Killing Joke Singer Goes Missing
Killing Joke's lead singer Jaz Coleman has reportedly gone missing with his remaining bandmates hoping he emerges for a forthcoming tour with The Cult and The Mission UK after a bizarre Facebook post which called the tour into question.
"A statement was posted on Facebook, reputedly by our singer, maligning both The Cult and The Mission and pulling us out of the shows," the band wrote on its Facebook page earlier today (July 31). "He is now AWOL and has not been contacted by any of his bandmates. We are deeply embarrassed by this and offer our sincere apologies to all involved. We are all concerned about our missing singer's welfare."
The post comes after a Facebook post earlier this month -- which has since been removed and allegedly written by a fan posing as Coleman -- that said Killing Joke was pulling out of the trek. The reportedly deleted post was found on Slicingupeyeballs.com.
"It gives me great pleasure to announce the cancellation of the upcoming gigs with The Cult and The Mission," the post said. "Frankly, playing at a gig with The Cult never appealed to me in the first place. The only reason we allowed ourselves to be talked into it was to blow both bands off the stage and steal their respective audiences."
The message also given the smaller size of the venues "it didn't make sense" to play, but also had some point barbs directed at The Cult.
"Then there would be a problem with the dressing room and witnessing The Cult charge the fans $200 per head for a Meet & Greet," the post said. "Lastly, all their songs suck! They clearly have no integrity (they refer to their hometown as L.A.)."
On July 24, The Mission UK's lead singer Wayne Hussey addressed the fate of the tour in a lengthy post, stating both The Mission UK and The Cult were still planning to play the shows.
"We only know as much as any of you that have read Jaz Coleman's (alleged) outburst on Facebook the other day and in light of that statement (that has since been taken down from the Killing Joke Facebook page we must add) I think the promoters have conceded that Killing Joke ARE pulling out of the shows," Hussey said. "We have tried to contact the band through their management, agents, and promoters and it seems to me that no one is any the wiser and the band have gone incommunicado."
Hussey also said he heard the alleged Killing Joke Facebook post from Coleman "wasn't at all but from a fan that was hanging out with the band recently in Prague who paraphrased some of the comments made by Jaz and the band and took it upon himself to post it online."
Hussey believes promoters will find another group "in the event that it is finally confirmed that KJ have pulled out." Hussey also stated The Mission UK "fleetingly" mulled over the idea of pulling out of the tour before deciding against it.
Which brings us back to Killing Joke, who have stated they are planning to still do the September tour with both groups.
"We would still like to honor our commitment to this tour, the other bands and all the Gatherers and people who have already bought tickets and made travel arrangements," they wrote today, adding if "this proves not possible" the band will make "alternative arrangements to compensate for the trouble caused."
The latest incident is in keeping with Killing Joke's bizarre history. In 1982 the group's members reportedly relocated to Iceland to avoid what they thought was the oncoming apocalypse. In 1994 the band spent three days recording inside Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza for their Pandemonium album but were only able to reportedly record 20 minutes of material each day inside of it. That same year Killing Joke sued Nirvana, claiming "Come As You Are" was copied in part from their own song "Eighties." The lawsuit was dropped after Kurt Cobain's suicide.
The tour featuring The Cult, The Mission UK and possibly Killing Joke is expected to begin Sept. 10 in Manchester.
Watch Killing Joke's "Sanity" Video