"He used to do stupid things that smashed the reputation of the band. That's all over now." The frosty relationship between Saxon's Biff Byford and former guitarist Graham Oliver has thawed after more than 30 years

The frosty relationship between Saxon frontman Biff Byford and former guitarist Graham Oliver appears to have thawed, three decades after the band fired the latter man. Oliver was sacked from Saxon in 1994 after his relationship with Byford became toxic.

"When there’s no chemistry, the band can’t survive," Byford told Classic Rock in 2014. "When it goes from being competitive and on the edge to you can’t even stand being in the same room with the person, it has to stop."

Much to Byford’s chagrin, Oliver went on to register "Saxon" as a trademark, and toured with former Saxon bassist Steve ‘Dobby’ Dawson – another member of the "classic" Saxon lineup – under the names Saxon: The Early Years and Oliver/Dawson Saxon.

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Byford applied to have the trademark declared invalid in 2000, and three years later, the UK High Court ruled in his favour, finding that Oliver and Dawson had registered the trademark in bad faith.

"I could do a gig with Steve," Byford told us in 2019. "But with Graham, it went too far. That door is shut. Let’s leave it at that."

More recently, Oliver has been playing Saxon-themed shows with fellow founding guitarist Paul Quinn, who retired from touring with the band in 2023, but it appears that that door may have been cracked open.

"I don’t really have any problem with Graham anymore," Byford now tells Classic Rock. "He used to do stupid things that smashed the reputation of the band. That’s all over now. I met Graham not too long ago in an airport and we had a chat."

"Really, it’s fine," he continues. "As long as we’re sensible and don’t start using logos, there’s plenty of room for everybody."

Saxon's European summer festival schedule begins later this month. Full dates below.

Saxon: 2026 tour dates

Jun 27: Copenhagen Copenhell, Denmark
Jul 01: Motala Lokverkstan, Sweden
Jul 02: Borlänge Alive Festival, Sweden
Jul 03: Göteborg Liseberg, Sweden
Jul 10: Kallithea Release Athens Festival, Greece
Jul 11: Provincia Di Vicenza AMA Festival, Italy
Jul 16: Leoben AREA 53 Festival, Austria
Jul 18: Maidstone Maid of Stone Festival, UK
Jul 31: Wacken Open Air, Germany
Aug 04: Pratteln Z7 Summer Nights Open Air, Switzerland
Aug 06: Walton-on-Trent Bloodstock Open Air, UK
Aug 08: Geiselwind Keep it True Legions, Germany
Aug 09: Kortrijk Alcatraz Festival, Belgium
Aug 13: Wittelshofen Summer Breeze Open Air, Germany
Aug 29: Wörrstadt Neuborn Open Air Festival, Germany

Find Saxon tickets.