It’s been 20 years since the post-hardcore group Million Dead announced they would be parting ways due to ‘irreconcilable differences’.
While frontman Frank Turner, 42, has gone on to enjoy an incredible solo career with 10 studio albums to his name, fans have been pleading for Million Dead to return.
Finally, the Next Storm singer has revealed he’s getting the band back together with all five former members forming the reunion lineup.
London-based Million Dead was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, with Ben Dawson and Frank joining shortly after.
In 2004, Cameron left and was replaced by Tom Fowler until the group abruptly split the following year, stating they would ‘rather leave a good-looking corpse.’
Two decades on, it turns out the band has no memory of why they ever split up, despite telling fans at the time their reasoning was ‘personal and assured’.
‘In September 2005, the band Million Dead came to an end after playing their last show in Southampton,’ Frank wrote on social media with a new teaser video.
‘In March 2024, we all met up for a beer and realised we couldn’t really remember why we broke up.
‘So in 2025, to mark our 20th anniversary, all five members are going to be coming back together to play a handful of shows. We’re pretty excited, we hope you are too. See you next year.’
It’s not known if this reunion includes new music, with Million Dead having released two albums before their split.
Their debut album A Song To Ruin peaked at 14 on the UK Indie Chart in 2003, although it failed to break the Top 100 album chart at the time.
In the years since, Million Dead has gained a cult following, partially thanks to Frank’s solo success.
In 2005, the band said: ‘Million Dead are breaking up. After four years and two albums, we have mutually decided that this is the best thing to do.
‘Irreconcilable differences within the band mean that it would be impossible to continue and anyway, we’d rather leave a good-looking corpse. Our reasons are personal and assured.’
Six years after the split, Frank told Punk Ska Press that he was ‘very proud of all the music’ Million Dead had released.
‘It came to an end. The actual process of that end wasn’t very fun,’ he explained. ‘I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now, if I hadn’t done Million Dead before. I’m glad it happened.
‘Once the end of Million Dead rolled around, I just didn’t want to be in a band anymore. The last year of Million Dead was just murderous. Four people who want to kill each other, sat in a van driving around Europe… it’s no fun.’
Despite the initial bad blood, Frank and the full line up will be heading on the road next year – hopefully this time it’s a little less ‘murderous’.