{"id":3492,"date":"2013-08-23T08:45:36","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T08:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/administrator_wordpress\/index.php\/2013\/08\/23\/the-calling-frontman-abducted-beaten-and-robbed-in-michigan\/"},"modified":"2013-08-23T08:45:36","modified_gmt":"2013-08-23T08:45:36","slug":"the-calling-frontman-abducted-beaten-and-robbed-in-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2013\/08\/23\/the-calling-frontman-abducted-beaten-and-robbed-in-michigan\/","title":{"rendered":"The Calling frontman abducted, beaten and robbed in Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"


Alex Band ‘left for dead’ during US comeback shows as the Calling sign a major record contract and set up global tour. <\/p>\n

The Calling’s lead singer has reported being abducted, beaten and robbed while wandering in a small town in Michigan. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Alex Band was allegedly forced into a minivan and assaulted by thieves, bringing him “near death”.<\/p>\n

The Calling, whose 2001 and 2004 albums reached No 12 and No 9 on the UK charts, are “in the midst of signing a major record deal” and “setting up a global tour,” they said in a statement. Meanwhile, the group’s frontman was found battered in Lapeer, Michigan, where the Calling played the second of two comeback shows.<\/p>\n

Around 3am on 18 August, Band “reported being assaulted, robbed, and dropped off on another street,” police sergeant Craig Gormley told CNN. Another band-member allegedly found the 32-year-old, taking him to hospital. Officers are now looking for two men who were driving a blue minivan.<\/p>\n

Late on Monday afternoon, Band released a statement describing the altercation. He was on his way to a “local mini mart”, he said, when someone “grabbed [him] by his shirt” and struck him with a police baton. The assailant demanded Band’s “Hollywood money” and cornered him in a van. “With [a] gun to his face, Band told the assailants ‘Don’t kill me as I am about to be a dad’. After more beating the assailants responded with ‘We don’t kill fathers’ and then left him for dead at a local railroad track in Lapeer.”<\/p>\n

At hospital, Band was treated for a fractured lower spine, three broken teeth, cuts to his chin and bruises on his side and stomach. “I am grateful to be alive and I know that I am destined for bringing my music back to my fans,” he said. “I was near death due to this unbelievable situation \u2026 [and] I never thought my unborn child would be my saviour.”<\/p>\n

Just last week, Band revealed that he had assembled a new backing band to record acoustic versions of some of the Calling’s “biggest hits”. Never mind that the group only ever really had one hit, 2001’s Wherever You Will Go: Band said he was finally ready to bring the project back, after seven years of “fighting through trials and addictions”.<\/p>\n

“Having a global hit was amazing, but due to my personal struggles and relationships I was robbed of the enjoyment of being on the top of a musical high of a career,” Band said in his press release. “I dropped everything to fight for my ailing wife, followed by a divorce, which equaled with a substance abuse problem that almost took my life. Coming out of my addiction with yet another struggle is something of a freedom. This second chance has given me great fodder for our new music.”<\/p>\n

Founded by Band and guitarist Alex Kamin, the Calling sold about 5m copies of their first two albums.<\/p>\n

Wherever You Will Go, which was named Billboard’s top adult pop song of the 2000s, was later covered by London singer Charlene Soraia; her version reached No 3 in 2011, with help from a commercial for Twinings Tea.<\/p>\n

Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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