Dicky Barrett to Perform as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones with Fresh Lineup

The ska‑punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones formed in the early 1980s, achieving mainstream success in the late 1990s and maintaining activity for many years afterward. After an unexplained split in 2022, speculation arose that frontman Dicky Barrett’s anti‑vaccine activism played a role in the group’s dissolution.

Barrett collaborated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on a song promoting an anti‑vaccine rally in Washington, D.C., cementing his public reputation as a vocal vaccine skeptic. This stance resulted in the loss of his long‑time role as announcer on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and led him to form a new group, The Defiant, comprising musicians who had been ousted from established punk bands, reportedly due to similar ideological positions.

Approximately a year ago Barrett performed a Bosstones cover with the Boston hardcore ensemble Haywire, signaling his interest in reviving the original group. In the spring, Madness will headline the Hollywood Bowl on May 8, with The Mighty Mighty Bosstones slated to open alongside other ’90s ska‑punk acts such as Dance Hall Crashers, Goldfinger, and Reel Big Fish. The event offers a chance to see the new incarnation of the band live.

Update (October 9): The lineup slated to appear at the Hollywood Bowl will not include the original Bosstones members. According to Sammy Kay of the Pietasters—and fellow Kilograms member Joe Gittleman—Dicky Barrett will perform under the Mighty Mighty Bosstones name with an entirely new backing band. In an Instagram statement, Kay described the situation as “a hostile takeover for a buck,” noting the absence of fiddle player, bassist Joe Gittleman, drummer Joe Sirois, tenor saxophonist Tim “Johnny Vegas” Burton, trombonist Chris Rhodes, and original guitarist Nate Albert. Barrett has filed a pending trademark application for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones name.

Source link