The Band Perry has been left in tatters after Neil Perry claimed he was ‘forced out’ by frontwoman Kimberly Perry and her husband.
The musician took to social media to say he was ‘terminated’ by his older sister, apparently getting the news on the day after his birthday.
Best known for their song If I Die Young, the country trio was originally formed by siblings Neil, Kimberly, and Reid in the 00s.
After signing to Republic Nashville in 2009, they went on to release two albums and tour consistently until officially going on hiatus in 2023.
Only two years later, in August 2025, the Band Perry announced they would be returning – without youngest sibling Neil, 36.
Instead, Kimberly’s husband, Johnny Costello, took the backing vocals while Reid returned on bass. However, by October, Reid had also quietly left the band.
Fans had no clue what happened until Neil shared some exasperated social media posts, claiming to have been ‘forced out’.
Joining in on a social media trend, the musician posted a video of himself sitting down in a chair – placed in front of plenty of awards – with the caption: ‘Preparing for my Netflix documentary about how the Band Perry went from three siblings to my sister and her husband.’
The posts only got messier from there as he shared clips of Kimberly, 43, saying her brothers had given their ‘blessing’ for her to go on without them in interviews.
As far as Neil is concerned, this is far from the truth and a ‘misrepresentation’ of his ‘current vision of the band’.
He revealed the siblings were not on ‘consistent speaking terms’ and Reid, 37, had ‘stopped engaging in both personal and business matters’.
So far, the Grammy winner has not shared details about why his brother had stopped speaking to them, with no publicly aired arguments.
‘Kimberly came to me about bringing the band out of hiatus,’ Neil continued, saying they had agreed that moving forward with Reid was not an option.
Reid turned down the offer to rejoin the band, then Kimberly allegedly gave Neil three options: move forward as a duo, hold auditions or have her husband step in.
‘I was fine with the first two, but soon understood Kimberly wanted to move forward with the third,’ he said. ‘We ultimately decided not to proceed.’
Neil didn’t voice any personal issues with Johnny, who tied the knot with Kimberly in 2021, but made it clear he didn’t want someone ‘taking his brother’s place’.
The situation took an unexpected twist after this as Reid rejoined the band ‘through conversations [Neil] was not part of’.
Neil claims he was then given three days to decide if he wanted to be part of this comeback, to which he said he asked for a conversation the following week.
‘I was told I was out of time,’ he continued. ‘I was approached again a month later, but I could not move forward under those circumstances.
‘At that point I understood that continuing to tour was no longer realistically an option for me and I would soon be forced out by the 2/3 partnership agreement.’
He stated he ‘did not agree’ to ‘losing my financial interest and access to the resources and business I had spent my life helping build.’
As for Reid’s decision to drop out, he said this happened ‘shortly after’ the band had resigned with original label Big Machine.
At the time, he posted on his rarely used Instagram to inform fans of his decision, wishing his sister ‘the best’ in the future.
The Band Perry went on to release two new singles – their first in nine years – with just Johnny and Kimberly as members.
Neil has started another band, named Wolves of June, a nod to when he realised he had been replaced in The Band Perry by his sister’s husband.
‘June 2024 took something from me,’ he explained. ‘Something I had spent my entire life building. A band. A business. A family. A name.
‘My sister wanted her husband to become a member of the band, taking my brother’s place. I made it equally clear that I was not okay with that.’
He claimed the situation had become about ‘far more’ than just the line up, feeling that trust had been broken which ‘fundamentally changed my ability to move forward’.
‘Then I watched a story emerge that didn’t resemble the one I lived,’ he continued. ‘The anger became music. The grief became songs. The loss became freedom… June 2024 took the old life. @wolvesofjune is what came next.’
Kimberly (and her husband) have not yet addressed Neil’s message but have been frequently sharing clips from recent live shows, teasing new music.
They’ve switched off commenting ability on their Instagram after being bombarded with questions about ‘kicking out’ the brothers.
Metro has reached out to The Band Perry for comment.