It’s official: Dregen won’t be returning to The Hellacopters

As the Swedish action rockers The Hellacopters announce, their guitarist and founding member, Dregen, won’t be returning to the band:

“As most of you know Dregen hasn’t been playing with us for roughly three years now, due to his hand injury. All of us have been hoping that he would fully recover and return to the band at some point, but the tremendously sad fact is that the damage to his fingers is permanent. While he can still play some rhythm guitar most of our songs are just not doable anymore. As a founding member of the band Dregen will always be a huge part of the family and he will continue to be with us in spirit. He has always had many cards up his sleeve and there is no doubt that he will pull out a few in the near future. LG Valeta, who has been filling in for him since the injury, will carry on with us going forward.”

– The Hellacopters

The original statement can be seen below:

In summer 2023, Dregen accidentally caught his hand in a car door. The Hellacopters later explained that the injury “will take a considerable amount of healing time and rehabilitation”. Dregen has not issued a separate statement on his departure from The Hellacopters, but he did share the band’s statement on his social media accounts.