Now this news might have been expected after discussing in a post yesterday that Xandria had cancelled their upcoming North American tour because of apparent health (or something else) with their lead singer Dianne van Giersbergen. If you didn’t see that post just click HERE to get a refresher and then come on back to see what’s transpired since as Dianne herself has announced to the world via her Facebook that she was no longer a member of Xandria. I’ll return after the statement.

The moment I promised you and me that would never come is here: I am leaving Xandria. And the reason is simple: staying in the band would cause further damage to the health problems the band has caused me.

For nearly 2 years now I’ve been trying to put band and management issues on the table, with the sole reason to keep this band healthy, together and ready for the future. Today I am sad to say that my attempts failed and have been ignored, that my cries for help have been met with financial threats and emotional extortion and that my persistence to keep on going, ignoring all the warning signs, has left me with uncontrollable stress symptoms (confirmed by doctors). I am a fighter, but I’ve come to see that this is one I cannot win. I don’t want to leave, I love the music that I got to write for you – which is 100% me – but I can’t live, can’t perform, can simply not exist in an environment that harms me. This environment does not care for me nor for the fans (even proposed me to playback in order to do more shows in a row) and somehow miraculously never generated any financial outcome and therefore no stability for any of its band members.

Yesterday evening the last hope I had of ever reconciling with the boys was shattered when they made a statement announcing that ‘I’ could not perform with the band anymore, forgetting to mention that I am in this unhealthy position because of Xandria & management. Not surprisingly they also already have a replacement for me and kicked me out of every Xandria social media page. With that they’ve send me one last clear message: they are not interested in fixing the situation nor are they willing to support me if that means (partly) stepping away from the business perspective (quote: ‘we are not friends’) which leads me to conclude what I know now: it is time for me to close this chapter and wish them the best of luck in continuing the band I loved so much.

Now, I don’t know where we will meet again, but I didn’t follow my passion, study all those hours and travel all those roads to simply give up. I’m sad to close this chapter, but I’m sure there will be another one to write. In the meantime I will be focussing on what does make me happy and I will be posting my daily business and updates on my Precious Metal Jewelry and Ex Libris stuff as usual. I very much hope to see you online so we can stay in touch and who knows, maybe one day in an audience again.

Thank you all for understanding, for your love and support!
I am forever grateful ♡

Dianne”

PiercingMetal Thoughts: Wow, what a surprise or was it not too much of one based on the cryptic nature of the bands commentary yesterday. Having caught Xandria twice on visits to our fair Metal Metropolis I can say that her sonic register will be missed during these songs. I’m sure in time the band will bounce back with another singer (and they noted that they had a temporary player in place so maybe she is fulltime now) but its Dianne’s good health that I am most hopeful for. If she felt that she was put through the ringer by the band then she would probably be best served by taking a few months out of the public spotlight to recharge the mental and physical batteries. I think she is a wonderful talent and hope that she is out there kicking some Metal behind sooner than later. What do you readers think about her decision? Did you expect this? Does it surprise you? Chime in down in the comments section below.

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diannevangiersbergenofficial/