Brendon Urie Opens Up On Panic! At The Disco's Recent Struggles

Panic! At The Disco are not a band who shy away from the spotlight, or controversy. Their live show is often described as a spectacle, and since they hit the airwaves in 2004, they've been nothing if not candid about their relationships and with each other.

After recording the debut that saw them skyrocket to fame (A Fever You Can't Sweat Out), the former Blink-182 cover band kicked out original bassist, Brent Wilson, who then threatened the remaining members with a lawsuit. Then in 2009, after dropping the exclamation point, and having recorded and toured their second album, Pretty. Odd. in 2008, bassist Jon Walker and founding member Ryan Ross departed the band, saying they had “creatively evolved in different directions”.

This left just Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith to, exclamation point back intact, write the band's third, Vices & Virtues. By the fourth record, last year's Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die, they had recruited a new bassist, Dallon Weekes, but in time for the tour lost original drummer, Spencer Smith, who left the group to battle the alcohol and prescription drug addiction he'd struggled with since 2008. That left only charismatic vocalist Brendon Urie to carry the Panic! At The Disco moniker.

As it stands, Smith is still not ready to be back on the road and will be missing Panic! At The Disco's Soundwave stint, but Urie says that they will be working together again, just as soon as Smith is ready.

“He is still back home getting all the help that he really needs. I was actually really impressed too, that he was able to take those steps. I've never been in that position, but as a friend, just watching him over the years, I know that that was a really difficult decision, but we're all really proud of him.

“We didn't want to cancel tours, that was a big deal, and he understood that, and he didn't wanna impede on that progress as well, so it was really a mutual decision that we had to come to. It was a tough one. You know when your friend's personal and business [lives] collide, it's kinda tough. Everything is moving forward positively and I'm glad that it is, because a lot of times it doesn't for a lot of bands.”

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