Musician Ben Kenney has decided to step away from Incubus after a 20-year run with the Californian rock group. The news came in a bittersweet statement made by frontman Brandon Boyd on the band’s Facebook/Instagram story announcing both Ben's departure and a US arena tour with Coheed and Cambria where they will play their fourth album Morning View in full.
For the past few years, fans of genre-bending alt-rockers have had to show quite a bit of patience and endured a few punches to the gut. From canceled shows due to health issues within the band to the eagerly anticipated re-recorded version of Morning View getting delayed, the first half of the 2020s has been marked by struggles for the band.
This statement confirms rumors that Ben would not be returning to the band. Nicole Row, who toured with Incubus for most of 2023 while Ben recovered from a brain tumor removal, will be joining as his replacement. Speaking on the subject through social media, Brandon Boyd wrote:
We are saddened at his departure but honor his decision and we are so grateful that we had the opportunity to make music with such a talented and generous artist for two decades. I’m sure it’s inevitable that everyone will have questions as to the details surrounding his departure and that is fair, but in honoring our long friendship with Ben, it feels appropriate to allow for him to answer those queries in a time frame he himself feels comfortable with. We wish him only the best of fortunes and we tip our hat to Ben, one of the greats.
Fortunately for Incubus and their followers, Brandon went on to say he and his band are “far from being done.” Now-official Incubus member Nicole Row joined her bandmates on Morning View XXIII, the aforementioned re-recording of 2001’s Morning View, which will come out on May 10th. According to Boyd, a new Incubus album is also in the works.
Boyd's statement continued
After our October 2023 concert at the Hollywood Bowl where we played "Morning View" in its entirety, it became an obvious next step for us to take this show on the road, so to speak. So in late summer of 24’ Incubus will be coming to an arena near you to share the love.
Incubus + Coheed and Cambria 2024 tour dates:
08/23 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
08/24 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
08/27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
08/29 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/31 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
09/03 – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
09/06 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
09/07 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center ATX
09/09 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
09/12 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
