Good Charlotte drummer Chris Wilson – who provided the back beat on the band’s latest album, The Chronicles of Life and Death – has left the group due to undisclosed “personal health problems.”
The band made the announcement via a letter posted Tuesday on GoodCharlotte.com.
“As many of you know, our drummer Chris Wilson has been on and off the road due to personal health problems,” the band wrote. “Unfortunately, his problems continue, and we have made a collective decision to have Chris stay around his friends and family and begin to truly rehabilitate. This has not been easy on any of us. We loved playing with Chris so much. We hope everyone will be respectful and understand the situation and pray that Chris gets better.”
Wilson joined Good Charlotte back in the summer of 2002, replacing Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle), who played drums on the band’s breakthrough album The Young and the Hopeless.
Wilson played his first shows with the band when they were just an up-and-coming act on the Warped Tour, and continued to keep the beat as Good Charlotte became one of the most successful pop-punk acts on the planet, eventually spending the majority of 2002 and 2003 touring the world.
But when the band emerged last October to debut material from Chronicles at an exclusive show at New York’s Webster Hall, Wilson was nowhere to be found. The official word that night was that he was at home “receiving therapy on his joints”. Alkaline Trio drummer Derek Grant filled in for him behind the kit for a few promotional shows, and Wilson returned soon after.
Recently, Wilson had been manning the kit for Good Charlotte on their Noise to the World co-headlining tour with Simple Plan, but GC have no intentions of dropping off the tour. In their letter, they announced that they had hired drummer Dean Butterworth – who recently played with Morrissey – to continue on with their planned shows.
A spokesperson for Good Charlotte had no additional comments on Wilson’s health or his status with the band.
