Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz
Cage the Elephant's Matt Shultz | Image: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty

Cage the Elephant Singer Matt Shultz Arrested on Gun Charges

Cage the Elephant singer Matt Shultz was arrested in New York City last week after police discovered two loaded weapons in his room at the Bowery Hotel, neither of which he had a license for.

On Thursday night (5th January), police were called after an employee at Bowery saw Shultz pull out a handgun in a public restroom on the hotel’s ground floor. Police found two .45 calibre handguns – one SIG Sauer and one Smith & Wesson – and charged Shultz with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.

Shultz Has Been Charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon

Matt Shultz performing with Cage the Elephant
Matt Shultz performing with Cage the Elephant | Image: Scott Legato/Getty

According to the New York Times, police also found 11 Polaroid photographs of the weapons and six handwritten notes, one of which read: “I will defend myself if I am attacked.” The 39-year-old Shultz spent the night at the NYPD’s 9th Precinct in Manhattan, and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday (11th January).

Cage the Elephant formed in 2006, with its original lineup consisting of Shultz, guitarists Brad Shultz and Lincoln Parish, bass player Daniel Tichenor and drummer Jared Champion. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 2008, achieving commercial success and spawning the hit ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’.

The band have released four albums since their debut: 2011’s Thank You, Happy Birthday, 2013’s Melophobia, 2015’s Tell Me I’m Pretty and 2019’s Social Cues. The latter two albums earned the band two Grammy awards in the Best Rock Album category.

Parish left the band after Melophobia and in 2017, Cage the Elephant added guitarist Nick Bockrath and keyboard player Matthan Minster to their personnel.

Further Reading

Watch The Black Keys & Cage The Elephant Members Join Prophets Of Rage To ‘Kick Out The Jams’

The Debut Lineup For When We Were Young Festival Is An Emo Kid’s Wet Dream

Danny Carey, Drummer For Tool, Arrested At Kansas City Airport

Must Read