Stryper End ‘Toxic Relationship’ with Longtime Bassist Tim Gaines
Following a hiatus due to bass player Tim Gaines' divorce, Christian metal band Stryper is going through a divorce of its own, parting ways with Gaines after a year of bad blood led to "toxic relationship."
Gaines remarried in May and, according to the band, he and his new wife, Brandee, have made it impossible for the band to continue intact. Instead, Gaines will be replaced, with plans to begin recording the followup to 2015's Fallen in October, and an upcoming tour.
"The band decided to take a hiatus in order to give Tim time and space to work through his personal issues," the band noted in a statement about the split. "However, based on Tim and Brandee's intentional, erratic and hostile behavior, which has damaged Stryper and threatened to undermine the band's ability to go forward professionally, we were left with no other choice but to part ways. Tim and Brandee have left their scars and have hurt us in more ways than you can imagine.
Gaines recently told KNAC that his divorce caused a major rift in the band and fan community due to their Christian values. He "ended up getting a divorce, which is taboo as far as Christianity, I guess. ... Nobody bothered to look into why I got a divorce. It was 20 years of a bad marriage, but nobody bothers to look into the abuse and all the stuff that went along with it. They just see me getting a divorce and getting remarried and come to their conclusions. So whatever. People will be the way that they are. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm not the only guy in Stryper to have gotten a divorce. Everybody in the band is married to divorced people. And I'm the bad guy, but everybody else has done it too, so? Whatever. Live in glass houses and everything will be exposed at some point or another."
But Stryper claims the divorce had nothing to do with the split. "The accusations that have been made that our decision to terminate Tim is based on his divorce couldn't be further from the truth. We have all struggled with separation and divorce in our relationships over the years, and it has never affected anyone's position within the band," they said.
In an interview last year, Stryper frontman Michael Sweet alluded to the possible split. "It is important for the original members to stay together," though Gaines, who was part of the "classic" lineup in 1983 previously left the band, and was replaced by Tracy Ferrie between 2004-09. "But, sadly, sometimes things happen that keep that from happening ... I think about how, you know, if we were to disband or dissolve or stop, it really wouldn't be fair to the fans, it wouldn't be fair to the other guys, and it's important to keep that in mind as well."
Stryper's has already removed Gaines from the roster of band members on their website. Gaines currently working with Giancarlo Florifia, Faithsedge singer-songwriter, on songs for the band's next album, according to Blabbermouth.
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