Replacements have been announced for a rock icon backed out due to a mental health crash. Previously, Eric Bass, bassist for Shinedown, announced he wouldn't be touring with the band.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The tour launched in Michigan on July 11. Instead, Josh Sturm of the band Kairos and Zack Mack will fill in for him during the tour. Bass is hopeful that he will eventually be able to catch up with the rock band later in the tour.
However, he doesn't know how long he will be gone. Currently, he's seeking mental health treatment at the Medical University of South Carolina.
"I don't know any other way to do this other than just to do it off the cuff, none of this is prepared," Bass wrote last Friday. "But I have an announcement to make: I'm not going to be joining the band at the beginning of this tour that starts in a few days."
Rock Icon Speaks Out
"I had a pretty serious mental health crash, I guess you could say, a few weeks ago, and I don't really feel it's the wise thing for me to do, to go out on tour right now," he continued. "I debated whether to make this announcement at all and just not be there and show back up when it's time, but mental health being such a thing that I have championed and the band has championed, that it would be not the best look to maybe seem like I'm ashamed of it."
The rock icon says that currently, he doesn't have a timeline for his treatment.
"I don't have a timeline for that right now," he explained. "Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, but I want to make sure that I'm safe. I'm very blessed to be able to take a break like this. I know a lot of people can't."
The rock icon went public about his mental health struggle to share support for others.
He said, "If you're going through a mental health crisis, give yourself time...reach out to people. I did something I've never done before in my 51 years on earth: I reached out to someone and said, 'I can't do this on my own, and I need help.'"
