Chad Taylor's blog! Options

[Merica]

Not the ending I wished for

There have been tons of crazy rumors surrounding the hiatus of LIVE. I have read quite a few and laughed at the extremely creative imaginations of our fans. I’ve been reluctant to fan the flames but the rumors are getting further away from the truth and I will try to set the record straight from my standpoint.


First and foremost, Ed has every legal right to perform the songs he helped birth while being the front man for LIVE. The copyrights for these songs are owned by Chad Gracey, Patrick Dahlheimer, Ed Kowlalczyk and myself. Ed does not control the catalog but rather the bands publishing company, Black Coffee Publishing, Inc. Black Coffee is a majority rule corporation.


Yes, it is true, there was a hidden publishing contract singed in 2005. I personally discovered it via a communication breakdown. Ed is listed as the only signature. When I wrote him to find some resolution to the situation, he failed to respond. I have left these matters to our attorneys who will no doubt file a complaint. Honestly, I don’t care about the financial/legal outcome of these matters, the proof is on the page. Ed was able to stab his three best friends from middle school in the back. This act was far down the line from typical rock star ego. As you can imagine I am deeply hurt and wounded.


In light of these matter, I can’t ever see myself working with Ed, let alone ever being in the same room with him. LIVE was always about the band, when Ed lost sight of that in favor of his own ambitions and goals, our considerable fans base began to sigh a collective yawn.


As band mates and friends and despite the lack of fresh material we continued to support Ed with all of our integrity. The final blow was Ed’s request for a $100,000 “lead singer bonus” to perform as surprise guests at this years Pink Pop Festival. I was informed of his request by our management and politely told them to “fuck off.”


Ed will no longer be the vocalist for the band LIVE. At this point in time, we have made no official plans to replace him but it is clear that he is no friend of mine or the lifelong fans of LIVE.


I have focused my energy on creating new music with The Gracious Few. I look forward to seeing many LIVE fans in the audience at our shows. Patrick, Chad and I have made a pledge to honor our long shared history with the fans of LIVE. You will always be graciously welcome in our house.


Love


Chad Taylor

Ho... lee.... shit.

[PurdueSteve]

Ho... lee.... shit.

This sucks because Ed was a person that has had impact in my life. He influenced me to pick up an acoustic guitar. His lyrics helped me through the loss of my fiance. The theme for his music as a whole has helped sculpt my view of the universe (minus the recent Bible quoting Christian-Ed) and now I have to accept that he is a person motivated by material addiction, despite being already wealthy, despite the damage done to his life long friends and despite writing something like Mirror Song. It's hypocritical to the core.

ugh!!

5 steps of grieving. I'm past denial but I haven't made it to acceptance.......

[janine5683]

Ho... lee.... shit.

Thanks for the info, I wouldn't have come across this on my own.

An explanation like this was long overdue.

[VoodooLady]

twitter responses to chad

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[VoodooLady]

This sucks because Ed was a person that has had impact in my life. He influenced me to pick up an acoustic guitar. His lyrics helped me through the loss of my fiance. The theme for his music as a whole has helped sculpt my view of the universe (minus the recent Bible quoting Christian-Ed) and now I have to accept that he is a person motivated by material addiction, despite being already wealthy, despite the damage done to his life long friends and despite writing something like Mirror Song. It's hypocritical to the core.

ugh!!

5 steps of grieving. I'm past denial but I haven't made it to acceptance.......

having trouble putting my own feelings into words. but all you wrote rings true

[ShowalittleLove]

Big thanks to Chad for speaking the truth even if it sucks. Obviously something deeply rooted was going on, and this explains a hell of a lot. Wish it would have come out sooner, but timing can never be right when it comes to shit like this! I much prefer this explanation versus all the other stuff that has been said or infered in the past few months. Really hope Ed speaks his side, because it would be really sad to see one of the few people that truly inspired me for so long turn out to be a living contradiction/hypocrit.

