BAD RELIGION Cancels Remainder Of European Tour Due To 'Family Emergency'

Punk rock veterans BAD RELIGION have canceled the remainder of their 2022 European tour due to "a family emergency within the band."

Earlier today, BAD RELIGION released the following statement via social media: "There has been a family emergency within the band, and as a result, we must cancel the remainder of our UK and European tour dates for this year.

"We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your patience and understanding."

Having celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020, BAD RELIGION formed in 1980 in the suburbs of Los Angeles. The band has become synonymous with intelligent and provocative West Coast punk rock and are considered one of the most influential and important bands in the genre. BAD RELIGION has continually pushed social boundaries and questioned authority and beliefs armed only with propulsive guitars, charging drumbeats, thoughtful lyrics and an undying will to inspire and provoke anyone who will listen.

The band released its 17th studio album, "Age Of Unreason", in 2019. The critically acclaimed record offers a fiery and intensely relevant musical response to the times, with songs that address a myriad of socio-political maladies, including conspiracy theories, racist rallies, Trump's election, the erosion of the middle class, alternative facts and more. There is a stylistic consistency to the band's iconic and influential sound — hard fast beats, big hooks and rousing choruses, yet each new song remains distinctive, utilizing composition, melody and lyrics to deliver a unique narrative consistent with the band's longstanding humanist worldview.

In December 2020, BAD RELIGION celebrated its 40 years of making music with "Decades", a four-episode online streaming event captured live at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California. The band felt it important to commemorate the conclusion of 2020 as a strange moment in history when they reached that 40-year milestone. The celebratory episodes included live performance footage, exclusive interviews, and a peek at their rehearsals leading up to the taping of "Decades".

In August 2020, BAD RELIGION released its autobiography, "Do What You Want: The Story Of Bad Religion", written with the group's full cooperation and support. It reveals the ups and downs of the band's 40-year career, from their beginnings as teenagers experimenting in a San Fernando Valley garage dubbed "The Hell Hole" to headlining major music festivals around the world. The book predominantly features the four principal voices of BAD RELIGION in a hybrid oral history/narrative format: Greg Graffin, Brett Gurewitz, Jay Bentley and Brian Baker. It also includes rare photos and never-before-seen material from their archives.

Earlier this year, Graffin told Spokesman.com that he and Gurewitz were working on new material, but that BAD RELIGION fans going to the band's concert shouldn't expect anything more recent than tracks from "Age Of Unreason".

"We have plenty of songs to play," Graffin said. "We're working on new stuff, but we're fine with playing songs fans are familiar with — we've covered a lot of ground over the years."

BAD RELIGION's current lineup also includes guitarists Brian Baker and Mike Dimkich and drummer Jamie Miller.