Biffy Clyro will be down a member when it goes on tour in Europe early next year in the United Kingdom. Biffy Clyro’s bass player and backing vocalist, James Johnston announced he wouldn’t be performing for the tour.
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He’s taking a step away for his own personal health.
In a statement posted to the band’s social media accounts, he said, “I am heartbroken to let you know that I will not be joining the band on the upcoming tours. For some time, I have been living with mental health problems which have led to addiction issues that I have kept concealed for a long time. This has caused significant problems for myself and everyone around me -the time has come to properly address my illnesses and deal with them.”
Biffy Clyro Tour
He said that he apologized to the fans of Biffy Clyro for making the decision not to perform.
“I am extremely sorry to simon & ben and thank them for their continued love, patience, support and understanding throughout this time. I have recently started to receive the professional help I need and would like to reassure you all that there is light at the end of the tunnel. To all our fans, your support means so much to me and in the meantime, our dear friend Naomi Macleod will be taking care of bass duties, and I cannot think of a better person for the job.”
This comes after the band had to postpone their US tour in another piece of bad luck. They were unable to get the visas in time.
“Some [expletive] genius put the wrong start date into our work visa, so when we received our visas in the last couple of days, we realised it doesn’t begin until after our tour is meant to finish,” he said in an Instagram video. “We are so angry about this.”
“We’ve been in touch with four or five immigration lawyers, we’ve been in touch with Congress. “There’s [nothing] any of them can do to help.”
At the time, the band announced they would reschedule for April or May of next year. It’s unclear if James will join Biffy Clyro for that tour.