Guitarist Joe of rock band Wings says he is “flying with the quartet” until further notice.
The 48-year-old, whose real name is Abdul Zaman Abdul Kadir, broke the ice a month after rumours that he was about to be dropped from Wings’ lineup surfaced.
He advised his fans to “wait for further announcements” from the band’s frontman and lead singer, Datuk Ahmad Azhar Osman, or Awie.
“Wings is very much together, and as far as I’m concerned, I’m the guitarist unless, of course, Awie says otherwise,” Joe told the New Straits Times yesterday.
Joe assured fans that Wings members would always remain friends as they strove to iron out their differences amicably and behind closed doors.
“We are professionals, not only in the way we entertain our fans, but also in the way we iron out issues between us. We are always a team.”
On Jan 8, Awie told the NST that Wings was “having a small problem” and the band was doing its best to iron it out through discussions.
Awie also told fans not to listen to rumours about his band members getting dropped or leaving.
Joe’s status in the band came under question shortly after Wings was supposed to hold its 30th anniversary concert, themed “Wings 30 Years Live”, at Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, last Dec 24, but it was postponed to April.
That set social media abuzz with talk that Joe was the cause of it, and would be replaced by a guest guitarist.
A day later, Joe’s fellow rock guitarist Edrie Hashim denied that he was replacing the veteran Wings guitarist and insisted that Joe was still with the band.
Edrie had stood in for Joe once in a mini concert last November.
Wings comprises vocalist Awie, guitarist Joe, drummer Eddie and bassist Black.
Many of Joe’s followers have lamented that Wings would not be the same without Joe on lead guitar.
Besides being a member of Wings, Joe has his own project band called Prime Domestic, which was formed in 2009 and comprises Hillary Ang, Ainoll, Aweera Norhisham and Gee.
The project band will entertain fans at House, G Tower Hotel in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, at 10pm on April 2.
Tickets are priced at RM50. Call 019-688 8739, 013-321 2131 or 019-368 1917 for enquiries.