UK singer BLAZE BAYLEY (WOLSFBANE, ex-IRON MAIDEN) recently announced: "Due to financial and medical reasons I’ve been forced to part ways with the band. I will give a full statement in the next few days about my future plans."

An update from Blaze states: "First of all thanks again for all the wonderful messages of support I have received in the last few days. The mental, financial and emotional strain of keeping the Blaze Bayley Band together has proven to be too much for me and has taken a terrible toll on my mental health. As a result of that, I have had to split with the Blaze Bayley Band, now I am just Blaze Bayley, a solo artist and also the lead singer of Wolfsbane. Since Anna and Larry left the Blaze Bayley Band, we've tried to do everything ourselves and for me it has been too much. Without a proper manager coordinating concerts, touring, festivals, promotion, record releases and all the finances, it's too much to cope with.

Now I've finally taken this incredibly difficult decision, I feel I can breathe again. It has been an upsetting, frustrating and sad time because the Blaze Bayley Band will not be going on any more, but it is also for me a huge relief and a time to look forward. I wish David, Nico and Jay every succes with their future projects and like to thank them for their loyalty, commitment and sharing their musical talent on The Man Who Would Not Die and Promise and Terror. They are arguably two of the best metal albums I have ever made. We have made a live album and a DVD and I am immensly proud of all of those things as well as the incredible concerts we have played to fans all over the world.

I apologize to my UK fans for postponing the upcoming tour. We are still in the process of rearranging all the dates that we can to happen in December. The shows I have booked with Wolfsbane will all go ahead. Also, all the festivals I have booked will go ahead with different musicians.

I have a lot of plans that I am very excited about for the future and on top of that I am expecting my first child to be born in September.

Look out for me popping up in different places all over Europe in the summer, because I am still available and being booked for festivals and guest appearances. The first two weeks of September is my unplugged acoustic UK tour with Jase Edwards from Wolfsbane, called Blaze And Jase: The Incredible Tour. The full dates will be announced in the next few weeks. After that there will be a week of European full metal shows.

I am going to the USA in October and November for my first ever headline tour since Iron Maiden. I will look forward to seeing all the Blaze Bayley fans over there. After that, the new Wolfsbane album comes out.

Next year, I am planning to do my first acoustic unplugged album with mostly new songs and that should come with an Unplugged World Tour. I'm planning to start work on my next full metal album in 2013.

Thank you so much everyone for being there for me through these difficult years and for your continued support, thank you for being my blood and belief."