UK emo rock band You Me at Six have shocked fans by announcing their plans to leave the music scene behind. The band, which was formed twenty years ago in Surrey, has had a rollercoaster of a journey with many ups and downs in their two-decades-long reign as UK rock royalty.
They announced the decision by posting an ominous video titled ‘Time’ (2005-2025) on their social media accounts, with comments soon flooding in from devastated and adoring fans. The video shows the band consisting of frontman Josh Franceschi, guitarists Matt Helyer and Chris Miller, bassist Matt Barnes and drummer Daniel Flint, moving through a graveyard, which soon transitions to black and white archived video footage of them with a voiceover beginning with “Sometimes it moves by slowly, sometimes it moves by fast” as Fransceschi reflects on the decision to dissolve the band with the motive being they have had a successful twenty years and want to move on whilst they’ve been lucky enough to experience that longevity.
The band has had quite a collection of highs with appearances at festivals such as Reading and Leeds, headlining booked world tours and two number one albums that have secured their place in the alternative world. They first broke onto the scene in 2005, when emo music was popular but didn’t have as much of a home in the UK. They changed that dramatically and created a lasting legacy that will inspire many artists and bands to come. Also, they successfully broke into the mainstream by appealing to a spectrum of listeners making them desirable to the ever-popular station, BBC Radio One, as well as being a reliable constant on Kerrang! Devoted fans will remember their collaboration with Oli Sykes from Bring Me the Horizon, and their tours with Paramore and Fall Out Boy.
They have announced a farewell tour which starts February 2025 and ends with their last ever festival performance at Slam Dunk in May. They will continue to tour with planned shows for the remainder of this year and officially split up professionally but will remain close friends next year.
Words by Maisie Hancox
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This makes me so sad