Sad news for BABYMETAL fans this weekend, as it has been announced that founding member, YUIMETAL, has decided to depart from the band.
The band released an official statement via their website earlier today, after a long absence from touring.
“YUIMETAL had expressed her desire to return performing with the group in the following months after last December’s performance due to health concerns,” the statement reads.
“During her absence, both SU-METAL and MOAMETAL as well as the entire staff team had been preparing for her awaited return. However, YUIMETAL came to a decision that she will not be performing at BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR 2018 in JAPAN and that she will no longer be a part of BABYMETAL. We thank her for all of her contributions and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
This decision is effective pretty much immediately, which means it will be in place when the band tours Australia later this year for the brand new Good Things Festival.
The new festival, which also sports The Offspring and Stone Sour on its debut lineup, will be taking on dates in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this December.
However, it’s not all bad news. The band also dropped a brand spanking new song titled ‘Starlight’ which you can hear below.