Christian rock band respond to former member's drug abuse, sexual assault allegations
Christian rock band respond to former member's drug abuse, sexual assault allegations
Nashville-based Christian rockers Newsboys are responding to troubling news regarding their 59-year-old former lead singer, Michael Tait.
In a post on the group's official Instagram account, the Australian-founded band responded to allegations of drug abuse and inappropriate sexual conduct against Tait while also distancing him from the band.
"Last night, our hearts were shattered when we read the news alleging drug abuse and inappropriate sexual actions by our former lead singer, Michael Tait. While Michael has not addressed these allegations, we are devastated even by the implications," the statement read.
"First and foremost, our hearts are with the victims who have bravely shared their stories. If you are a victim, we urge you to come forward. We absolutely do not condone any form of sexual assault."
The quartet noted that as husbands who are fathers of 14 children in total, they were "horrified, heartbroken, and angry at this report and in many ways, we feel as if we and our families have been deceived for the last fifteen years."
Tait told the band he had 'been living a double-life'
In January 2025, Tait, who was the lead vocalist of the group for 15 years in their four decades of existence, offered the following in a statement: "Fifteen years ago, my life was forever changed when I received the invite to step into the role of lead singer for Newsboys. The years since have been some of the most fulfilling, faith-filled, and rewarding years of my life."
"I have been on an amazing journey all over the globe, performing and ministering to people of all ages, races, and backgrounds."
"The decision does not come lightly and has been a shock to even myself, but admist prayer and fasting, I have clarity that this is the right decision," the statement continued.
In their June 5 statement, Tait's former bandmates, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein, Jody Davis and Adam Agee, noted that when he left the band, he "confessed" to them and their management that he "had been living a double-life."
Through a nearly three-year-long investigation by The Roys Report, it was discovered that for two decades, Tait befriended three young men on Christian music tours in 2004, 2010, and 2014. The trio were all 22 at the time of their first interaction.
Allegations of Tait, then two decades older than his accusers, engaging in acts of sexual assault and grooming highlight the lengthy investigation.
Latest on Michael Tait
As of June 5, Tait has not officially responded to the allegations on his social media accounts or the statement from his former bandmates. As well, there have been no further comments from the group.
Upon their 2021 release of "Stand," their 20th studio album, the band spoke with The Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.
It's noted that when Grammy-winner Tait, formerly of DC Talk, replaced Peter Furler as the group's new lead vocalist in 2009, the band no longer had any original members in its ranks.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel-Iran conflict: List of key events, June 20, 2025
Here's where things stand on Friday, June 20: Israel said on Friday that it had struck dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, including Tehran's Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research, missile production sites and military facilities in western and central Iran. The Israeli military said it struck surface-to-air missile batteries in western Iran, killing a squad of Iranian soldiers on the move during the operation, including a commander of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to intensify attacks on 'symbols of the regime' and 'mechanisms of oppression' in the Iranian capital, Tehran, aiming to destabilise it. Air defence systems were activated in Bushehr in southern Iran, the location of the country's only operating nuclear power plant, according to the Young Journalists Club, cited by state broadcaster IRIB. Iran's IRGC said it had fired its 17th wave of missiles at Israeli military facilities, including the Nevatim and Hatzerim bases. Iran fired missiles at Beersheba in southern Israel, with initial Israeli media reports also pointing to missile impacts in Tel Aviv, the Negev and Haifa. Iran said that the 'precise hits' demonstrated 'our offensive missile power is growing'. The Fars news agency quoted an Iranian military spokesperson as saying Tehran's missile and drone attacks on Friday had used long-range and ultra-heavy missiles against Israeli military sites, defence industries and command and control attack on Tehran's Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research, which it says is involved in Iran's alleged nuclear weapons development, killed a nuclear scientist, according to Israeli media reports. Iranian media reported that an industrial plant involved in the production of carbon fibre in northern Iran was damaged in an attack. Iran's health ministry said a third hospital in Tehran had been struck by Israeli bombs, according to state news agency IRNA. At least five people were injured when Israel hit a five-storey building in Tehran housing a bakery and a hairdresser's, Fars news agency reported. Iranian news outlet Asriran said that a drone attacked an apartment in a residential building in the Iranian capital's central Gisha district. The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran, said that Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in the country. Israeli authorities had previously said 24 civilians had been killed in Iranian attacks. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said its teams were providing treatment to 17 people, three in serious condition, after Iran's strikes. Israeli railway officials told local media that, due to the Iranian missile strike on Beersheba, the city's north station was temporarily closed. Afghanistan's agriculture minister said his country was in discussions with Russia to import certain foodstuffs as the conflict between Israel and Iran, one of its largest trading partners, risked cutting off of thousands of people attended anti-Israel protest marches in Tehran, as well as other major Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad and Qom. Demonstrators in southern Beirut, Lebanon held a pro-Iran rally after Friday prayers. Thousands of Iraqis gathered for Friday prayers in Baghdad's Sadr City, a suburb with a large Shia population, chanting against the US and Israel amid the attacks on Iran. Pro-Palestinian activists in the UK broke into the Royal Air Force Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire and damaged two President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong to suggest there is no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. 'Well, my intelligence community is wrong,' he replied when asked about Gabbard's position. Trump also said that while he 'might' support a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran, 'Israel's doing well in terms of war, and I think you would say that Iran is doing less well'. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the only way to end the conflict was for Israel to stop its air attacks, warning that 'failure to do so would result in a far more forceful and regrettable response from Iran'. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in St Petersburg that Moscow was sharing ideas with 'our Israeli and Iranian friends' about how to end the bloodshed and said he believed there was a diplomatic solution. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced new Iran-related sanctions aiming to disrupt Tehran's efforts to 'procure the sensitive, dual-use technology, components, and machinery that underpin the regime's ballistic missile, unmanned aerial vehicle, and asymmetric weapons programs'. