“Martin is doing his own stuff. He should be having a whale of a time, instead of being embittered about Jethro Tull”: Ian Anderson seemingly rules out the prospect of a ‘Tull reunion with Martin Barre

Ian Anderson has seemingly ruled out the possibility of a Jethro Tull reunion with former electric guitar player, Martin Barre.

In a new interview with Classic Rock, the Tull frontman discussed the prospect of Barre rejoining the band for future live shows – and it doesn’t seem likely.

“I have no beef with Martin. But if an interview that I saw recently on YouTube is anything to go by, then he seems a very unhappy person,” states Anderson, who is about to go on tour with Jethro Tull. “I don’t think that would make the atmosphere within the band very easy.

“Finally, after many, many, many years in which I had advised him to do so, Martin is doing his own stuff. He’s in charge of his own band, rather than a circumstance in which he is not the songwriter, producer or manager. 

“At last he can do things his way. Judging by the amount of shows that he’s playing, he should be having a whale of a time, instead of being embittered about Jethro Tull.”

It's likely the YouTube interview Anderson refers to is the one that occurred last year, when Barre spoke to VRP Rocks (below) about his 2011 departure from the iconic UK prog band.

The departure prompted both musicians to pursue solo careers under their own names, though Anderson later rebadged his own group with the Jethro Tull name in 2017, ahead of a 50th anniversary retrospective tour.

In his VRP Rocks interview, Anderson asserted he remained Jethro Tull’s guitar player, despite Anderson’s rebrand – a move he lamented as “the worst business decision that was ever made in the history of Jethro Tull”.

“I am Jethro Tull's guitar player. I was, I am now, and I always will be,” he stated. “The same as Ian will always be the singer and flute player of Jethro Tull. No band I have will ever be Jethro Tull, it can't be. 

“In my mind, there isn't a Jethro Tull. There's Ian's band, there's my band, and we have one person each from the core, important Jethro Tull era.”

Head over to Classic Rock to read the full interview with Ian Anderson – and for more on Barre, check out his 2015 interview with Guitar World, which touches on the time he supported Jimi Hendrix, recording Aqualung and his most beloved guitars.