MINISTRY’s Al Jourgensen Says Final Album & Tour Are Coming: “I’m Putting a Bow on the Whole Career”

Despite past farewells, it looks like this time it’s for real—Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen is preparing to bring the pioneering industrial metal band to a definitive end.

Having previously retired the band in 2008 only to return in 2011, skepticism is expected. But Jourgensen, now in his mid-60s, seems resolute this time around, pointing to fatigue rather than drama or health issues as the catalyst. In a new conversation with ‘Full Metal Jackie’, he confirmed that one final Ministry album and tour are in the works—this time reuniting with longtime bandmate Paul Barker.

“I’m doing this tour, I’m getting this cathartically out of me, this early stuff… Then we’re going to do one final album and one final tour and it’s not going to be like KISS. I’m not going to be coming back every week or month or playing all the casinos and all this other stuff.”

The current trek celebrates The Squirrely Years Revisited, a newly released EP of reimagined cuts from Ministry’s early days, secretly reworked by his current bandmates and ultimately given the nod by Jourgensen. But the real endgame lies in what’s coming next.

“Let’s get Barker back in, which is a nice twist because both he and I have grown since we worked together in the ’90s. So it makes for an interesting twist on our combination of our taste and talents.”

Barker’s return marks a major moment for longtime fans. As a key figure behind Ministry’s iconic late-‘80s and ‘90s albums—including The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and Psalm 69—his presence adds weight to the farewell record.

“It’s just that my ears are tired. I’m starting to find myself really slapping myself on the wrist, not repeating stuff that I’ve done before and trying to keep going further. It gets harder as you keep going.”

Still, Jourgensen insists the upcoming album is sounding “amazing,” even if the excitement of creating music has shifted into more of a grind than a thrill.

Outside of Ministry, Jourgensen is working on the score for an upcoming documentary titled ‘Long Knife’—centered around the Koch brothers and their exploitation of indigenous people in Oklahoma. He contributed the full score and a few original tracks for the project, which is expected in 2026.

With Nitzer Ebb & Die Krupps:

04/29 Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren
04/30 Albuquerque, NM – Revel
05/02 Austin, TX – Emo’s
05/03 Houston, TX – House of Blues
05/04 Dallas, TX – Factory
05/06 Atlanta, GA – The Eastern
05/08 Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival (no Die Krupps)
05/09 Chicago, IL – Riviera
05/10 Detroit, MI – Masonic Cathedral
05/12 Baltimore, MD – Soundstage

With My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult & Die Krupps:

05/13 Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall
05/14 Boston, MA – Roadrunner
05/16 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
05/17 Montreal, QC – MTelus
05/18 Toronto, ON – History
05/20 Minneapolis, MN – Palace
05/21 Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
05/23 Edmonton, AB – Midway Music Hall
05/24 Calgary, AB – Palace Theatre
05/26 Vancouver, BC – Commodore
05/28 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
05/29 Spokane, WA – Spokane Live Casino
05/31 Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
06/01 Salt Lake City, UT – Union
06/03 San Francisco, CA – Warfield
06/04 Los Angeles, CA – Palladium
06/05 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues

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