Panic! at the Disco announce split: 'Sometimes a journey must end'
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Panic! at the Disco is no more.
Frontman Brendon Urie announced Tuesday morning that the pop-rock group, which began as a band in 2004 with Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson but gradually evolved into a solo project for Urie, will disband after the band's upcoming European tour.
Urie has high hopes for the future, though, as he shared that he and his wife, Sarah, are expecting their first child.
"Well, it's been a hell of a journey," Urie began his social media post. "Growing up in Vegas I could've never imagined where this life would take me. So many places all over the world, and all the friends we've made along the way. But sometimes a journey must end for a new one to begin."
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images Brendon Urie
He said of imminent parenthood: "The prospect of being a father and getting to watch my wife become a mother is both humbling and exciting. I look forward to this next adventure. That said, I am going to bring this chapter of my life to an end and put my focus and energy on my family, and with that Panic! at the Disco will be no more."
Urie concluded, "Thank you all for your immense support over the years. I've sat here trying to come up with the perfect way to say this and I truly can't put into words how much it has meant to us. Whether you've been here since the beginning or are just finding us, it has been a pleasure to not only share the stage with so many talented people but also share our time with you."
Urie's final tour under Panic! at the Disco, the Viva La Vengeance tour pegged to Panic!'s seventh and final studio album of the same name, will begin in Vienna, Austria on Feb. 20 and conclude in Manchester, England on March 10.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images Panic! at the Disco
Urie co-founded the group in 2004 alongside mascara-clad childhood pals Ross, Smith, and Wilson, releasing their debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out the following year. Their hit single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and flamboyant style catapulted them to pop-rock fame. Wilson departed the band in 2006 and Ross in 2009, with Urie and Smith remaining as the sole co-founders before the latter ultimately departed in 2015.
Other band members throughout the years include Dallon Weekes, Jon Walker, and Mike Viola. As a solo vehicle, Urie has collaborated with the likes of Fall Out Boy and Taylor Swift.
"I must have done something really crazy," Urie joked of the departures in a 2016 interview with The Guardian. "I don't know what it was. Everybody wanted out from the Panic thing. I mean, I respect it. Any time anyone wanted to leave, the reasons were there, so it wasn't just a 'f--- you.'"
Read Urie's announcement post in full below.
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