Back in 2016, LA pop-metal pioneer Don Dokken put the 21st-century iteration of his eponymous band on pause and reunited its classic ‘80s version for a tour of the country where they were most warmly received in their heyday: Japan. The trip resulted in a live album, Return to the East (a sequel to 1988's iconic, Grammy-nominated concert set, Beast from the East) as well as this lineup's first new recording together in over 20 years, "It's Another Day." The reunion proved to be short-lived — guitarist George Lynch returned to the group he'd been leading since the ‘90s, Lynch Mob, while original drummer Mick Brown hung up the sticks for good in 2019. But this band has survived many personnel changes before, and Dokken have entered the 2020s with a revamped roster that includes guitarist Jon Levin (Don's right-hand man since the early 2000s) and the House of Lords rhythm section of drummer BJ Zampa and bassist Chris McCarvill.

Dokken Background

Some people are just born with perfectly rock ‘n' roll names, and when Don Dokken's first group, Airborn, were forced to rebrand due to legal issues in 1978, he wisely went with his surname as a replacement. Over the next decade, Dokken would become a one-word shorthand for ‘80s pop-metal in all its shrieking, fist-pumping glory. But before they became fixtures of the Sunset Strip scene, Dokken cut their teeth in the notorious metal hotbed of Germany, where the band recorded their first album, 1981's Breaking the Chains (and where Don burnished his powerful pipes in recording sessions with Scorpions). Two years later, the album was re-released in the US through Elektra Records, introducing stateside audiences to Don's melodically majestic vocals and guitarist George Lynch's dexterity with muscular riffs and shredtastic solos. As the hair-metal explosion raged through the ‘80s, the band would become fixtures on MTV thanks to the crunch-rock confections like "In My Dreams" and the epic power ballad "Alone Again." The group's golden period came to an end in 1989 when Lynch departed to form his own band, Lynch Mob, and Don released his solo debut. But since then, Don has kept the Dokken name alive for over four decades through a series of reinventions and reformations, demonstrating his undiminished desire to get your fists and cigarette lighters in the air.