Win Butler, the Arcade Fire frontman, has finally publically commented on his brother Will Butler’s departure from the band after nearly 20 years of creating and playing music together.
“I love Will,” Win said in a brand new interview. “He’s my only brother and he’s always had interests that transcend music. I think that he sort of followed his big brother into this band. It was his first job. He’s got three young children, and [my wife] Regine and I are able to bring our child on the road. But I think that if I wasn’t, there’s things way more important than music.”
“My brother has his own path…” he continued. “I think that there’s things other than music that he has interest in, but I think fundamentally you only have one chance to raise your family and to kind of have a life with your family. I think it’s very, extremely understandable. I’m proud of him for doing his own thing.”
Will, who announced his exit from the band earlier this year, revealed that he had left Arcade Fire at the end of 2021, right after completing their newest album, WE, which is slated to release on May 6.
“I left at the end of last year, after the new record was complete,” Will wrote at the time. “There was no acute reason beyond that I’ve changed—and the band has changed—over the last almost 20 years. Time for new things.”
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