Home Flashbox

Will Butler Has Left Arcade Fire: ‘Time for New Things’

Longtime member and younger brother of Win Butler appears on band’s upcoming album WE, adds Arcade Fire “are still my friends and family”

Published by

Two days after Arcade Fire announced their upcoming album WE — and hours after the band staged a surprise show in New York City — longtime member Will Butler, the younger brother of founding member Win Butler, revealed he has left the band

“Hi friends— I’ve left Arcade Fire,” Butler wrote in a series of tweets Saturday.  “I left at the end of last year, after the new record was complete. There was no acute reason beyond that I’ve changed—and the band has changed—over the last almost 20 years. Time for new things.”

Will Butler appears on Arcade Fire’s WE, which they recorded in 2021, but wasn’t onstage at recent during the band’s recent concerts in New Orleans and New York City. Will — who played a variety of instruments in the group, including bass, synthesizers and percussion — joined Arcade Fire in 2003 and appeared on each of the band’s studio albums from 2004’s Funeral to the upcoming WE, due out May 6th.

Butler tweeted that he has “a few other projects percolating,” as well as continue his activism work.

“Thank you to anyone who’s come out to AF shows, or bought a record, or loves our music. It’s meaningful to be part of your lives. Thank you to the crew, staff, management, label people, bands, artists, and friends who have helped bring our vision to life for so many years,” Butler added, reiterating that Arcade Fire “are still my friends and family.”

Arcade Fire, who will perform another surprise benefit show tonight at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, have not yet commented on Will’s exit.

From Rolling Stone US.

Recent Posts

Quincy Jones: 20 Great Productions

From "It's My Party" to Thriller and beyond, we survey the late producer's iconic career

November 5, 2024

Stevie Wonder Pays Tribute to Quincy Jones: ‘I Love You Madly’

From the moment a teenaged Stevie Wonder met Quincy Jones at the Apollo, the producer…

November 5, 2024

Paul McCartney Remembers Quincy Jones: ‘His Legend Will Continue’

McCartney remembered the "supremely talented" producer and musician, and the "private moments we were lucky…

November 5, 2024

Art Garfunkel on Recent Reunion With Paul Simon: ‘There Were Tears’

"I was crying at a certain point because I felt that I had hurt him,"…

November 5, 2024

Where Is Lil Uzi Vert Going? ‘Eternal Atake 2’ Leaves That Question Intriguingly Unanswered

The Philadelphia alien wants to replicate the universal acclaim that greeted Eternal Atake back in…

November 5, 2024

Gilles Peterson on Why Studio Monkey Shoulder Chose BFR Soundsystem from India

MC and DJ Delhi Sultanate aka Taru Dalmia’s initiative was the music community chosen from…

November 4, 2024