For some this came out of nowhere. Others, probably saw this coming.Either way, Vext is out of Bad Wolves.
The band have confirmed the news in an official statement via their social media pages.
According to the statement, which you can read in full below, the band will carry on without Vext and has an album planned for release later this year.
Reports surfaced claiming the vocalist has parted ways with Bad Wolves based on an Instagram Live video that was no longer available.
MetalSucks first reported that a reliable source confirmed with them that Vext announced his separation from the group, who rose to prominence with their cover of the Cranberries’ “Zombie,” using Instagram’s Live feature and that the video is no longer available.
In this video, it is said that Vext attributed his exit (it’s not known if he willingly left, was fired, or parted was amicably) to a schism with his bandmates and record label, Better Noise Music (formerly Eleven Seven), over his conservative political beliefs.
In the wake of this, the singer is believed to have revealed intentions to start a solo career, also noting he wrote a significant portion if not all of the music on the new Bad Wolves album, though it was unclear if he was referencing a yet-to-be-released record or 2019’s Nation.
While Vext had not released an official statement at press time, the singer did post a video on Sunday honoring Law Enforcement Appreciation day, in which he spoke to an officer from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department to talk about a charity project he worked on with Bad Wolves to donate $9,000 to two LASD officers who were ambushed and shot during an incident in Compton, California, in September.
On Friday, Vext also announced that he’d written a new song her wrote called “What American Meant to Me,” which he described as “a retrospective look at how most of young adult life I took this country for granted. It wasn’t until I started traveling internationally as a sober man that I could observe the acute contrasts between what we as Americans were simply afforded by being born in the United States. Sadly my story is the popular one. Most people do not know what they have or what they are loosing until it’s gone. Loss is too often the measure of something’s worth.”
In June of 2020, as equal rights protests against police brutality overtook the U.S. and several other parts of the world, Vext insisted he, a Black man, had never experienced racism in America and that it was all “manufactured.”
He further outlined these views while also questioning the legitimacy of the Black Lives Matter movement and organization in a controversial (and since-deleted) video where the singer used an assortment of markers to disseminate widely debunked, anti-Semetic conspiracies about figures who, in his estimation, truly run the world.
Prior to the year’s end, court documents (obtained by MetalSucks) showed that Vext had been accused of assault by his former girlfriend, fitness model and personal trainer Whitney Johns. Vext denied these allegations and, following an additional court hearing, Johns was granted a two-year domestic violence restraining order against Vext.
The graphic reports suggested Vext had been physically abusive to Johns, citing incidents of violence pertaining to strikes that drew blood, a chokehold that nearly caused Johns to lose consciousness, among other instances of brutality.
Vext has had issues with drugs and alcohol, hence the song Sober…
No word on a replacement singer, but we will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
