.

Panic At The Disco's Spencer Smith Leaves Band To Deal With Addiction

08/09/2013
.
(Radio.com) Despite Panic At The Disco's success with their new single, "Miss Jackson," drummer Spencer Smith announced Wednesday (August 7) that he would not be joining the band on tour in order to work on his sobriety, leaving singer Brendon Urie as the band's only remaining founding member.

Late last month Smith revealed his four-and-a-half year struggle with drug and alcohol addiction through a detailed letter posted on the band's website.

Smith revealed the first time he took a drink and smoked marijuana. "I smoked weed and had my first drink in the same night when I was 19. I loved it, and from that point on I made sure to make up for all those years I had spent abstaining."

Smith went on to explain how prescription medications Xanax and Vicodin came to become part of his daily life, and how deeply he fell into addiction before he was able to finally enter treatment through the support of his band, family and friends.

Before starting the tour, Smith told MTV that though he was excited to hit the road he was concerned about the effect it could have on his sobriety. "Coming into it I feel really positive about where I'm at, but I can't know every situation I'm going to be in on tour. I'm going to be in hotel rooms where there's alcohol readily available," he said. "But I'm lucky to be in a band that isn't Guns N' Roses or something; it's a great thing to not have to feel like I'm having to alter everybody else's life so that I can fit in. That's something I didn't want to do."

But after just a few shows, Smith pulled out of the current tour. "Spencer and I have been through a lot of hurdles together, but witnessing one of my closest friends immersed in such a battle has been the most difficult," Urie wrote on the band's website Wednesday. more on this story

Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

Panic At The Disco CDs, DVDs and MP3s

Panic At The Disco T-shirts and Posters

Share this article

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Pin it Share on Reddit email this article


...end