Underoath Address The Departure Of James Smith

Keavin Wiggins | 04-08-2023

Social media capture of James' statement

Underoath have shared a statement about parting ways with longtime James Smith, who broke the news to fans late last month that he was removed from the group after playing with them for two decades.

Smith told fans via Instagram back in March, "After 20 years of music and friendship, I was informed that I'm no longer a member of Underoath. This saddens me to say, but unfortunately is where we have ended up.

"I appreciate everyone who, at any moment in their lives, have felt inspired, accepted, comforted, and energized by the music we created and the shows we performed together.

"It has been my honor and privilege to be a part of your lives in that way though we may have never met or shared our stories face to face. Your dedicated, grace, and love for this band have allowed us to exist this long.

"The memories I have from this ride are more than anyone could ever expect in a lifetime, and I genuinely thank you all for being a part of it."

The band has since shared the following statement, "As some of you have noticed, James was not on the Blind Obedience tour and we want to clarify that we have officially decided to part ways.

"We care for James, we want the best for him, and that will never change. There were differences that we hoped we'd be able to work through that unfortunately, we realized weren't able to be. Some people will want to know details, but this was an incredibly difficult situation and isn't something that can or should be addressed on the internet and we hope y'all understand. We appreciate you all.

"Thank you all so much for all the support over the years and we'll see you soon."