A Hollow Victory for the Music World

   Good news everyone!

   The hard rock world was stunned a few weeks ago by the announcement that lead singer Adam Gontier was resigning from Three Days Grace.  Accordingly, the band released a statement.

Further to our press release of this morning we wanted to write to you directly our fans about the news of the day. We appreciate everyone’s concern about Three Days Grace. We found out on December 21st that Adam wished to resign from the band. In a letter to us Adam indicated that he was resigning from the band due to a non life threatening health issue and wanted the band to continue moving f...orward without him. We were as shocked as many of you were to hear the news. Three Days Grace has always been and will continue to be not only our job but our passion. Instead of cancelling the tour, we felt an obligation to you, the fans, to forge ahead and put on the best show we can. Brad recently reached out to his brother Matt Walst, lead singer for My Darkest Days to fill in for the tour dates already announced. We've been hanging out and rehearsing with Matt and look forward to rocking the stage in a few weeks! As of right now, Matt's role is temporary and as far as the future and beyond this tour, we are taking it one day at a time. - 3DG

   I had the fortune of seeing the group perform at Uproar 2011 and Adam looked fine then.  A lot can change in a year, however.

   The rock world mourned the loss of its heavy weight.  First, Duece leaves Hollywood Undead, Breaking Benjamin splits, now Three Days Grace appears to be done.  The rock world could scarcley handle another blow.

   Much to everyone's surprise, Adam released a statement on his own Facebook account!  Here's what he said.

"I know everyone's been waiting for a post/response from me, to the recent situation between Three Days Grace and I. I've got so many things I'd love to say, but this is Facebook, and out of RESPECT, I'm not going to get into any of it right now. The one thing I can say publicly, is that I am so thankful for the outpouring of love and support from all of my fans, and that I AM NOT done making music.... This is just the tip of the iceberg for me (and you) ..., trust me on that! I will have new music coming soon, and I can say, honestly, it's the best music I've EVER created. I'm so excited for you to hear it! I'll close with this for now. I am so disappointed in myself for believing, after all these years, that the ones I truly believed were closest to me, are, were, and have always been the farthest away from me. Just pick up. Move on. Pretend nothing happened. Not ONE call, text, email to see how your so called "friend" is doing. It's sad, but it is what it is. The music BUSINESS. Remember this people..., in my/our case, it's always been about the "business". The money. What about the love for creating real music from the heart? Where did that fit in? Pretty much nowhere. No room for music from the heart, when it's just about music for the radio. Lastly, stay tuned for my new music. It's real. Honest. Not fake. It's from my soul. Which is exactly the same place that I keep all of you. In my soul. Thank you so much for your love, support and kindness through this time. Adam"

   Adam's statement contradicts his bandmates' statement starkly.  He pulls the same, timeless excuse: "I do it for the music, they do it for the money."  At this point in a musician's career, his/her life is ninety five percent royalties, five percent everything else.  I'm willing to bet Adam's motives for his departure lie in the new-found freedom to record and produce whatever he wants, which makes him a rather selfish individual.  It appears as though Three Days Grace and Adam had many more irreconciable differences besides divergent interests.  This feud looks pretty personal.

   So what's the good news? 

   Three Days Grace was Adam Gontier.  Sure, they had angsty songs, catchy guitar riffs and the likes.  But the driving forces behind the band's success were Adam's voice and charisma.  The music world is fortunate that Adam will continue making music.  It's a shame it won't be with Three Days Grace any longer.