Roy Khan Leaves Kamelot

[Akumu]

Roy's statement:

"Dear fans and friends,

"There have been a lot of speculations around why I am not touring with KAMELOT and I want to make a statement although it may not prevent further guessing as to what's actually going on. It is a fact, however, that I told the guys in the band already last fall (well after my burnout) that I was leaving the band. Naturally enough, they were shocked (as was the label and everyone else working with KAMELOT). In addition to risk of dropping ticket sales, they wanted to give me time to think things over, and so I did. My decision still stands; it is finished.

"I am currently spending time with my family in Norway taking it easy and wondering profoundly what the future is going to bring. Communication with the outer world has been so and so, but I have had several talks with Thomas [Youngblood, KAMELOT guitarist/mainman] along the way, although I am still called in sick.

"I am terribly sorry that my decision is affecting so many others and I want you to know I wish the band and associates all the best for the future and that I enjoyed every second in the spotlight. How could I not?! They were nourished by the best fans in the world!

"I am eternally thankful for everything you and KAMELOT have given me and equally sorry that it has to end here. The good news is; God was there after all...

"Love you to death!!!"

Band statement:

With a heavy heart we can now announce that Roy Khan has chosen to leave the band. We wanted to give him ample time for this kind of decision, due to his recent burnout and also the amount of amazing times we have shared with him in Kamelot. We respectfully accept his resignation from the band and wish him the best in his future endeavors. The timing is actually good since we feel the uncertainty the fans have had can now be laid to rest and the band can move on to finding a new singer. “The tour is going great so far and the fans have been amazing throughout this entire process” – adds keyboardist Oliver Palotai. With the new tour already in progress, Kamelot has already begun the search for a new vocalist. “I have a few guys in mind”, said band founder Thomas Youngblood. “And as you can imagine, it is a very important decision. There are some amazing singers that have already contacted us on this but we will take our time to find the right person”. Due to the overwhelming success of the recent shows in South America, we are pleased to announce new shows in November/December for Europe (stay tuned).

* The band headlines the Print de Temps Festival tonight and will play a Amsterdam (nearing sold-out) concert tomorrow followed by a full headliner tour with special guests Evergrey, Amaranthe and Sons of Seasons. (* Guest vocalists Fabio Lione and Tommy Karevik). Thank you for your support and see you on tour!!

Thomas, Casey, Oliver and Sean

[Sepultura69]

Jeff is probably never going to return to Slayer.

KK Downing left Judas Priest

Jeff Loomis and Van Williams leave NEVERMORE

Roy Khan leaves Kamelot.

Whats next?

James and Lars leave metallica which leads Kirk and Robert to recruit a new singer/guitarist and drummer, and still go by the name metallica? Probably not...but that would be random as shit.

[electrocute1031]

not a good week for Power and Progressive Metal at all.

[jd091]

This is like the worst week for metal ever. Damn.

[ravenheart]

This is by far the least surprising of all the line-up announcements this week. Kahn was obviously never going to return to Kamelot. There's no way "burn out" lasts this long when you've already skipped one tour to rest.

And the band's willingness to keep booking dates with guest singers shows they're not prepared to wait for him to sort his shit out.

If he takes this opportunity to reform Conception, then this is actually good news.

[Akumu]

Originally Posted by ravenheart

This is by far the least surprising of all the line-up announcements this week. Kahn was obviously never going to return to Kamelot. There's no way "burn out" lasts this long when you've already skipped one tour to rest.

And the band's willingness to keep booking dates with guest singers shows they're not prepared to wait for him to sort his shit out.

+1. He obviously didn't want to do this anymore (there was even an interview from Thomas recently where he said that Khan would actually fly back to Norway every time they had a day off in Europe, which strikes me as some type of really bad separation anxiety), and the rest of the band apparently lost a shitload of money when they canceled the last North American tour.

It'll be interesting to see what the next album will be like, considering he was a writer as well as a performer.

[ravenheart]

I'm going to the London show on this tour next Thursday, but to be honest, I'm probably going to watch Evergrey then go home. I've no real interest in seeing Kamelot with a guest singer when I've already seen them three times with Kahn, and especially when that guest singer is Fabio Lione.

Maybe if they get a killer permanent replacement (which will probably be Ripper Owens), I'll be interested in seeing them again.

If I were to be brutally honest, they may never recover from this. They already had to downgrade a bunch of the venues on this tour, including in London, when it was announced Kahn wouldn't be touring. Now without him, I don't see their popularity continuing to rise like it was before.

[Akumu]

But Tommy Karevik's singing, too! :P I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the vids with Fabio so far, but I can see how others have been turned off.

You might be right re: the never recovering thing. They had to downgrade venues Stateside, too. I've also seen people elsewhere try to say that Khan had no part whatsoever in their success, which I find hilarious.

[ravenheart]

Originally Posted by Akumu

But Tommy Karevik's singing, too! :P I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the vids with Fabio so far, but I can see how others have been turned off.

You might be right re: the never recovering thing. They had to downgrade venues Stateside, too. I've also seen people elsewhere try to say that Khan had no part whatsoever in their success, which I find hilarious.

Yeah, that's laughable. Again, being brutally honest, certainly over here, he is THE reason they've been successful.

[SomewhereInTime72]