Kodaline, known for hits including All I Want and High Hopes, say their next album will be their last as the rock band announce they are splitting after more than a decade together
Irish rockers Kodaline are calling it a day after a two-decade journey together. The group, comprising of Steve Garrigan, Vincent May, Mark Prendergast and Jason Boland, will say goodbye after creating their fifth and final album.
The band, the musicians behind TV’s Gogglebox theme, will embark on a farewell tour in Belfast on June 17. The Dublin-based band will go their seperate ways and plan to work on solo projects but are excited to hit the road together for the last time in the months ahead.
Originally known as 21 Demands, they formed in Swords, north county Dublin and rebranded themselves as Kodaline in 2012 to reflect their new musical direction. They have released four albums to date: In a Perfect World in 2013, Coming Up for Air ten years ago, Politics of Living in 2018, and One Day at a Time back in 2020.
“We’ve played together since we were kids. It’s over 20 years and we’re still relatively young. It’s most of our lives and there’s no animosity there,” head singer Steve Garrigan told The Sun. “We’ve just come to a point naturally where it just seems like the right time.
“The guys have other projects that they want to do and are working on. We went from busking on Grafton Street in Dublin to playing to thousands in Asia and places we’d never even dreamed of going to, let alone Ireland. I think it’s only natural to want to explore different things,” he added.
The group, known for hits including All I Want and High Hopes, said they will be “forever grateful for the “love and support”. They added: “It’s been a journey that we’ll never forget and we hope the music stays with you long after we’re gone.”
Kodaline star Mark opened up about the recent death of his grandmother, who passed away after contracting Covid-19 during the pandemic.
Opening up about his heartache, he said: “You just have to look at your own parents and grandparents, like, I’m sorry to bring it up but I lost my granny last week.
“And you just don’t know how she got it, it might have been someone who walked through the nursing home, or from someone who was out with their mates like three days before, so it’s almost impossible to track.”
Speaking to KISS, the Dubliner added: “The most sobering and the most awful thing was the actual funeral itself. Like I haven’t been able to give my mam a hug… It’s just a really really strange time.”
The guitarist had his own battle and revealed he had contracted the deadly virus after travelling home with the band and become very unwell. The musician described the experience as a “horrible waiting game” and admitted he initially felt he might have been “over-reacting” by self-isolating.
But after his symptoms grew more intense, Mark, who believs he caught coronavirus while at Heathrow Airport urged others to be extra cautious.
He said: “I had a fever and I was completely wiped of energy for about a week so I was sleeping for like 12 hours a day. Lucky enough it never got really bad, and I was able to manage it.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
