Firehouse are back, and the band have a new single "Mighty Fine Lady"!
The song is the band's first release with new singer Nate Peck, as the 2023 "American Idol" competitor, officially joined the group last May, replacing the late C.J. Snare, who died last year on April 5, following a lengthy battle with cancer.
"It was about two and a half years before, C.J. was fine. Then he had some stomach pain. And we were playing at a gig in Milwaukee. And he walks over to me, kind of like when I'm starting the intro to 'Love Of A Lifetime' or something, and he's just, like, 'Man, I've never felt this bad.' And I'm going, 'You wanna stop and take a break?' And he said, 'No, I'll get through it.' Because he had the 'show must go on' vibe. Guitarist Bill Leverty said. Man, that guy was tough.
The pain turned out to be an obstruction, which lead to Snare's long battle with cancer the he eventually succumbed to.
"I talked to him the day before. He said, 'Things are looking good, man. I'm, I'm gaining weight. Things are looking up,' is what he said. I said, 'Great.' And the next day he passed… Leverty added. I remember I got the phone call. We were in Texas, and we were connecting. And I said, 'Everybody, come on over here,' 'cause I had just gotten a phone call, and I told everybody that C.J. passed away last night. And we were just sitting in that airport going… We were not at all expecting that, ready for that. It was brutal. It really was."
Snare gave his blessing to continue with Peck as the singer before he passed.
"The thing about him is he never wanted us to cancel a show," Bill said. "Even after he got sick, he didn't want us to cancel a show. Especially once we got Nate. Once we got Nate, he's, like, 'Okay, that guy can sound like Firehouse. So, that's your guy.'