The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are now in the past tense.
The beloved Boston band announced on Thursday (January 27) that they’ve “decided to no longer continue on as a band,” making a short and unexpected statement on their homepage and social media before quickly skanking stage right after nearly 40 years of music.
“After decades of brotherhood, touring the world and making great records together, we have decided to no longer continue on as a band,” they write. “Above all, we want to express our sincere gratitude to every single one of you who have supported us. We could not have done any of it without you.”
Last May, the Bosstones released their 11th studio album, When God Was Great, capping off a wild run that began in Boston way back in in the early-’80s. Their 1989 debut album Devil’s Night Out helped pioneer their ska-core sound, and over the years elevated the ska punk genre to the masses before enjoying a massive run of mainstream success through the ’90s. The Bosstones’ 1997 album Let’s Face It went platinum behind the chart-topping commercial mega-hit “The Impression That I Get.”
This retirement obviously means no more Bosstones music (for the immediate future, at least), but it also marks the end of the band’s celebrated Hometown Throwdown series, an annual multi-night live bash held around the holidays. Started in 1994, the Throwdown has become part of the DNA of Boston music, and after a return from hiatus in 2007, has continued in recent years, pre-pandemic, at Boston’s House of Blues as a Christmas tradition.
More to come, but for now, we pour one out for one of Boston’s finest.