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Longtime vocalist Michael Barnes will be leaving RED after one last show later this spring, the band has announced, as per Loudwire. In a video message, co-founders Randy and Anthony Armstrong acknowledged Barnes’ departure and explained how they intend to deal with it by announcing a new tour. In the meantime, Barnes appears to have hinted at his future musical endeavor in a recent social media post. RED‘s sibling bassist and guitarist Randy Anderson confirmed in a join video statement that the band will be continuing without Michael Barnes.
You’ve all been wondering what’s going on. We’ve been getting your messages and your emails and I just want to thank you guys for your love and support. I can tell you we’re all happy and healthy and that’s the good news. The bad news is about a year ago now Mike Barnes, our lead singer, approached us and said that he’d like to step away from RED permanently to focus on his family. And after 19 years, going on 20 years this year, it’s something that we completely understand. We’ve given up a lot to be out there on the road doing what we love, but our families have also sacrificed and given up so much to allow us to be on the road, so it’s something that we completely understand and we will honor and respect his decision.
We had an amazing 19 year run together and we’ve been friends since we were in third grade so we love Mike very much and we look forward to what he does next. We’ll love and cherish him forever. These moments we’ve made on the road with Michael are countless. There’s just so many things we’ve done in the last 20 years. So we love Michael so much and we’re gonna miss him.
Losing a lead singer is difficult. We did a lot os soul searching and we are not going anywhere guys. Anthony and I have decided that we’re going to continue without him and I can tell you some more awesome news. Dan Johnson is back on drums after a four year hiatus and while we’re looking for a new lead singer, for the time being AJ Reingardt of the band OHKAYA is filling in on vocals.
We’re gonna come out and do the 20th anniversary of End of Silence tour this May and June. And some more awesome news is Mike’s gonna come back and do one last show Friday night June 5th in Dallas, Texas. We’re gonna play through End of Silence and all the other songs that you guys love and you’ve got one more chance to see all of us together. We’re gonna celebrate that night and say farewell to Michael and be in one of our favorite cities in the country to tour in and just have an awesome night.
In an Instagram post, Barnes mentioned that Red had a tour coming up and that supporters should purchase tickets before sharing a screenshot of a man brandishing a gun with the message, “The Redeemers Coming Soon.” However, Barnes did not expressly address his departure from RED. Is this Barnes’ upcoming musical endeavor? We will soon find out. The Armstrong brothers mentioned spending 20 years with Barnes, but it was in regard to their first album, “End of Silence”. In fact, Barnes and the Amrstrong brothers co-founded the band in 2002. The singer was featured on all eight of their studio albums, the most recent of which being “Rated R” in 2023.
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