Two Snow Patrol members leave amidst hints at band drama

Two members of Snow Patrol have departed the band amid hints at behind-the-scenes tension.

Last week, frontman Gary Lightbody announced in a post on Instagram that drummer Jonny Quinn and bassist Paul Wilson had “decided to leave Snow Patrol”.

He said he was “heartbroken” over the news, but told fans that the group would be continuing as a three-piece – comprising himself, Johnny McDaid and Nathan Connolly – before confirming that a new album is coming “next year”.

Lightbody also shared separate farewell messages for both Quinn and Wilson. Posting his own statement, the latter musician thanked fans and said he was “excited for the future and the future of Snow Patrol”.

As People reports, Quinn’s wife Mariane suggested that things were less than amicable between the band. “It’s been a fucker. Fucked by you know who,” she wrote in response to a comment in one of the goodbye posts.

The Belfast Telegraph, meanwhile, quoted a private social media post by Mariane in which she said the reasons for her husband’s departure “were not the best”. According to the outlet, she thanked Lightbody and Connolly in her statement but did not mention McDaid.

“I’m so incredibly proud of my husband and it’s with very mixed feelings Jonny is announcing his departure from the band,” she said. “So many amazing times, so many incredible people and experiences. I couldn’t have dreamt it.

“Sad the reason for leaving is not the best, but excited about what lies ahead.”

Later, Mariane reportedly shared a screenshot of comments from an unknown website showing her support for comments that referred to McDaid – who officially joined Snow Patrol in 2011 – as a “weird fan boy”.

The first comment read: “[If] I was in that band I’d be annoyed at that blow-in Johnny McDaid. Joined the band after they were already going 17 years, played no part in their breakthrough or really successful career. Yet now gets to trade on the Snow Patrol name.”

Another user wrote in response that McDaid “was a weird fan boy before that”, with a final comment reading: “And he managed to get a millionaire Friends girlfriend [Courtney Cox].”

Captioning the screenshot, Mariane said: “Yep.”

Quinn went to school with Lightbody, and he’s been in the band since 1997. Wilson officially joined the line-up in 2005 after playing with Snow Patrol for years as a touring member. McDaid also works as a songwriter and producer, and is Ed Sheeran‘s long-term co-writer.

Snow Patrol’s seventh and most recent studio album, ‘Wildness’, came out in 2018. Earlier this year, guitarist Nathan Connolly launched a solo career and released his first record ‘The Strange Order Of Things’.

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