Colbie Caillat officially leaves her band Gone West only after two years.
The country pop singer announced the news on Instagram on Wednesday (August 12), which comes just four months after she and former fiancé / Gone West bandmate Justin Young end their 10-year relationship. Married couple Jason Reeves and Nelly Joy form the remaining two members of the country quartet.
“After much thought during this time, Justin and I decided to leave Gone West. Creative collaborations, especially with friends, are sometimes rewarding and challenging, and although this was not an easy decision, we know the band ended right away,” he began. Caillat to write in the posted note. “Justin and I are best friends, and will continue to make music together.”
Gone West has released the group’s debut album Canyon on June 12, whereby the singer “Bubbly” expressed gratitude in her announcement for release. “Canyons is an album that we truly love and cherish. Every song contains so much truth in the experiences we all go through in life,” she penned.
Caillat and Young performed a few Canyon tracks during their Billboard Live At-Home charity concert together on April 16 while at their home in Nashville in quarantine. But Gone West was unable to perform the new album on their planned summer and fall tour dates, which were canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
It remains unclear whether the 35-year-old artist will return to pivot after a solo career, seeing the last line of her letter read, “Here’s what adventure follows ….” On her own, Caillat has won two Grammy Awards for album of the year with Fearless and best vocal pop collaboration with the Jason Mraz-assisted hit single “Lucky.” In addition, she has so far garnered four million cumulative album sales and eight multi-platinum records.
Read below Caillat’s full closing note.
After much thought during this time, Justin and I decided to leave Gone West. Creative collaborations, especially with friends, are at times both rewarding and challenging, and while this was not an easy decision, we know that ending the band was the right one. Justin and I are best friends and will continue to make music forever.
We are so proud of the music the four of us have made together over the past three years. Canyons is an album that we truly love and cherish, each song contains so much truth in the experiences we all go through in life.
I want to thank all my fans and all the fans of Gone Wests for supporting our music, watching our shows, and everything in between. I would also like to thank Country Radio, JR & SiriusXM, Triple Tigers and our entire teams for their hard work and creativity, and for believing in us and our music to help us get into the world. Thank you.
Here is what adventure comes next …
