Tom Meighan leaves Kasabian
Kasabian have issued a short statement confirming his departure
Last updated 7th Jul 2020
UPDATE (Tuesday 7th July): Tom Meighan has appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court where he pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-fiancee.
Meighan admitted one charge of assault by beating Vikki Ager on Thursday 9th April of this year.
Kasabian have announced that frontman and co-founding member Tom Meighan has left the band after more than two decades.
The Leicester band issued a short statement at exactly midday today (6th July) confirming the shock news that Tom Meighan has stepped down “by mutual consent.”
“Kasabian have announced today that Tom Meighan is stepping down from the band by mutual consent,” the band wrote. “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.”
Tom Meighan has since issued a statement on his Kasabian departure, writing on Twitter: “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”
Alongside guitarist and chief songwriter Serge Pizzorno and bassist Chris Edwards, Tom Meighan was a constant member of Kasabian since their inception as Saracuse in 1997. Fellow original member Chris Karloff left Kasabian in 2006.
Once singed to BMG, Saracuse changed their name to Kasabian after Linda Kasabian, who was a former member of the notorious murderous 60s cult, The Manson Family, led by Charles Manson.
As a member of Kasabian, Tom Meighan lent his vocals to all six of their acclaimed studio albums, from 2004 breakthrough masterpiece ‘Kasabian’ through to May 2017’s ‘For Crying Out Loud’.
Speaking to Sky News on the eve of what would have been Kasabian’s epic homecoming Solstice II show at Leicester’s Victoria Park last month, 39-year-old Tom Meighan confirmed he’s been working on “autobiographical” solo material during lockdown.
"I'm writing loads of music at the minute," Tom explained. "We'll see what happens. I've got a few cookies in the jar... and they're not bad, you know.
"It's very autobiographical, like the story of my life. It's kind of... heartbreaking. Well, not heartbreaking, just to the core, you know. Very real.... I'm logging my life, like a diary. I think (the songs) are all right. We'll see what happens."
Referring to Serge Pizzorno's solo album under his moniker The S.L.P last year, Tom added: "He's doing his thing, I'm doing mine but Kasabian are still solid. You know, it's just a bad time at the moment, for rock 'n' roll. For human beings in general."