nothing happened. And then when we were gonna get another drummer, we wanted to do a different style — not a different style, but we wanted to find somebody new that could play exactly like Pat. And that’s what we found in Nick. He’s got the same chops and the incredible voice. Matt can sing too. I mean, he was great. But I’m just letting the folks know out there, there’s no bad blood between Matt Starr and MR. BIG or me or anything like that. He’s killer.”

Regarding the possibility of MR. BIG making a new album as the follow-up to 2017’s “Defying Gravity”, Eric said: “We’re doing it now. We’re working on it now. (MR. BIG guitarist) Paul Gilbert and I — I’ve been going back and forth to Portland, Oregon, where Paul lives, and we’ve been writing and recording everything. And so far, I wanna say, (we have) 10, 13 songs so far. And Billy‘s (Sheehan, MR. BIG bassist) got one that he just brought in. And Nick — we said, ‘Hey, Nick, if you’ve got any tunes, man, throw it our way.’ And he’s got four songs that are pretty good.”