Sum 41 is no longer in contact with their former lead singer (Picture: SBM/Plux/REX/Shutterstock)
Sum 41’s lead singer revealed in a recent interview that he would love to see their original frontman, Jon Marshall, again after he left the group in 1997.
The Canadian rock band best known for hits like In Too Deep, Fat Lip, and Still Waiting, performed their last ever UK show at Download Festival in June this year.
The group announced their split in 2023 and are set to ‘disband’ following their farewell world tour set to conclude in early 2025.
Sum 41 currently consists of five members, but once upon a time the frontman was Jon Marshall, who was in the band for just one year between 1996 and 1997.
Jon Marshall left the band after just one year (Picture: Sum 41 Brasil/YouTube)
Deryck Whibley, 44, who took over on vocals and as a frontman, told the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column: ‘[The song ‘Johnny Libertine’] is a reference to Jon. He was the most punk-rock guy I have ever known.
‘We were 16 when we knew him and he was in this delirium, no plan B, we destroyed everything.
‘He was my best friend, then he left the group never to be seen again.’
Deryck has been in the band for 28 years (Picture: Redferns)
Deryck, the only constant member of the band over the past 28 years, added that he truly had no contact with the former frontman and would have liked a farewell.
‘Nothing at all. I would like a “goodbye!”‘ he told the paper.
Speaking about their new album, he said that he couldn’t think of a better way to leave fans.
‘We could not make a better record to say goodbye. I want Sum 41 to stop at a moment when everything surrounding the group makes us happy,’ he said.
The singer, who was married to Avril Lavigne from 2006 until 2009, was rushed to hospital last year after he contracted pneumonia and COVID-19 and was at risk of heart failure.
Sum41 first formed in 1996 (Picture: Larry Marano/REX/Shutterstock)
The singer has previously suffered from liver and kidney damage because of alcohol abuse and has chronic back pain because of a series of injuries.
Deryck revealed that following the band’s split next year he wasn’t intending on slowing down and planned to use his talent for writing lyrics elsewhere.
‘I want to do other projects and that includes songwriting.’
When asked what he would do after his final gig, when the band finally parted ways after 28 years, he replied: ‘Ask myself, “What the f*** am I going to do now?”’
This article was first published on June 18th, 2024
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