As the world nears a decade since Faith No More’s last large-scale live show, longtime keyboardist and guitarist Roddy Bottum has admitted that he’s as unclear about the band’s future as anyone.
Bottum, who has performed with the band since they established themselves as Faith No More in 1983, made the admission during a recent interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro when he was asked about the current state of the band.
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know,” Bottum admitted. “And you don’t have to believe me, but there’s nothing… Right now we’re in a really weird spot, a really strange spot, and I can’t really tell you what’s going on. I don’t know myself. I get different information from people, and I’m in the band.”
Bottum also asserted that he’s not the one calling the shots in the band, stating, “Not really. If I did, probably we’d be playing in Chile next week.”
Originally emerging out of the San Francisco group Sharp Young Men, Faith No More adopted their most famous moniker in 1983, and released a total of six albums prior to their dissolution in 1998. Their biggest successes came about following the inclusion of vocalist Mike Patton in 1988, with their following albums – 1989’s The Real Thing and 1992’s Angel Dust – peaking at No. 11 and No. 10 on the Billboard 200, respectively.
The group reunited in 2009, touring globally before releasing their Sol Invictus album in 2015. That same year resulted in the band’s final shows, though a pair of dates took place in 2016 with former vocalist Chuck Mosley to celebrate the reissue of their 1985 debut, We Care a Lot. Mosley would pass away one year later at the age of 57.
Faith No More had initially planned to make their live return in 2020, though shows across the U.S., Europe, and Australia were later postponed due to the COVID pandemic. In 2021, the dates were canceled entirely, with Patton announcing his activities with Faith No More and Mr. Bungle had been shelved due to “mental health reasons” which he later explained was a diagnosis of agoraphobia.
While Patton and Mr. Bungle would later return to the stage, Faith No More have remained quiet ever since, with Bottum describing the band’s current status as being on a “semi permanent hiatus” in October 2024.
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