1 of the 3 albums Ryan Adams planned on releasing this year has been "put on hold"
The music industry dropped its jaw—or uttered a weary “sounds about right”—this week when The New York Times outlined allegations of emotional abuse and sexually inappropriate behavior from seven different women against songwriter Ryan Adams. Among those interviewed was actress and musician Mandy Moore, Adams’ ex-wife, as well as an underage girl who claims Adams exposed himself to her via Skype while she was still a minor. Now, in the wake of the FBI opening an investigation into the latter claim, Variety reports that Adams’ upcoming album, Big Colors, has been “put on hold” ahead of its planned April release.
Big Colors is the first of three albums Adams hoped to release this year. On Thursday night, retailers began reporting that the album had been pulled from the schedule by Universal Music Group. Soon, the album’s landing pages were also pulled from Adams’ own Pax-Am label, which has a distribution deal with UMG’s Blue Note. The fallout continued when three gear manufacturers cut ties with Adams, announcing that products bearing his name would be discontinued and taken off the market.
“In light of recent news and allegations, we have discontinued the Defcon4 and are not selling any more direct or wholesale,” Colt Westbrook, president of Walrus Audio, wrote on Instagram, referencing an Adams-branded pedal. “This is our reactive plan, as this is fresh news for us in the last 24 hours. We will come forward with a proactive plan to help bring power to people combatting abuse as we figure out the best way to do so.”
Representatives for Benson and JHS Pedals made similar statements.
Wednesdays, the second album Adams hoped to release in 2019, still doesn’t have a release date. It features some notable guests in Emmylou Harris and Jason Isbell, the latter of whom addressed the allegations on Twitter. Isbell says that though he wasn’t previously aware of Adams’ alleged behavior he believes The Times’ reporting.
Adams’ third record of 2019 is still unannounced.