Up until very recently, Aaron Stainthorpe was one of just two members of My Dying Bride who'd stuck with the band since their formation in 1990. Now, guitarist Andrew Craighan is the only remaining founding member of the English doom metal band, as they've officially parted ways with Stainthorpe.
The rest of My Dying Bride broke the news on Instagram today, writing:
My Dying Bride have decided to part ways with vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe.
Please understand that this decision does not come lightly, hence our initial and painful silence while we gathered our thoughts and carefully considered our response to the disengaged, eerily abandoned state we suddenly found ourselves in.
Our collective decision to move forward without him is not something we thought we would ever be forced to say, but to ensure a continued legacy for what we hold dear to our hearts, we simply have to move past this. Whilst change can be difficult, we are doing our best to bring this new chapter forward with powerful positivity.
My Dying Bride are not on hiatus; we were never on hiatus.
However, we do genuinely wish Aaron all the luck in the world in his new solo endeavours.
My Dying Bride raised some eyebrows about their current lineup late last year when they announced that Swallow The Sun vocalist Mikko Kotamäki would be replacing Stainthorpe on tour. Before that, the band had cancelled all their tour dates supporting their 2024 album A Mortal Binding, with Stainthorpe saying they'd been managing themselves for years, leading to internal tensions.
Apparently, things were still a bit messy in August, when Stainthorpe said of his now-ex-bandmates: "I know they're writing new stuff at the moment, but we haven't got the argument out of the way yet. So until that's sorted, I won't be singing for them."
