He pulled the plug in January after the trio toured with replacement drummer Joey Castillo - and the move appeared to come as a surprise to young guitarist Andrew Watt, who said: "I put everything I had into this band."

The frontman and bassist, who was a member of Black Country Communion alongside Bonham before their acrimonious split in 2012, has returned to his solo career and tours Europe this summer with ex-Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich at his side.

Hughes tells MyRockWorld: "When Jason left I had a decision to make - to fold the band completely and walk away with Jason, or continue with Andrew.

"The reason I chose to stay was because tickets were already on sale. I'm the kind of person, if someone has bought a ticket to see me, I'm going to show up.