‘Elder emos’ distraught as You Me at Six announce breakup and farewell tour

Rock band have revealed plans to break up after a farewell tour

The hearts of “elder emos” across the world are breaking after rock band You Me At Six announced their decision to split after 20 years together.

Hailing from Weybridge, Surrey, the group was formed in 2004 and consists of lead singer and frontman Josh Franceschi, guitarists Max Helyer and Chris Miller, bassist Matt Barnes and drummer Daniel Flint.

With songs such as “Stay With Me” and “Bite My Tongue”, the band are considered pioneers of the emo rock genre.

On Thursday (1 February), they issued a statement announcing that they were parting ways after two decades,

Franceschi said: “When we started YMAS, we were kids. We only ever wanted longevity, to travel and to experience life as a group of friends. We feel like on the eve of our 20th anniversary as a band, now is a good time to call time.”

The statement added that to say goodbye properly, You Me At Six would go on one final tour for the fans.

It continued: “We’re in a fortunate position where our fans still want to see us live and come celebrate the life of this band. So that is what we will do for 2024 and 2025. We can’t wait to see our fans on the road.”

You Me at Six (Getty Images)

The band will embark on a sold-out tour later this month, in cities such as Bristol, Aberdeen and Oxford, before making their final festival appearance at Slam Dunk festival on 25 and 26 May.

In response to the news, several fans have expressed their upset at the planned disbandment of You Me At Six, with many quipping that the news will hit millennials who grew up with their music hardest.

“Hug your elder emos tonight (You Me At Six are breaking up),” one person wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Another person wrote: “My whole Twitter legacy is you me at six so I might as well deactivate now.”

“You me at six are breaking up, they were the first band to get me into heavier music, I owe everything to them, genuinely heartbroken,” reads another heartfelt tribute, while others named this development as a sign of growing up: “You me at six calling it a day feels like a real nail in the coffin for tumblr & my youth.”

The band achieved two Number One albums, as well as embarking on several world tours. Recently, their music also reached one billion streams worldwide.

The You Me At Six farewell tour will take place in 2025.