"It might kill me to be on the road, but it will certainly kill me to not be on the road": Sweet guitarist Andy Scott reveals why he won't stop touring

(Image credit: Kevin Nixon)

Sweet guitarist and band lynchpin Andy Scott has revealed why he keeps touring, despite the advancing years and his well-publicised battles with ill health.

Speaking in the new issue of Classic Rock, Scott – who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009, and revealed just over a year ago that the disease had reached stage 4, having spread to other parts of his body – says that he has no option but to keep touring.

"I’ve had that conversation with [Uriah Heep's] Mick Box,” Scott says. “Both of us agreed that without playing live, what on earth would we do? So doing it sensibly remains the only option.

“It might kill me to be on the road, but it will certainly kill me to not be on the road. So I may as well keep things together."

The interview arrives in the wake of Sweet's recent and well-received album Full Circle, which, it turns out, might not be their last.

"I’m not saying that we’ll do another album, but the success of this one changes my outlook," says Scott. "If we were to release new songs individually, then why not scoop them all together into an album? So there could be another one.

Scott also reveals that he's considered the option of Sweet continuing with him.

"There would need to be someone to steer the ship," he says. "If I wasn’t around then maybe guest guitar players could replace me? I haven’t thought it all through yet. But Foreigner go out and tour without Mick Jones, and apparently it works very well."

Sweet's 2025 tour kicks off in Germany next month, with dates in Cardiff and London scheduled for April. Full dates below.

The full interview with Andy Scott is in the new issue of Classic Rock.

Sweet: 2025 Tour Dates

Feb 12: Augsburg Spectrum, Germany
Feb 13: Stuttgart LKA Longhorn, Germany
Feb 19: Oberhausen Turbinenhalle Oberhausen, Germany
Feb 20: Osnabrück Rosenhof GmbH, Germany
Feb 22: Rostock Moya, Germany
Mar 07: Schaffhausen TapTab Musikraum, Switzerland
Mar 22: Nuremberg Löwensaal, Germany
Mar 23: Regensburg-Galgenberg Eventhall-Airport, Germany
Mar 25: Mannheim Capitol Mannheim, Germany
Apr 03: Cardiff Tramshed, UK
Apr 05: London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, UK
Apr 15: Munich Circus Krone, Germany
Jun 13: Hallstadt Marktplatz Hallstadt, Germany
Jun 15: Gifhorn Castle, Germany
Jun 28: Tilloloy Château de Tilloloy, France
Jul 04: Klam Burg Clam, Austria
Jul 05: Eisenstadt Schlosspark, Schloss Esterhazy, Austria
Jul 18: Appenzell Postplatz Festival Appenzell, Switzerland
Jul 20: Maidstone Made of Stone Festival, United Kingdom
Jul 25: Beelitz Freilichtbühne Beelitz, Germany
Aug 01: Dinslaken Freilichtbühne Burgtheater, Germany
Aug 23: Newark on Trent Stonedead Festival, UK
Oct 21: Augsburg Spectrum, Germany
Oct 22: Augsburg Spectrum, Germany
Oct 24: Bochum Christuskirche, Germany
Oct 25: Bochum Christuskirche, Germany

Tickets are on sale now.

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.