This article is a little out of left field for me - but as I was on the train in the recent days, and my Spotify playlists started dredging up old Panic! At the Disco tracks I used to listen to a very long time ago, and it got my brain thinking. How did the mighty fall so damn hard? Brendon Urie was at the top of his game for almost the entirety of the early 2000's, in a band that took what we knew about alternative and emo culture and flipped it all on it's head - yet now, he's nowhere to be seen, shunned to the background of pop culture off the back of not only a plethora of allegations against his name, but also the most insane and shockingly awful 'comeback' record to ever be released. And just a heads up, I'm going to be talking about a lot of stuff that references the allegations bought against Urie, so for all my buddies triggered by discussion of S/A I'd recommend clicking away now.
Panic! started off as any band did in 2004, a group of friends making music. Comprised of childhood friends Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson, and Brendon Urie, Panic! At the Disco went quickly from a local scene band to meteoric fame from their debut record A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Of course, with this record came the classic track I Write Sins Not Tragedies, which peaked at No.7 in the US and No.25 in the UK - garnering them insane attention. And of course, this all came off the back of signing to DCD2 Records prior even to the record's release, the record label owned by Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. Over the next few years, between members leaving and new ones joining, most notably Dallon Weekes who now is the frontman of IDKHOWBUTTHEYFOUNDME the band continued to blaze it's way through both the charts and the alternative zeitgeist. I Write Sins went platinum, they went from strength to strength, releasing Pretty Odd and becoming headlining musicians just months after playing warmup for bands who were similarly influential in the scene, Fall Out Boy included.
The wheels kept turning, and soon enough Panic! became Brendon Urie's solo project. Taking the creative helm, he released three new records, toured the world, and continued to keep the band moving, with two of those records also receiving insane acclaim from critics and fans alike. Dropping the classic rock/burlesque emo style and chasing a more clean stylized pop sound, Urie moved Panic! onto a new era, and continued amongst the adversity faced through the revolving door of musicians coming in and out of the band. Panic! At the Disco became an emo institution, and for a very long time, I even regarded them as one of my favourite bands. In June 2018 the band released Pray for the Wicked, an album that not only reinvigorated their image, but also was one of the most commercially successful records Urie ever made. No one could escape the song High Hopes, with it peaking at No.4 in the US charts, and the record even reached number one in the album charts at the time. The song got extensive radio play, was used for sports fixtures and became an instant sensation. It seemed like nothing could stop this band's meteoric rise. But, as everyone knows, all good things must eventually come to an end.
In 2020, two alleged victims of Urie's went to twitter to accuse him of sexual harassment. Before this, nothing had been lobbied against him, and to some he was even seen as one of the 'cleanest' musicians in an industry that was more and more ousting predators amongst the glitz and glamour. These allegations hit hard, causing the hashtag #BrendonUrieSpeakUp to become trending on the platform, as people spoke out about their own similar experiences. As this continued, a slew of new allegations and fingers were pointed at Urie, including a clip of him making an extremely off colour joke surrounding S/A to a crowd at a festival - and another incident where Urie employed a derogatory transphobic slur when referring to media star Catlin Jenner. As this raged on, his manager Zack Hall also came under fire for similar allegations, causing his time with the band to be terminated, and Urie to make a tearful apology on a livestream - however, fans branded that apology disingenuous after he claimed he would continue being friends with him even after the alleged S/A claims.
Safe to say, people turned on him - quite rightly - and Panic! was pretty quickly forgotten about. Brendon Urie was discredited online, and people began claiming that 'unproblematic Panic!' ended when Weekes walked away from the band in 2017. Twitter and Instagram traffic is filled to this day with people cussing him out, calling him a liar and pointing fingers at his sub par performances at his concerts, amongst other things a little too unsavoury to talk about here. I'm no vocal coach, and know very little about how to keep your voice healthy, but even I have to say that from seeing those videos, I can really see where it was coming from. Urie used to use his voice less like a tool, and more as a trick, throwing wild vibrato and insane whistle notes to his live performance - and I think that's where people started to pull away. For me, his talent came in his subtlety. During the early days, his voice was soft, playful, and worked with the cooky and experimental tones of the music Panic! were making, and even as they turned to the polished pop sound, it worked for that too. As soon as he started abusing that range - especially live, and throwing in those high notes all over the shop, it became a cheap party trick - and quite clearly took it's toll on his singing voice.
