"Now is a good time to call time": You Me At Six announce split

You Me At Six are breaking up after 20 years.

The English pop-rock band, who scored UK number one albums with 2014's Cavalier Youth, and 2021's Suckapunch, announced the news today, January 31, while also revealing plans for a farewell world tour in 2025.

Vocalist Josh Franceschi says: “When we started YMAS we were kids. We only ever wanted longevity, to travel and to experience life as a group of friends. We feel like on the eve of our 20th anniversary as a band, now is a good time to call time. We’re in a fortunate position where our fans still want to see us live and come celebrate the life of this band. So that is what we will do for 2024 and 2025. We can’t wait to see our fans on the road.”

Next month, the quintet will embark on a sold-out UK tour, and they are also set to headline Slam Dunk festival in May.

Upcoming dates are:

Feb 09: Wolverhampton, KK's Steel Mill
Feb 10: Norwich, UEA
Feb 11: Bristol, o2 Academy
Feb 13: Oxford, o2 Academy
Feb 14: Middlesbrough, Town Hall
Feb 15: Aberdeen, P&J Live
Feb 17: Liverpool, Liverpool University
Feb 18: Portsmouth, Guildhall
Feb 19: Brighton, Concorde 2 (BRITS week War Child charity show)

May 25: Slam Dunk South, Hatfield Park
May 26: Slam Dunk North, Temple Newsam

The quintet have posted a farewell career-spanning video on YouTube, titled Time, as they put the band to rest.

A message beneath the video runs:

'Time
Something we never have enough of but always need more of.
Sometimes it goes by slowly, sometimes it goes by fast.
Some things are over quickly, some were built to last.
Twenty years in the making, beyond our wildest dreams.
Trips around the sun we’ve lost count, one more for memories.
People love stories with endings
Page after page, year after year
We’ll give you a final chapter because
We’ve climbed our Everest, we’ve faced our fears
Its time.
It's time for the finish line
It's time for goodbye.
So for the last time, one more time
It’s time.'

Sign up at sixersforlife.com for details of the band's soon-to-be announced farewell world tour dates.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.