UPDATE: Ivan Moody Apologizes for Retirement Comments – I Ain’t Quitting
Ivan Moody had a shocking announcement for the crowd in attendance at Five Finger Death Punch’s show in Denver Friday night, Oct. 14: He’s “retiring from heavy metal.” Though not imminent, Moody said this will be his last year to be the frontman of FFDP, after making one more album with the band.
Moody, who hails from Denver, appeared with two of his kids on stage to deliver his speech, in which he shared:
“I wanted to tell you this. And nobody else in the world knows, Denver, so this is where it’s going to start. And what you do with it is up to you. The last 15 years of my life I have toured the world, I have seen every country, every city on this planet at least twice. That’s a fact. And through that time as many of you parents know … I have missed a lot of time with my kiddos. So I made them a deal today, and I’m going to stick to it. After this year, I am going to make one more Five Finger Death Punch album and then I am retiring from heavy metal.” Moody then shakes each kids’ hand and jokes they cannot have his mic stand.
He continued, “But I wanted to start that here and tell all of you, from day one when I decided to be a singer playing places like … the Bluebird Theater, the Ogden, and we were supposed to play Red Rocks, we’ll have to do that one more time. Can I play Red Rocks one more time? … I owe you everything, Colorado, Five Finger Death Punch and every knucklehead on this planet, thank you.”
It should be noted Moody did not say he was retiring from music per se, but from heavy metal. Some fans reading into his statement suggested Moody might be moving closer to a country singer career. And it would make sense. FFDP have teamed up with Canadian singers Brantley Gilbert and Cory Marks for their upcoming 22-date tour in November. Of course, Moody and Gilbert did a cover of Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s “Blue on Black” together back in 2019 while, that same year, Moody also guested on Marks’ song “Outlaws & Outsiders.”
Though, Moody has made these kinds of statements before so time will tell if this one holds true. In June 2017, after a beleaguered show in the Netherlands, he declared onstage, “I’ll let you know ahead of time — this is my last show with Five Finger Death Punch,” and then made a throat-slit motion across his neck. However, by August of that year, he returned with the band at a show in Illinois after issuing a statement that he was “embarrassed and ashamed to admit that I have fallen off the wagon again” and had entered treatment to help with his sobriety.
Five Finger Death Punch wraps up today in Utah. Find tickets here. Meanwhile, you can catch the band later this year playing a hometown concert at Las Vegas’ Michelob Ultra Arena on Dec. 17. Get details on how to enter to win tickets here.
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