Steven Drozd has opened up about being fired from Flaming Lips, saying that frontman Wayne Coyne “simply stopped speaking with” him after he “went again to remedy”.
Uncertainty about Drozd’s place within the indie band arose final yr, when the multi-instrumentalist was absent from their stay reveals and changed by AJ Slaughter.
On the time, not one of the members publicly addressed the line-up change, nonetheless, in December Drozd by chance confirmed his departure on Threads, writing: “They’re achieved with me – however we’re not speaking about it. Sure I’m transferring on.”
He quickly deleted the publish and stated that it was a “blundering mistake” to add it, as he thought it was going to be despatched as a non-public message.
From there, Coyne made a publish on Instagram confirming Drozd’s departure however added that the “motive he left is gloomy and infuriating”. He additionally stated that it was “HIS duty to inform everybody what occurred”, accused him of mendacity in his Threads publish, and added: “I used to be making an attempt to provide him his personal area and time to let everybody know what REALLY occurred.”
Drozd then shared one other replace with followers, saying that he began to assume “it could be greatest for me and my household if I didn’t tour anymore” in 2024, and due to this fact sat out of the stay reveals in 2025. “Then it simply kinda went from there. Wayne and I’ve parted methods after 33-34 years,” he wrote.
He expanded on these feedback in January, saying that he left resulting from a “private disaster”, however thought that he can be allowed again into the line-up after getting again on monitor.
Now, the multi-instrumentalist has spoken candidly about his departure from the band once more and revealed that his need to take a step again from touring was regularly constructing, however “reached a climax” when his daughter went lacking in October 2024.
Aged 16 on the time, Charlotte Drozd was reported lacking in Seattle and Wayne Coyne joined in requires folks to assist discover her. After three days, it was confirmed that she had been “discovered and is secure”.
“It’s onerous to get again into [touring after that] as a result of it actually was traumatic. She was lacking for 3 days. We didn’t know what was occurring,” Drozd instructed Stereogum, including that the ordeal led to him going into remedy for ingesting, and having to return to remedy once more over the vacations after a “relapse”.
“I went again to remedy, after which Wayne simply stopped speaking with me,” he claimed. “So the way in which it ended is absolutely unhappy as a result of it didn’t have to finish that means… I haven’t heard from him since January 3, 2025. That’s been bizarre.”
He additionally added that the band “determined to go forward and do some reveals in Australia with out me”, and stated that “nobody actually instructed me something” alongside the way in which.
In our new in-depth interview, Steven Drozd discusses getting kicked out of the @theflaminglips throughout dependancy remedy, his 33-year historical past within the band, his forthcoming solo debut album, and extrahttps://t.co/t1WizK7VFS pic.twitter.com/PFqhMXsT08
— Stereogum (@stereogum) Might 6, 2026
“I simply assumed that after a while Wayne and I’d talk once more. However that didn’t occur,” he shared. “So, by the summer season of final yr, I knew. I knew it was over and that was it. I wasn’t gonna be again within the Flaming Lips, and I kinda accepted it.”
Later within the interview, Drozd said that he didn’t need to “trash-talk the Lips”, and added that he felt “the way in which the entire thing ended is simply actually unhappy.”
“I used to be stunned. It was upsetting. It upset my household. And folks in Oklahoma Metropolis are all like, ‘Wow, what’s occurring with that?” I’m like, I don’t actually know what to let you know,” he stated. “It’s poopy, the way in which all of it ended, and there’s nothing I can do to alter that. I went to remedy. And got here dwelling. And I relapsed round Christmas and went again to remedy. That’s when Wayne simply stopped speaking to me. And that’s the way it ended.”
Stereogum reviews {that a} rep for Coyne declined to reply to the feedback made by Drozd within the interview.
Drozd is now engaged on a solo album and confirmed that he hopes to have it launched this autumn. Extra particulars concerning the file are set to be introduced quickly.
Late final yr, Flaming Lips’ drummer Matthew Duckworth Kirksey spoke concerning the band’s plans for the longer term, saying that they’d “new music on the way in which” and considers it to be “the perfect factor we’ve achieved in ages”.
Amongst their upcoming stay dates is a slot at Latitude Pageant, the place they are going to be becoming a member of the invoice alongside Lewis Capaldi, Teddy Swims and David Byrne.