Charlie Garner – Contributing Writer

avg6206@psu.edu

On January 24, Brendon Urie officially announced that Panic! At the Disco would be coming to an end. After years of being the only original member of the band left, Urie decided it was best to put the band to rest to start a family with his wife, Sarah. 

Since Urie started working on Panic! alone in 2015, many fans feel that the band has suffered as a result of Ryan Ross’ departure as the principal songwriter and guitarist. The act’s last full-band effort was “Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!” in 2013. 

The solo work of Urie as Panic! At the Disco enjoyed success for a while, with the 2016 album “Death of a Bachelor” receiving positive reviews from both critics and fans, and the band’s highest-charting single, “High Hopes,” appearing on the 2018 album “Pray for the Wicked.” 

When Urie and fellow co-founders Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson were in high school, the band was founded. The following year, they released their debut album, “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out,” which launched them into popularity thanks to the smash hit “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.” Wilson, however, quit the group before the release of their second album, “Pretty. Odd.,” which signaled a change in musical style. 

Ultimately, Urie and Smith were the only original members still present. Urie made a comeback in 2018 with the album Pray for the Wicked, which peaked at number one on the Billboard 200. The singles “High Hopes,” “King of the Clouds,” and “Say Amen (Saturday Night),” were all included on the album. Before starting on a new record the next year, the group contributed a rendition of “Into the Unknown” to the “Frozen 2” soundtrack. The band’s prior highs were not attained after Brendon Urie resurrected Panic! with the album and song “Viva Las Vengeance” last summer. 

It was clearly expected that fans of this infamous band would have been devastated to hear about the band coming to an end, but they could not have been more rejoiced about the occasion. The fans have grown quite a distaste for Brendon Urie over the years, due to his problematic behavior and his willingness to keep the band running with the original name, even though he was the only original member left in the group.

One particular fan described it as “imagine One Direction splitting up, except Liam Payne just takes the name for his solo career and he continues to be under One Direction… even though it’s just Liam Payne.” I feel like that is a really good comparison for this situation. The distaste for Brendon Urie has only grown stronger within the past year with his attempt to revive the band, with very negative and upsetting results.