"With chemo and radiation and my age I thought, 'I've had a great run. God bless everybody,'" he explained. "You know, 30 years is a great run, a lot of bands had one hit and then 'adios'. But I don't know, I kind of fell in love.

"I think it's my dog. I have a new dog, a little golden doodle, and he's kind of inspired me. I want to stay home, and he goes, 'grrr grrr grrr grrr,' and that means 'get your ass back on the road.' I've got to feed him, so I'm writing a new Dokken record."