Tom Meighan with Kasabian headlining Leeds Festival (Gary Mather / Live4ever)
Kasabian have issued a new statement following the departure of their frontman Tom Meighan.
Meighan’s abrupt split came to light on Monday, when ‘personal issues’ and a need for him to, ‘to concentrate all his energies on getting his life back on track’, were offered as vague reasons for him leaving the band he had fronted since their formation in the late nineties.
But soon after, reports emerged of Meighan’s impending court appearance on domestic abuse charges, and with that case now swiftly concluded the remaining members of Kasabian have gone into more detail.
“Now that the legal proceedings have been concluded, we can comment on the departure of Tom Meighan from Kasabian,” they’ve written in a social media statement. “No one in the band wanted this to happen. We have all worked so hard for the past twenty three years and had big plans for our future together. We’re completely heartbroken.”
“But we were left with no choice but to ask Tom to leave the band. There is absolutely no way we can condone his assault conviction. Domestic violence and abuse of any kind is totally unacceptable. “As soon as we found out about the charges made against Tom, we as a band made the decision that we could no longer work with him. Unfortunately we had to hold back this information until he was found guilty in court.”
“We were led to believe that Tom would hold his hands up and in his statement tell everyone what he’d done but he chose not to, misleading a lot of fans. Ultimately, as much as Tom has hurt us all, we’re not the victim in all of this. Domestic violence is something that can never be excused. Thank (you) for your support at this difficult time.”
Before this week’s news, Kasabian had been working on a follow-up to their 2017 sixth studio album For Crying Out Loud.