On January 9th, 2013 just as they were preparing to kick off their cross country co-headlining tour with Shinedown, which is scheduled to play in Nashville at the Predator’s arena on February 8th, rock band Three Days Grace front man and lead singer Adam Gontier announced that he was departing from the band. A small post on the band’s website and Facebook cited Gontier’s abrupt departure was due to ‘medical reasons’ but did not specify exact reasons.
Gontier’s departure came as a surprise to the band and fans alike, with no prior signals or hints that anything was amiss. The band was very active, having released a new album back in October titled Transit of Venus, including the hit singles ‘Chalk Outline’ and ‘The High Road’, as well as their currently planned tour, so the lead singer’s decision to leave the band was completely unexpected. The band stated that prior to the January 9th announcement, it was only on December 21st that Gontier notified the band of his decision to abruptly leave the band, saying he was citing a non-life threatening medical condition as his reasoning and he wished the band success as they moved forward without him.
After the announcement, Gontier also made a statement on his Facebook stating “After twenty years of being part of an ever evolving band, I have been inspired by life, to move on and to continue to evolve on my own terms. I could not be more grateful for all the souls who have travelled along with me. A journey I look back on with integrity and a future I look forward to with such hope. I have always admired brave hearts. Life is always changing. I will continue to follow my heart, and what I love to do. I'm not sure what the next horizon will look like, but I do have all the faith in the world that whatever it is, it’s meant to be, and I have faith that blessings will continue to shine over all of us.” While the statement was very vague, it did not really coincide with the band’s previous statement of his departure due to medical reasons. For the next month, Gontier was very quiet on the subject. Three Days Grace meanwhile picked up rock band My Darkest Days’ lead singer Matt Walst to sing lead vocals on the current tour. Many fans have stated that while they do like Walst’s vocals, they do not fit Three Days Grace and the band now sounds more of a cover band then themselves.
A recent interview on February 1st with Gontier explained the situation further, with Gontier stating that it was not only his medical condition but the musical direction of the band causing his departure, as he went on to say “I will have new music coming soon, and I can say, honestly, it’s the best music I’ve EVER created. I’m so excited for you to hear it! I’ll close with this for now. I am so disappointed in myself for believing, after all these years, that the ones I truly believed were closest to me, are, were, and have always been the farthest away from me. Just pick up. Move on. Pretend nothing happened. Not ONE call, text, email to see how your so called “friend” is doing. It’s sad, but it is what it is. The music BUSINESS. Remember this people…, in my/our case; it’s always been about the “business”. The money. What about the love for creating real music from the heart? Where did that fit in? Pretty much nowhere. No room for music from the heart, when it’s just about music for the radio. On the last album [Transit of Venus], only one or two songs came from the heart. The rest was all radio structured.” He does however continue to state that the main reason was medical, and will be releasing his medical records to the public to back these statements up.
Three Days Grace is Canada’s most popular and successful rock band, and the band had found a large popularity and fan base in the US, especially since their sophomore album One-X released back in 2006. Three Days Grace is most notable for record toping singles ‘I Hate Everything About You’, ‘Pain’, ‘Animal I Have Become’, ‘Never Too Late’, and ‘World So Cold’.
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