Chumba.comChumbawumba, the British group best known for their 1997 top 10 hit "Tubthumping," is breaking up after thirty years.
A statement on the band's website says, "That’s it then, it’s the end. with neither a whimper, a bang or a reunion. Thirty years of ideas and melodies, endless meetings and European tours, press releases, singalong choruses and Dada sound poetry, finally at an end."
Explaining why they've decided to pack it in, the group explains, "We felt we’d got to a point where what we did as a band...wasn’t doing justice to what Chumbawamba set out to do in the first place. We were always as much about ideas as music, and that meant...trying to be relevant and active and up-to-date, while trying to avoid the dreaded rut of routine or repetition."
The statement goes on to say, "Being up-to-date meant giving plenty of time and energy to the band, constantly, for those thirty years....eventually the rest of our lives got in the way and we couldn’t commit the time and enthusiasm that the band demanded. Couldn’t keep up with whatever responsibilities came with a band like this."
The band says they'll perform a few more times before the end of this year, and adds, "If others have been inspired to switch off the telly and do something useful because of all this, then that will be our measure of success (more of a measure, in any case, than record sales)."
Chumbawumba ends by saying, "Thirty years of being snotty, eclectic, funny, contrary and just plain weird. What a privilege, and what a good time we’ve had."
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