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a phone conversation with Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide that Israel targeting economic facilities in Iran could lead to catastrophic regional and international repercussions. French President Emmanuel Macron said there was 'no justification' for strikes on civilians and on civilian infrastructure in the weeklong conflict, adding that Tehran should show its willingness to return to the negotiating table concerning its nuclear programme. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in comments carried by state news agency TASS that potential use of tactical nuclear weapons by the US in Iran would be a catastrophic development. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran over a phone call, a German government spokesperson said. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said his country was working with Israeli authorities to arrange charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when Ben Gurion International Airport reopens. The United Nations Security Council met at its headquarters in New York to discuss the situation between Iran and Israel. Rafael Grossi, director of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, warned against attacks on nuclear facilities at the meeting, saying a strike on the Bushehr nuclear plant could cause 'radioactive releases with great consequences' beyond Iran's borders. He called for 'maximum restraint'. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the meeting that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could 'ignite a fire no one can control', calling on both sides to 'give peace a chance'. Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani urged the Security Council to take action, saying the country was 'alarmed by credible report[s] that the United States … may be joining this war'. Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, pledged at the UNSC that there would be no letup in attacks on Iran. 'Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe,' he said. Russia's envoy Vassily Nebenzia stressed that Israel attacked Iran on the eve of a round of nuclear talks and accused Israel of showing a blatant disregard for attempts to find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict. Iraq's representative to the UN, Abbas Kadhom Obaid al-Fatlawi, said 50 Israeli warplanes from the Syrian-Jordanian border areas violated Iraqi airspace shortly before the Security Council meeting. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended a meeting in Geneva with France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union's foreign policy chief, which appeared to yield no breakthrough. Araghchi told reporters in Geneva that Iran would be ready to consider diplomacy 'once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed'. Earlier, he accused Israel of a 'betrayal of diplomacy' in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters after the Geneva talks that Araghchi had signalled 'his willingness to continue these discussions on the nuclear programme and, more broadly, on all issues'. British Foreign Minister David Lammy said European ministers in Geneva had made it clear that 'Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon'. Germany's Defence Ministry said that it had flown 64 people out of Israel, describing the flights as a 'diplomatic pick-up' and not a military evacuation mission, which would have required parliamentary approval. Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Harris announced his country would temporarily relocate embassy personnel from Tehran 'in light of the deteriorating situation'. The UK said it was temporarily withdrawing staff from its embassy in Iran, saying the embassy continued to 'operate remotely'. Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said it had decided to temporarily close its embassy in Iran, citing intense military operations there. Australia also said it had suspended operations at its embassy in Iran. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said a 'crisis response team' was being sent to neighbouring Azerbaijan to support Australians departing Iran by road. Slovakia and the Czech Republic also announced the temporary closure of their embassies in Tehran. British police arrested eight men on Friday, including seven on suspicion of grievous bodily harm, following reports of an altercation involving pro and anti-Iranian protesters at a location close to the Iranian embassy in London.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Robert Altman's ‘Nashville' made a noise louder than country music
Starts with a crash, ends with a bang. In between, Robert Altman's 'Nashville' makes nearly every conceivable noise about living in an America where paranoia and hope commingle in an inseparable swirl. Does that make this masterpiece movie a gonzo comedy masquerading as dark satire, or is it the other way around? Either way, 50 summers after its theatrical release, 'Nashville' still feels vivid, vibrant and a little more resonant than we might wish. In the American right-now, our politics remain violently contentious. Our two-party system still feels woefully limiting. Society continues to repopulate itself with self-deluded strivers and clout chasers. The national mood is in the toilet. Plus, country music is more popular than ever. Is it 1975 again? Or have we been stuck in 1975 for half a century?
NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
Immigration agents will have easier access to Chargers, Rams home games
The recent incident involving federal agents attempting to enter the parking lots at Dodgers Stadium has a bright-line connection to other L.A.-area sporting events that will begin in fewer than two months. SoFi Stadium will be hosting 19 total NFL games featuring the Chargers and the Rams. Unlike Dodger Stadium, where the gates can be accessed only through a parking-lot area not open to the public, the gates at SoFi Stadium are fully open to the public and not within an area to which access can be denied. Which means that federal agents can, if they choose, gather at the gates to SoFi in search of those who are or who may be authorized to be present in the United States. It's still not entirely clear what happened at Dodgers Stadium on Thursday. The team said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were denied entry to the parking lot. ICE called that claim 'false.' Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News that Customs and Border Protection vehicles 'were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.' That wasn't the end of the matter. On Friday, the Dodgers donated $1 million to 'toward direct financial assistance for families of immigrants impacted by recent events in the region.' That wrinkle raises an obvious question. Will the other Los Angeles teams follow suit? Immigration continues to be a hot-button issue, throughout the country. But it's one thing to secure the border and/or to remove immigrants who have engaged in documented wrongdoing. The indiscriminate snatching and grabbing of human beings by federal officers who are inexplicably wearing masks raises very real questions about who we are and what we are becoming. Right or wrong, these actions create real trauma for immigrants and their families. By contributing $1 million to the effort, the Dodgers have underscored the simple reality that the chest-thumping mass deportation effort has real consequences for those who are taken away, and for those who have left behind. Maybe you're wired to say in response, 'Eff around and find out.' Or maybe you're actually inclined to believe and lives the lessons of the New Testament, and not to simply pretend to be a Christian.
