As one of the most important bands of the last two decades, British music was rocked with the news that Kasabian lead vocalist Tom Meighan has stepped down.
Many awoke to shock this morning by a tweet from the official Kasabian twitter account, announcing Tom Meighan had left the band by mutual consent. The band confirmed that Tom was stepping away from the band to focus on his mental health.
The band official statement read; “ (Meighan) struggled with personal issues that have affected his behaviour for quite some time and now wants to concentrate all his energies on getting his life back on track,”
Meighan formed Kasabian in 1997 as lead vocalist during his time as a student. Alongside friends Serge Pizzorno and Chris Edwards, drummer Ian Matthews joined later on.
Kasabain quickly became a one of the UK most iconic bands. Tom Meighan himself became an infamous figure, with his outrageous rockstar antics and his comical insults to other artists, calling Pete Doherty “a fucking tramp”.
Despite Meighan looked upon as just an outspoken rockstar, he has made clear attempts to use his platform for the better good. He is spotted regularly doing charity work for organisations such as Oxfam and UNICEF.
After the release of their fifth studio album ‘For Crying Out Load’ in 2017, he admitted to be suffering from serious mental health concerns. He told Q magazine following the death of a friend and splitting from his partner; “I was making myself ill, I ain’t gonna lie, my mind was jolted. It might have been a build-up from years and years. I wasn’t taking responsibility and it affected everyone around me, horrendous.”
Since the release of ‘For Crying Out Loud’, Kasabian have been on an overdue break. This allowed members to try new opportunities and focus on themselves. This saw Pizzorno debut his solo project ‘SLP’ in 2019.
Kasabian were due to make a massive return to the stage this year with a gig at ‘The King Power Stadium, home of Meighan’s boyhood club Leicester City. According to Meighan himself, they were looking to record their sixth album after lockdown had ended.
Meighan has tweeted from his personal account that he has left. From the tweet, it looks that stepping down from the band will help his recovery substantially.