MASTODON Members Open Up About BRENT HINDS' Death: 'Losing Him Has Meant Sitting With A Type Of Grief We Never Expected'

Atlanta progressive metallers MASTODON have shared a 35-minute video in which they reflect on their relationship with their co-founding guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds. Hinds departed MASTODON in March 2025 and passed away in a motorcycle accident five months later. He was replaced by touring guitarist Nick Johnston, who will reportedly appear on MASTODON's upcoming studio LP.

In a message accompanying the release of the video, MASTODON said: "Hello Everyone. We just wrapped up Europe and every country we hit showed up and gave us everything! Truly a summer we'll never forget! We can't thank you enough for rockin' with us!

"As we enter a new chapter of MASTODON we want to do this the right way and talk about Brent. We've all seen the clips, headlines, and speculations, but we haven't told our story in our own words about our 25 year relationship.

"It isn't easy to talk about Brent, he was our family, someone we all loved wholeheartedly. He was a wild man, our wild man, and that came with some challenges. Both things are true and we aren't interested in chasing one truth over the other. Losing him has meant sitting with a type of grief we never expected. No more hugs, no more high fives, no more disagreements, no more making up. That part has been hard, it's real.

"We put this conversation out there so you can hear it directly from us, you all deserve that.

"Thank you for the past 25 years of showing up for us and Brent."

Brent was reportedly riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle late on August 20, 2025 when he was hit by an SUV turning left and failing to yield at the intersection of Memorial Drive SE and Boulevard SE, less than two miles from downtown Atlanta, according to Atlanta police.

Hinds was found unresponsive by officers who responded to the crash around 11:35 p.m. and was pronounced dead by medical workers.

According to a crash report, investigators found that Hinds was at fault for the accident because he was speeding. Relying on video of the intersection, investigators calculated that the musician was going between 63 and 68 mph, which is roughly twice the speed limit at the crash site, the report said.

In March 2025, MASTODON revealed that the band and Hinds had "mutually decided to part ways" after "25 monumental years together."

Since 2000, Hinds had served as lead guitarist and vocalist for MASTODON, alongside bassist/singer Troy Sanders, drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor, and guitarist Bill Kelliher.

MASTODON's lineup had remained the same for 25 years, recording eight studio albums, beginning with 2002's "Remission" until the band's latest LP, 2021's "Hushed And Grim".

Hinds later claimed he had been ejected from MASTODON and called his former bandmates "horrible humans" in a social media post.

Hinds was involved with several music projects apart from MASTODON, including the group GIRAFFE TONGUE ORCHESTRA — alongside members of THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and ALICE IN CHAINS — as well as LEGEND OF THE SEAGULLMEN and the long-running project FIEND WITHOUT A FACE.

More recently, Hinds had a tour, "An Evening With Brent Hinds", set for November and December 2025 throughout Europe.

"I'm a free spirit," Hinds said in the MASTODON documentary "The Workhorse Chronicles". "I enjoy life and I live it to the fullest."

Brent played his first show since exiting MASTODON on March 21, 2025 with his band FIEND WITHOUT A FACE at 529 in Atlanta, Georgia.

MASTODON has had nine Billboard 200-charting albums and has been nominated for a Grammy Award six times. The band won a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy for "Sultan's Curse" in 2018.

MASTODON's latest album, "Hushed And Grim", was a double LP recorded at the band's Atlanta studio, West End Sound.

MASTODON recruited Ben Eller, a guitarist known for his popular YouTube channel, to step in for Hinds when the band played at TOOL's "Tool In The Sand" festival in the Dominican Republic in March 2025. For MASTODON's spring 2025 tour and other recent shows, the band enlisted the aforementioned Canadian musician Nick Johnston. Johnston has six solo records under his belt, and has also worked with POLYPHIA, Guthrie Govan, PERIPHERY and many others.

Last month, MASTODON released a new song, "Your Ghost Again". The track, which was produced by Patrik Berger (Taylor Swift, Robyn) and CONVERGE guitarist Kurt Ballou, is the first single from the band's upcoming ninth studio album, due later in the year.

In a video accompanying the announcement of the new single, the MASTODON members said the song was a tribute to their former bandmate.