Blaze Bayley band breaks up

[Blitzkrieg]

From www.blazebayley.net

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Personal message from Blaze

Dear fans,
Due to financial and medical reasons I’ve been forced to part ways with the band .
I will give a full statement in the next few days about my future plans.
I hope that all my fans will keep on supporting me in my further projects.
The English dates will be postponed to December but the festivals in Germany, Sweden, Lithuania and the show in Istanbul will definitely proceed!
BB


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That fucking sucks. Poor Blaze has suffered from terrible management since his split with Maiden and keeps getting the short end of the stick it seems. The dude should be playing to far bigger crowds and better festival circuits after those last two albums. Damn.

 

[Southy]

That's what I reckon, if he could catch a break with a great management team,and label willing to support him, he would be deservedly massive, he has always had the short end of the stick the poor bastard.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Some posts from Blaze's facebook:


I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has been in contact with me regarding the BB band. I'm not going to stop recording and touring my music and those of you who have been with me a long time have seen various band line ups - this is simply a new chapter, doors close, others open.


I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Wolfsbane dates headlining the Borderline and touring with Saxon - Wolfsbane is my family and it's where I feel most at home. Rehearsals for the gigs have been going great and there are plenty of songs you haven't heard for a while. Me, Jase, Jeff and Danger cant wait to be amongst you Howling Mad Shitheads!


Tomorrow more news about the American Tour coming up and the Unplugged UK Tour Blaze will be doing with Jase Edwards, hopefully followed by a live 'unplugged' album. Keep your eyes on my website for all the updates on my future projects!!


And here is an official statement from the remaining members of the band:

"It is with regret that we confirm that the Blaze Bayley band is now finished. It was not our decision or of our desire for the band to end. The statement released yesterday was not one that we were asked for comment or viewing on.

"The concerts scheduled for May/June said to be rescheduled to December. The promoters and venues have not been informed of this as was highlighted yesterday by the influx of concerned promoters and venues contacting the band members directly yesterday after Blaze's new manager released that statement.

"The claims that health and financial reasons have forced Blaze to take the decision of continuing without the rest of the band are only partially true, to say the very least. Proof of this is that he will continue touring on his own with session musicians fulfilling prior commitments that were contracted as a band and also contracted by the band and also will probably be fulfilled using music written by the band.

"It is because of the great appreciation to the people that have supported this line up unconditionally throughout the last few years and past three CD releases that we feel that is only fair to let them know the true reasons for the band to end.

"It is obvious that it is cheaper and easier for a promoter to fly a solo singer and have him play with a random local musicians or MAIDEN tribute acts that might play for free, or the 'prestige' saving money for the promoter and leaving more financial gain for the contracted artist.

"Our standpoint is that the bands two studio albums, written by the band (quite obviously not Blaze alone) should be promoted by the band itself rather than the musicians being dumped without fair option or choice for the better gain of one band member and one self-appointed girlfriend manager.

"We have not been told the entire truth at any point of these plans since January, and there has been a total disregard and lack of respect paid to the four years we have worked on the music, the planning, and the extensive, very hard ground level touring that has been done across Europe, Russia and South America since early 2008.

"We all will continue writing and making music in the future."

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If you ask me, firing the band that helped you write and record some of the best music of your career is a pretty bad move. This just puts him even further behind the 8 ball in trying to make a living from his music. Management fails Blaze again.

 

[Goreripper]

So he's going to do what Di'anno did?

 

[FerretallicA]

So he's going to do what Di'anno did?

What, play with local bands or play up his "health reasons"?

 

[TinMan666]

So he's going to do what Di'anno did?

sounds like it.

i hate to say it but it sounds like... well I think the boys in the band have a right to feel a bit hard done by here... is the polite way of putting it.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

 

[Goreripper]

What, play with local bands or play up his "health reasons"?

Both, apparentlly.

 

[Southy]

So he's going to do what Di'anno did?

Rip off Britain's welfare system?

 

[dreamwatch]

Rip off Britain's welfare system?

Why not, every other cunt does. :Smug:

 

[Blitzkrieg]

The legend lives on

Dear fans,

first of all thanks again for all the wonderful messages of support I have received in the last few days. The mental, financial and emotional strain of keeping the Blaze Bayley Band together has proven to be too much for me and has taken a terrible toll on my mental health. As a result of that, I have had to split with the Blaze Bayley Band, now I am just Blaze Bayley, a soloartist and also the lead singer of Wolfsbane. Since Anna and Larry left the Blaze Bayley Band, we've tried to do everything ourselves and for me it has been too much. Without a proper manager coordinating concerts, touring, festivals, promotion, record releases and all the finances, it's too much to cope with.

Now I've finally taken this incredibly difficult decision, I feel I can breathe again. It has been an upsetting, frustrating and sad time because the Blaze Bayley Band will not be going on any more, but it is also for me a huge relief and a time to look forward. I wish David, Nico and Jay every succes with their future projects and like to thank them for their loyalty, commitment and sharing their musical talent on The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror. They are arguably two of the best metal albums I have ever made. We have made a live album and a DVD and I am immensly proud of all of those things as well as the incredible concerts we have played to fans all over the world.

I apologize to my UK fans for postponing the upcoming tour. We are still in the process of rearranging all the dates that we can to happen in December. The shows I have booked with Wolfsbane will all go ahead. Also, all the festivals I have booked will go ahead with different musicians.

I have a lot of plans that I am very excited about for the future and on top of that I am expecting my first child to be born in September.
Look out for me popping up in different places all over Europe in the summer, because I am still available and being booked for festivals and guest appearances. The first two weeks of September is my unplugged acousticUK tour with Jase Edwards from Wolfsbane, called the 'Blaze and Jase: The incredible tour'. The full dates will be announced in the next few weeks. After that there will be a week of European full metal shows.

I am going to the USA in October and November for my first ever headline tour since Iron Maiden. I will look forward to seeing all the Blaze Bayley fans over there. After that, the new wolfsbane album comes out.

Next year, I am planning to do my first acoustic unplugged album with mostly new songs and that should come with an Unplugged World Tour. I'm planning to start work on my next full metal album in 2013.

Thank you so much everyone for being there for me through these difficult years and for your continued support, thank you for being my blood and belief.



BB



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It's a shame he had to break the band up for this though. He could have taken a break from it and done his accoustic album and tour, and gotten involved with Wolfsbane again, and regrouped with them in late 2012/2013. Now he is back at square one without a band he had great chemistry with. Also, this highlights what has been obvious all along...no real management was the underlying cause. Damn shame.

 

[Winmar]

Hmmm it all sounds rather strange. Surely it could have been done a bit better?! The timing's not great, with shows already booked.