Five Finger Death Punch and guitarist Jason Hook have parted ways. The official departure took place in February 2020, during the band’s sold out European arena tour. It also happened amidst the release of their greatest hits compilation Decade of Destruction, Volume 2.
After his recovery from emergency gallbladder surgery at the end of last year, Jason Hook had to leave midway from the band’s tour of Europe to address further complications.
Five Finger Death Punch and Jason Hook Part Ways
Jason Hook had this to say about his departure: “I have had the pleasure of meeting so many of you in person. Thank you for the endless stories of how our music has touched your heart in some way! But the best part of being on tour the last 12 years, by far, has been playing my guitar and seeing the joy on your faces every night. I will miss that more than anything. As far the reason I’m leaving … well, there really isn’t just one. I’ve been in bands my entire life and I feel like I’ve done all the good that I can here. It’s time to pass the baton and move on to new challenges.”
Five Finger Death Punch has released eight studio albums and two greatest hits compilations in 13 years and toured relentlessly in-between records. They are often called the “hardest working band in the industry” with very little personal time left outside of the band. At Jason’s suggestion, all parties came to a mutual agreement, that it’s best if he steps away from his rigorous band duties altogether. Consequently, Jason handed over the torch to the band’s new lead guitarist, renowned British virtuoso Andy James who is also featured on “Broken World”, one of the five previously unreleased tracks on Decade of Destruction, Volume 2.
“Jason is an incredible guitar player so we had to find someone on the absolute top of their game. Someone like Andy James who was already a well-known virtuoso and had the chops to step into Jason’s shoes. Andy completed our European Tour with us back in February so he was already tried by fire. We instantly clicked both musically and personally so he was the obvious choice. We even have the same birthday… Some things are just meant to be,” explains guitarist Zoltan Bathory.
“I just congratulated Jason on his recent wedding, and I hope he finds peace and happiness. As for us, I’m really excited to keep working with Andy and I just can’t wait for this COVID madness to be over so we can go back out on the road,” adds vocalist Ivan Moody.
The band’s most recent eighth studio album, F8, was released earlier this year and boasts two #1 hits to date, “Inside Out” and “A Little Bit Off”. “Living The Dream”, the latest single from F8 is already climbing the rock charts with an official video for the song expected to premiere globally Thursday, October 15, 2020.
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Cover Photo Credit: F3 Studios Stephen Jensen
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