Former Kasabian singer Tom Meighan is set to appear in court on Tuesday accused of assaulting a girlfriend, hours after stepping down from the band.
The 39-year old’s abrupt departure from the group he helped form as a teenager was confirmed in a public statement released by his band-mates on Monday.
He will now face magistrates in his native Leicester following an accusation of domestic assault, The Sun reports. MailOnline has contacted a representative for further comment.
Controversy: Former Kasabian singer Tom Meighan will appear in court on Tuesday morning accused of assaulting his girlfriend, hours after stepping down from the band
In a statement released on Instagram, the band wrote: ‘Tom Meighan is stepping down from Kasabian by mutual consent.
‘Tom has struggled with personal issues that have affected his behaviour for quite some time and now wants to concentrate all his energies on getting his life back on track. We will not be commenting further.’
Addressing fans shortly afterwards, the singer tweeted: ‘Following today’s announcement I just wanted to let you all know that I am doing well.
‘I’m in a really good place now. Thanks for all your love and support. I’ll be seeing you all very soon. TM.’
The statement: The band revealed the shock news on Twitter
Shock: Kasabian confirmed on Monday that lead singer Tom Meighan has QUIT the band and claim ‘personal issues have affected his behaviour for some time’ (pictured in 2017)
Opening up: Tom addressed fans on Twitter shortly after his departure was confirmed
A source told The Sun: ‘The guys all love Tom dearly, but the current situation is untenable. Sadly parting ways for the time being was the only answer.’
Tom previously told Radio X he experienced a meltdown in 2016 after he split from girlfriend Kim James, with whom he has a daughter Mimi, now six.
Referencing his local team Leicester City’s shock Premier League title win that same year, Tom said: ‘Basically my life changed. I’m by myself. Because I lost myself.
‘In every way 2016 was great for Serge, great for Leicester City, s*** for me. I had to sort my head out. My attitude. Stuff I was doing. People I was associating with. Not bad people.
Huge success: The band have been together since 1997 and are most famous for songs such as Fire, Processed Beat and Club Foot (pictured in 2018)
‘I was the one that was bad, I was in the haze. I was very unhappy, just down. You block it out by just carrying on. I was making myself ill, I ain’t gonna lie, my mind was jolted.’
He added that he wasn’t taking responsibility for what he was going through, calling the experience ‘horrendous.’
This year, Kasabian were due to play a massive homecoming concert at Leicester’s Victoria Park on June 20, but they had to cancel the event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With their live plans halted, Tom had revealed that the band had been writing tracks for a seventh studio album – their first since 2017’s For Crying Out Loud – and that he’d been penning some ‘autobiographical’ solo songs in lockdown.
In 2018, band member Serge Pizzorno, (right), released his debut solo album under the name S.L.P. (Sergio Lorenzo Pizzorno)
He recently told Sky News: ‘We’re going to try and make a new record as soon as we can but we can’t really do anything while we’re restricted. Serge has been writing songs for Kasabian so it’s all good.’
Discussing his own solo plans, Tom added: ‘I’m writing loads of music at the minute. We’ll see what happens. I’ve got a few cookies in the jar… and they’re not bad, you know.
‘It’s very autobiographical, like the story of my life. It’s kind of… heartbreaking. Well, not heartbreaking, just to the core, you know. Very real.’
Kasabian have been together since 1997 and have earned huge success with songs such as Fire, Processed Beat and Club Foot.
In 2018, band member Serge Pizzorno released his debut solo album under the name S.L.P. (Sergio Lorenzo Pizzorno).
He told The Sun at the time that the band had no plans to go their separate ways.
He said: ‘I am in my band and I love my band. The best way to describe it is, it’s like another planet I can now visit whenever I want. It’s this planet that orbits and I can go there for a bit.’
Kasabian took a break following their 2017 For Crying Out Loud tour.
Serge said: ‘When you get to six albums, you’ve got to keep it clever and make it interesting. Kasabian have had six albums — five No1 albums in a row.
‘We’ve headlined Glastonbury, Leicester Stadium, The O2 and got really big in Europe, Eastern Europe and South America.’
All change: This year, Kasabian were due to play a homecoming concert at Leicester’s Victoria Park on June 20, but they had to cancel the event due to the pandemic (pictured in 2018)