Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno on ‘heartbreaking’ decision to sack frontman Tom Meighan
Musician has replaced Meighan as the band’s lead singer
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Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno has discussed the band’s decision to sack their former frontman, Tom Meighan, after he was convicted of assaulting his fiancée Vikki Ager.
The band’s former frontman left the rock group in 2020 one day before appearing in court to plead guilty to assaulting Ager, his partner of four years.
Meighan was sentenced to community service in July 2020 after a court was told he hit Ager in the face, shoved her up against a hamster cage, pushed her over repeatedly, held her by the throat and threatened her with a wooden pallet during the assault on 9 April.
Footage of the incident showed an inebriated Meighan striking Ager and dragging her by the ankles into the back garden of their home. The prosecutor said the attack was witnessed by a child, who called 999, sounding “panicked and afraid”. Meighan and Ager are now married.
Now the band are returning with guitarist Pizzorno as the new frontman. In an interview with The Guardian, Pizzorno said: “The summer when Tom left was absolutely heartbreaking.
“It felt like leaving home and coming back and seeing it burnt down, walking round the ashes, seeing old pictures and artefacts and picking things up and sifting through the destruction. It was an intense time.”
He added: “Over the years, we’ve dealt with a lot. When it all came out, you’d see things being said and written that were hard to take because you’ve lived it – you know the true story.”
On the band’s new record, The Alchemist’s Euphoria, the track “Rocket Fuel” addressed the criticism the group received from fans over their decision to sack Meighan. “It always amazes me how strong people’s opinions are when they don’t know anything about the actual truth,” he said in the interview.
“There’s way more to it. Who in their right mind would sack a frontman if there wasn’t cause?”
He said that there had been “tough moments” over the years before the attack on Ager, adding that Meighan – who has said he has struggled with alcoholism and ADHD – “crossed the line” with the assault. “With Tom, all we ever tried was love and support… I miss who Tom used to be,” he said.
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Last year, Meighan wrote a lengthy blog post about the events surrounding his arrest for assaulting his now wife.
The Alchemist’s Euphoria is out on 5 August.
If you or someone you know is suffering from alcohol addiction, you can confidentially call the national alcohol helpline Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 or visit the NHS website here for information about the programmes available to you.