In November 2019, Black Veil Brides and bassist Ashley Purdy stopped working together. An official statement read:

"Black Veil Brides and Ashley Purdy have mutually agreed to part ways. We have enjoyed a wonderful run together and both parties wish one another continued success moving forward."

Immediately following the news, Ashley released a new song called "Nowhere" which can be heard below. 

Now in January 2020, Purdy has revealed as much as he legally can to Robert Cavuoto of Sonic Perspectives. An excerpt follows:

In October, you shared a very heartfelt and emotional update on your family’s status as well as your own health. How have you been doing?

"It just had to take its course, but at least I was strong enough to know I needed to seek help. I was trying to be a tough guy and deal with it on my own until one day I broke. I went to a physician to get some meds after telling him my story, and he was like, “No, you need more treatment.” I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for a week to get medicine, therapy, and grief counseling. At the group session’s I heard other people’s stories and knew I wasn’t alone. The oddest thing was a psychic medium who I didn’t know, reached out to me through a friend-of-a-friend, to give me a message from the people who passed into the afterlife. What the medium told me was very believable as nobody would have known the level of details they shared. Strangely, hearing that they were okay helped me. This whole thing changed my perspective and I’m living a different way. I’m an open book now. There is nothing I won’t say or do or help someone. It’s part of life, and I’m accepting of it."

I’m grateful that you are doing well. To the surprise of your fans, in November there was the announcement that you had left Black Veil Brides on amicable terms. Did your personal situation play a role in your decision to depart?

"What sucks was the timing of it all. They didn’t have anything to do with each other. There are legal aspects of what I can’t say about the departure. Fans of the band are continually coming up to me, asking, 'Why did I leave the band?' Technically I didn’t leave; I’m just not in the band anymore. I have to talk in those terms right now. Black Veil Brides is a corporate business, and there are legal rules. It’s like a divorce, and we are working it all out. People can make their own assessments about things, but when you make a record, don’t tour for two years, only to make another record, don’t tour for two more years; the moral of the band starts to go away. The band is a job, and it’s how you pay your bills and put food on the table. When it doesn’t happen, you have to start looking for other things to do."

To read the complete interview, click here.

(Photo courtesy of Ashley Purdy's Facebook page)