Then, pretty out of the blue as far as I was concerned, Panic! came out of the woodwork, and announced a brand new album titled Viva Las Vengeance was on it's way in August of 2022. People were shocked at this, and as the album came, that shock slowly turned into what I can only describe as an insane dislike for both the album and the lead singer. The Brendon Urie hate train came right back around, and people were quick to not only clown on Urie for deciding to record the album on an 8 track recorder, but also that he had decided to even make an album in the first place. To the public, he had been cancelled for almost two years after the allegations lobbied against him online, and for him to pop up again and release an album like nothing ever happened only angered fans more. What made the entire situation worse was that the album sucked. It sounded janky and unfinished, and all the songs sounded almost entirely similar, filled with harsh sampling and jarring instrumentals. People and critics alike panned it for it's poor mixing, with Urie's strained vocals stuck right in the forefront, dangled sloppily along with the rest of the shoddily mixed instruments. It was a flop for sure, and then, as Panic! announced a worldwide tour to go with the album, the news dropped.
At the end of the Viva Las Vengeance tour, Panic! would be disbanding, permanently. There were a lot of theories as to why this announcement was made mid tour cycle, but to be honest, it was probably to get bums on seats at the arenas they were quite criminally underselling. Urie claimed it was due to the fact that he was starting a family with his wife, however many people on the internet took that announcement as a simple and pretty convenient PR duck and dive. The internet seemingly decided that their only selling point was to announce their breakup early, and hope to god that the remaining nostalgia off the back of their now almost 18 year tenure did the job for them. It worked, the tour practically sold out - and people went to see Panic! perform one last time. People obviously complained, not only at the fact that Urie was once again seemingly getting off scott free, but also that the poster from the tour included an image of Urie on fire looking generally unbothered - which some took as a commentary on his recent flaming online. His live vocals were again called into question, with not only his general tone being forced and off balance, but those attempted high notes being scratchy and unclean. But the tour trawled on, playing 38 shows across North America and Europe, with the last one being in Manchester at the AO Arena.
And then it was all over. In what felt like a blink of an eye, a once legendary band disappeared into nothing. Social media accounts still post the odd anniversary posts on old records, Urie's own Twitter has been silent since 2020, and although their music is still streaming, no one seems to talk about Panic! anymore. From being once one of the most celebrated bands of the 2000's, Panic! At the Disco disappeared in a matter of years into being one of the bands that time forgot - and maybe that's a good thing. Although their stardom was insane, and the band blazed a path in the industry wannabe bands can only dream of walking, the actions of Urie and his team soil even the most perfect musical achievements. As we as a society buy in more and more to the lives of the musicians we enjoy, there is simply no space in today's age for people like Urie, who although may have one day been an idol, is by no means safe from the court of public opinion - or his past actions catching up to him.
In all honesty, I haven't thought about this band for a very very long time, and was sort of contempt with that. I went through a massive Panic! phase, and even saw them on tour during the Pray for the Wicked era. I held Urie in ridiculously high regard, so to say the outpouring of allegations against him crushed me would have been an understatement. I'll be candid when I say I still hold a bit of resentment for him for the inexcusability of his actions that I don't think even I realised until today, and along with the lack of response after the fact, and the sheer cheek to release another subpar album and squeeze a tour out of it before disappearing into the ether irritated me to no avail. In my opinion, it unnecessarily slung mud at a name that, for the longest time, had been a source of hope and expression for so many for so long. However, I'm glad the victims were heard, and we saw him in the appropriate light socially, and even though nothing has been legally bought to light, I hope the victims found some solace in the online community coming together to amplify their stories.
And with that, Panic! At the Disco sleeps, if not soundly, in the history books.
If you have been affected by anything discussed in this article, help is available for you - no victims should have to suffer in silence at the hands of their abusers. Organisations like Safeline fight to bring a voice to those who suffer sexual and domestic assault and help victims gain support and understanding during their time of need.
You can reach them at their website - www.safeline.org or phone them at 01926402498
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