MUDVAYNE Pulls Out Of LOUDER THAN LIFE Festival After CHAD GRAY Tests Positive For COVID-19

MUDVAYNE has canceled its appearance at this weekend's Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky after the band's singer Chad Gray and "a few staff members" tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

MUDVAYNE shared the news of the cancelation in a social media post earlier today. The band wrote: "After taking every precaution to follow CDC Covid protocols during rehearsals and recent performance Chad Gray and a few staff members have unfortunately tested positive for Covid-19.

"The safety of our organization, fans and festival partners must come first. We are left no choice but to cancel our performance at Louder Than Life this weekend.

"Apologies to all the fans attending the festival this weekend. We look forward to getting everyone healthy and ready for our Aftershock and Welcome To Rockville performances later this year.

"We appreciate your love & support throughout these unprecedented times."

MUDVAYNE played its first show in 12 years on September 11 at the Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival in Mansfield, Ohio.

The band is still scheduled to appear at two more festivals this fall: Aftershock (October 7-10 in Sacramento, California) and Welcome To Rockville (November 11-14 in Daytona Beach, Florida).

MUDVAYNE formed in 1996 and has sold over six million records worldwide, earning gold certification for three albums ("L.D. 50", "The End Of All Things To Come", "Lost And Found"). The band is known for its sonic experimentation, innovative album art, face and body paint, masks and uniforms. MUDVAYNE is Chad Gray (vocals),Greg Tribbett (guitar, backing vocals),Matthew McDonough (drums, synthesizer) and Ryan Martinie (bass).

It's been more than a decade since MUDVAYNE released its self-titled fifth album and little had been heard about the group during that time.

Gray has spent the past 15 years fronting HELLYEAH, which released its sixth studio album, "Welcome Home", in September 2019 via Eleven Seven Music. The disc marked the group's final effort with drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott, who passed away more than three years ago.

In 2018, Tribbett said that fans who are calling for a MUDVAYNE reunion "just need a little more patience." He explained: "We're all flattered that everybody still wants MUDVAYNE to tour and do a new record and come out and do all that stuff. The thing is is that everybody is in three different bands and kind of doing their own projects, and there's no time for that right now."

Tribbett's most recent focus was AUDIOTOPSY, which released its second full-length album, "The Real Now", in November 2018 via Megaforce Records. He is joined in that band by MUDVAYNE drummer Matt McDonough, SKRAPE vocalist Billy Keeton and bassist Perry Stern.

MUDVAYNE did not tour behind its fifth album, which was barely promoted and sold weakly upon release.

Gray previously expressed skepticism about the possibility of a MUDVAYNE reunion, noting in a 2015 interview that "the only way I personally would want to do MUDVAYNE is if everybody licked their wounds and got over it."

Tribbett was also part of HELLYEAH with Gray but was fired from that band in 2013.

Asked in Revolver magazine if Greg's exit from HELLYEAH hit him especially hard, seeing as the two of them started off playing together in MUDVAYNE, Chad said: "Yeah, man. He has always been my right-hand man. He's been the back I look at when I'm writing songs and the sounding board for my ideas. When everything went sideways, it was like losing a great friend. I was filled with fear and I had mixed emotions. At first, I was, like, 'Goddamn, I don't know if I'm ever gonna be able to do this without him.'"