Comments on an entry from Oh No They Didn't has one of what will likely be many versions of what happened, but here's the sanitized (and practically useless) blurb from the Barenaked Ladies' official website:
By mutual agreement, Steven Page will be parting company with the remaining members of Barenaked Ladies. Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will continue recording and touring together as Barenaked Ladies. Steven Page will pursue solo projects including theatrical opportunities while the band enters the studio in April 2009, and hits the road in the fall.
Page says "These guys are my brothers. We've grown up together over the past twenty years. I love them and wish them all the best in the future."
The band also wish Steven well in all of his endeavors. Ed Robertson says: "It's the start of a new chapter for all of us. Here's to the future!"
Everyone is looking forward to making new music and thanks their fans for their support.
...uh...right, then.
More details if/when I can find 'em.
ETA: News from Globe & Mail, reproduced in full below:
Page leaving Barenaked Ladies
JOSH WINGROVE
February 25, 2009
Steven Page is no longer among the Barenaked Ladies, the band has announced.
Mr. Page, who co-founded the group, is leaving to pursue solo projects and a theatre career in what was called a "mutual agreement."
"These guys are my brothers. We've grown up together over the past 20 years. I love them and wish them all the best in the future," he said on the band website.
Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will continue recording and touring together as the Barenaked Ladies, the band said. They are preparing to be in the studio this spring before a fall tour.
"It's the start of a new chapter for all of us," Mr. Robertson said.
It's the latest in a tumultuous year for Mr. Page, who was arrested in New York last July after being found with cocaine. In October, the charges were reduced. If Mr. Page adheres to a set of conditions, the charges are to be dropped by April.
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Also: The Toronto Star has this to say:
STEVEN PAGE STEPS DOWN
The Canadian Press, Feb. 25th, 2009
The Barenaked Ladies will be hitting the recording studio this spring — without one of their founding members.
Steven Page has left the popular band he helped form in Toronto more than 20 years ago.
The band’s website said Wednesday that Page will be parting company with the remaining members of the band to pursue solo projects including theatrical opportunities.
The other band members, Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart will go back in the studio in April and out on the road in the fall.
The news comes months after drug charges against Page were dropped in the U.S.
Page wished them the best in the future. "These guys are my brothers," he said. "We’ve grown up together over the past twenty years. I love them and wish them all the best in the future."
The band also wished Page well in all of his endeavours. "It’s the start of a new chapter for all of us," Robertson said. "Here’s to the future!"
Page, his girlfriend and her roommate were charged with drug possession in July after police found cocaine at a Fayetteville, N.Y., apartment.
In late October, all three secured a deal that will result in their charges being dropped if they stayed out of trouble for six months.
In December, the band members joked about a tough 2008.
Robertson told a sold-out crowd at Toronto’s Massey Hall that he felt a little neglected last summer when his personal crisis was overshadowed by the turmoil in Page’s life. "I survived a ... plane crash and it barely made the news," Robertson said with tongue in cheek.
"Everyone said, 'Who cares, what’s going on with Steve?"'
Just two months after the May release of their children’s album, "Snack Time," Page was arrested.
That album is now nominated for a Juno, for children’s album of the year.
The image of Page’s dishevelled mugshot flew around the world on the Internet and the charges forced the band to bow out of a Disney charity show and stay below the radar for months.
The band’s second scare came in late August when Robertson crashed his float plane in a wooded area north of Bancroft, Ont.
Luckily, he walked away unhurt along with three other passengers.
The Barenaked Ladies went on last fall to mount a mini comeback with a series of concerts and TV appearances.
Page told fans on his blog that he was "doing great," and feeling healthier after shedding 40 pounds.
He said he looked back at 2008 as a year with a lot of positive experiences among the really bad ones. "Yes, it’s been a terrible year for the band, and for me personally, but there have also been many things to be happy and grateful for," he wrote.
"Falling in love, a renewed sense of peace, the best health of my adult life, some amazing creative and artistic opportunities, and the chance for a renewed and fruitful relationship with my band, friends and loved ones."
The band’s recording of their own version of the old "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song for TSN also brought them back into the spotlight.
Page played guitar for the band, which he helped form and shared lead vocal duties with Robertson.
His distinctive vocals are featured prominently in many of the band’s hits, including "One Week," "Brian Wilson," "If I Had $1,000,000" and "Jane."
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I'm not even gonna touch that "falling in love" bit. (See: Christine Benedicto.)
2 comments:
"Falling in love"--is that what the young-middle-aged are calling it these days? *snorts*
You know you've been hanging out at ONTD (or with the MEMERS!) too much when your first instinct is to respond with, "INORITE???"
Mountains of coke =/= heaps of love.
I still find it creepy that she lists him as an interest on her LJ. I don't list my boyfriends as "interests". Although some may say that's part of my problem...
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