One of the most shocking stories of 2013 was the conviction of Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison after admitting to multiple child sex offenses, including the attempted rape of a baby.
It made headlines around the world.
When news of the sentencing broke, the remaining members of Lostprophets broke their long-running silence, writing, in part, on social media: “Many of you understandably want to know if we knew what Ian was doing. To be clear: We did not. We knew that Ian was a difficult character. Our personal relationships with him had deteriorated in recent years to a point that working together was a constant, miserable challenge. But despite his battles with drugs, his egotistic behaviour, and the resulting fractures and frustrations within our band, we never imagined him capable of behaviour of the type he has now admitted. We are heartbroken, angry, and disgusted at what has been revealed. This is something that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”
It was all a reminder that there were five other people completely forgotten in the whole saga, people who shared a stage and studio with Watkins for 15 years. As the NME points out, their entire legacy was invalidated by the horrific and unimaginable actions of their singer. Their records were pulled from shelves, social media pages and websites vaporized, tributes in their hometown in Wales removed.
Now Richard Jamie Oliver, Stuart Richardson, Luke Johnson, Mike Lewis and Lee Gaze are back with a new project, No Devotion, fronted by Thursday’s Geoff Rickly.
The band released their first single this week, the pop-leaning “Stay,” which will be released on Rickly’s label, Collect Records.
Word is that Rickly first wanted to create a documentary about the former Lostprophets bandmates and what they endured during the Watkins saga, but ended up becoming part of the band as the group bonded over music.
“I had always liked these guys in passing: they’re funny and self-aware,” Rickly says, according to the NME. “I didn’t think it was fair, what was happening to them. And, well, the music was too good to pass up.”
Listen to “Stay” below.
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