Tom Meighan steps down as Kasabian frontman due to 'personal issues'
Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan has stepped down as the band's lead singer 'by mutual consent', according to a brief statement posted to the band's social media channels on Monday:
Tom Meighan is stepping down from Kasabian by mutual consent. Tom has 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. We will not be commenting further.
— KasabianHQ (@KasabianHQ) July 6, 2020
A founding member and one of the band's twin figureheads along with guitarist and songwriter Serge Pizorno, Meighan has been Kasbian's frontman since the band's inception and has featured on all six of the band's albums to date, but the Leicester quartet have been on something of a hiatus since 2017's For Crying Out Loud, with Pizorno releasing his first solo album under the name The S.L.P. just last year.
The band have offered no further information on Meighan's abrupt departure, but the singer had previously spoken in a 2017 interview about having suffered with mental health issues following a split from his long term partner and the death of a friend, and followed yesterday's announcement from the band with a post on his own Twitter account thanking fans for their support:
Following today's announcement I just wanted to let you all know that I am doing well. I'm in a really good place now. Thanks for all your love and support. I'll be seeing you all very soon. TM x #TomMeighan #Kasabian
— Tom Meighan (@MeighanOfficial) July 6, 2020
Reports have subsequently surfaced that the singer is due to appear at Leicester Magistrate's Court on assault charges dating back to April this year.
It's not clear what the future holds for Kasabian, with Pizorno and bassist Chris Edwards as the only remaining founding members, and the band have not yet commented on this morning's reports or whether they will seek to appoint a replacement at some point in the future.
