Written by: Alex Green

Panic! At The Disco drummer Spencer Smith revealed this week that he has quit the Las Vegas band.

In a personal, confessional and altogether moving post that Smith wrote on the band’s official page, Smith revealed how difficult the decision was for him to make and the love he has for his bandmates, his fans and his remarkable career.

He wrote: “…what will stick with me the most is showing up in city after city and finding more and more of you who had learned the lyrics to all our songs, or had made home made t-shirts with our faces surrounded in puff paint, or baked us cookies from your grandmas secret recipe and put a single hair in each one (ok, that one was a little creepy…creepy, but delicious). For me, that’s what made it all so surreal. Yes, getting to travel around the world with my friends was no doubt some of the best memories of my life, but it was what happened during that hour and a half on stage each night that was truly magic. And none of it was possible without you. Whether it was in front of 15 people at Brendon’s church social or 15,000 people in a field somewhere in England. What we created, the four of us onstage, and you in the audience, that was something special. It was on those nights I’d say to myself “If I could be anywhere in the world tonight, with anyone I wanted, it would be right here with you”. It’s what I’ll miss the most. So, thank you. I truly cannot wait to see what’s next for Panic, whatever it is, it’s going to be great. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me the life I only dreamed of 10 short years ago.”

As for why exactly he’s stepping away from the band, Smith said: “After 10 years of being a part of this unbelievable journey it saddens me to say that I will be leaving Panic. This was not an easy decision to come to, but after a lot of thinking it became clear that this is what’s right for me and the band. I love this band with all my heart, and getting to see it grow from 4 kids in my parents garage to what it is now has been incredible. I loved it all. But, at a certain point, I realized that I wasn’t able to be there for the band the way I wanted to be, and more importantly, the way they needed me to be.”

You can read his entire post here:

Panic! At The Disco haven’t commented publicly on Smith’s departure.

In other Panic! news, the band were recently nominated for Best Live Band and Best Bassist (Dallon Weekes) at the Alternative Press Music Awards.