[SecretInsomnia]

I dont know to respond ith right words, but I agree with others that it kinda hurts to hear this (if the info is 100% accurate at all). I even would say I wished we never learnt about this, because it kinda changes how I always thought about Ed, and that sucks
At the other hand, I dont think I could live forever wikthout the truth of this break-up, so I'm glad that Chad Taylor was honest. I'm wondering if Ed will respond to this. In fact, he HAS to, because if he doesn't, much long time fans will turn his back on him.
And last: I'm really hurt by the fact that Live will never be CG,CT,PD + Ed again. Never. Not that I gave it any hope anymore, but to hear it's defenitively... it just hurts.

ps. Guess the "one of the bandmembers' pasports was the reason that Live couldnt make Pinkpop 09 in the end" was false...

Only thing I can do now is quote Merica:

Ho... lee.... shit.

[Jon P]

I dont know to respond ith right words, but I agree with others that it kinda hurts to hear this (if the info is 100% accurate at all). I even would say I wished we never learnt about this, because it kinda changes how I always thought about Ed, and that sucks
At the other hand, I dont think I could live forever wikthout the truth of this break-up, so I'm glad that Chad Taylor was honest. I'm wondering if Ed will respond to this. In fact, he HAS to, because if he doesn't, much long time fans will turn his back on him.
And last: I'm really hurt by the fact that Live will never be CG,CT,PD + Ed again. Never. Not that I gave it any hope anymore, but to hear it's defenitively... it just hurts.

ps. Guess the "one of the bandmembers' pasports was the reason that Live couldnt make Pinkpop 09 in the end" was false...

Only thing I can do now is quote Merica:

NOPE... Chad said it in his blog...Ed requested an additional 100,000 lead singer fee. His ego got the better of him. either that or he had some more bills to pay...

[possum]

I'm just happy that the other guys finally admit that the last 10 years were shit. I was worried they were oblivious and that they really liked the direction of the music/band. Hopefully we'll get a rebuttal from Ed, but I heard the same story about the "lead singer" bonus a little while ago and thought less of Ed for some time now...

[OutToDry]

California living off Live royalties doesn't make you rich.

remember the youtube from MTV I posted a few weeks back. Ed stated his intentions, oh so true.

[FishOutaWater]

This news makes me want to run to my computer and buy a $200 stick figure drawing by the EK and a $99 EK pendant and some EK branded coffee.... NOT!

I am going to really have a hard time talking myself into buying tickets to the Open Wallet - Broken Band tour in 2010.

[OutToDry]

Sad day for fans of Live. Glad Chad took the time to level with us.

I felt Ed was no longer interested in the band the last 2 shows I saw. The direction and status quo led me to believe there were stranger things going on.

Knowing this, Ed's solo career will flatline at some point. I am not passing judgement but, if he schemed in this fashion to better himself only, then he's a dick.

I feared Live would end like the Pink Floyd situation and it appears to be.

[Deku]

Ahhh, so this must be the final nail the LIVE coffin was missing. I've usually given 'The EK' the benefit of the doubt over the last year or so, but not this time. Somewhat hypocritical that he preaches peace and love with his mouth while stabbing his mates in the back with his hands. And some of the texts that he turned me onto talk about banishing the ego...maybe he skipped those chapters. I guess Ed finally got what he wanted. I wonder what Adam thinks about all this? He's been as much affected by it as TGF guys have. I imagine we all feel pretty sickened at seeing someone who we'd turn to for spiritual guidance, inspiration or just a great riff turn into the sort of person he probably would have despised back when Throwing Copper was released. I doubt that album will ever sound the same again...

[Deku]

You will always be graciously welcome in our house.

On the plus side, I think I've found somewhere to live

[ridley]

I guess this finally confirms what most of us felt from SFBM (or perhaps V) onwards: that Ed was hijacking the band. It was the "band" and their shared creative juices flowing together that connected with me in the 90's and I guess that is why I didn't connect with much of Live's later material.

Good on CT for putting the record straight, but I almost wish I hadn't heard this. I will however be making a conscious decision to divorce "early" Live from "later-day" Live in my head, as I don't believe early Live is or should be tainted by this revelation.

As far as I'm concerned, those first four albums I love so much were written by a different guy (but then again, I already thought that before hearing this news).

Ed does not control the catalog but rather the bands publishing company, Black Coffee Publishing, Inc.

I was initially a bit confused by this - I read it as Ed doesn't control the catalog but does control the band publishing company (especially given its name )

This post has been edited by ridley: Nov 30 2009, 5:50 pm