Ex-Bad Wolves frontman Tommy Vext issued an emotion-filled statement and announced his solo career on Tuesday (Jan. 11).
Vext said that he has “taken days to reflect and emotionally process and mentally process all the things that have led to my departure from the band.” And since he departed the band on Saturday, January 9, lots of rumors and speculation began to swirl and he wanted to clear the air in an “official statement.”
You can read Vext’s full statement below on his choice to exit the band.
“Dear friends,
Let me start by expressing a huge debt of gratitude to all the fans, all the people at the label, the management, and everyone who helped in establishing my band Bad Wolves’ career.
I take great pride and sincerity in what we have accomplished together. Bad Wolves became the fastest rising rock band of the last decade with 5 number one consecutive hit singles. Thanks to the massive support from our fans we exploded into mainstream rock consciousness and (no small feat for a metal band) we even held the #1 spot across the entire Apple Music Platform on all continents. We accumulated hundreds of millions of streams, and as a result YOU helped us we giving back hundreds of thousands of dollars to various charities.
Our future was bright, and our trajectory was undeniable, until Covid struck and changed all our lives. I saw things happening that I didn’t understand. During the first quarantine I publicly voiced my concerns about where we are going as a nation and what is happening to America, the country I love.
I voiced my disappointment of BLM protests turning into violent riots. Cities, businesses, lives destroyed “mostly peacefully”. I criticized the media standing idle and even condoning that behavior. I pointed out that Good causes were infiltrated by bad actors, hijacked and delegitimized a good movement. I dared to question who financially benefits from this and who was funding these events. I questioned the lockdowns as small businesses were driven into bankruptcy yet big chains were allowed to operate. I questioned the imposed social distancing and why rioting and looting are exempt, or why you can’t have family gatherings or eat at restaurants unless you are a politician. A repeated hypocrisy we saw time and again.
And for this they came after me.
Me, an African American artist speaking his mind. I became unacceptable by the gatekeepers because I walked off the plantation. I had to be silenced. Cancel culture came after my band. I was threatened, ridiculed, blackmailed and smear campaigns were launched to destroy my career and my livelihood.
These events really opened my eyes, because this was no longer just an urban legend. or conspiracy theory, this was literally happening to me. Censorship became very real and I was fighting organized hit job after organized hit job aimed at my character and even my physical freedom. This is when I realized what I was up against, this is bigger than me. This is when and why I publicly endorsed the sitting President of the United States of America because I believe he was fighting the same big tech, the same media, the same gatekeepers, the same faceless radicals who wish to destroy our first amendment rights but I will not be silenced, I will not abandon my values and my love for the flag of this country, I will fight for the Constitution and our freedom of speech which hopefully now all of you can see is being blatantly violated by big tech. However, this is my fight, I realize I cannot drag my band members or people around me into this. I on my own decided to go solo, this way everything I say and do will affect only me. I wish the best for the guys in Bad Wolves. I’ve had some of the best times of my life building band together and I love those guys but you guys know me and I have to fight back, this is who I am. I can’t expect you to put your lives on the line to defend me especially when we don’t have the ideologies in mind. I can’t expect the labels to fight my battles on my behalf. And to all the fans, to my friends, to my family, thank you for always supporting my voice.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ9Hx1Zn8dJ/
Following his reasoning for exiting the band, Vext revealed that he has already recorded 37 songs by himself. The singer revealed that he will be going solo and has launched a GoFundMe to help pay for his time in the studio, which is a very costly thing. The bill for the studio was originally supposed to be covered by a record label that he no longer has. If you donate to his GoFundMe, you will receive a free copy of his double covers album. His covers album will feature 22 covers and none were recorded with any other members of his former band.
“I’m excited to start the next phase of my career, over the past year, i’ve recorded over 37 songs by myself,” Vext explained. “Due to COV*D, there was no way for the band to get together and record a record, so I worked feverishly with different artists, producers and songwriters and after 37 songs were completed, it was very clear that I had become a solo artist.”
He added that he doesn’t want any negativity or hateful things to be said to his former bandmates in Bad Wolves as he still wishes them the best.
“I don’t want anyone to say negative things to my former band members,” Vext said tearfully. “those guys are going to have a hard enough time processing this, finding a new singer and finishing a record when they put in work all last year. I don’t want anybody to say hateful things on my behalf, I don’t have negative feelings against these guys and we had a really great run and we’ve accomplished great things. I’m start part owner of Bad Wolves and I want them to succeed. For me right now, I’m going to be moving on.”
