Rumor: Is it True?

There was a post over at Jesusfreakhideout that it is being reported that Michael Tait formerlly of DC Talk is the new lead vocalist for the Newsboys. I know they aren't exactly hard rock, but talk about coming out of nowhere. I know that he and Jamie Rowe of Guardian sang bgv for thier new album, but now the new lead singer. Wow>

I highly doubt it, but anything is possible. Peter Furler, their most well known vocalist, is just about the only original member left. I can't see the band continuing without the man that wrote most of the songs.

Wow that would be a shocker.
Didn't Furler actually start out at the drummer back when they were playing ska music (or something like that)?

Furler is the main songwriter, and he was their drummer up until 1997. Their first three albums, Read All About It ('88, Hell Is For Wimps ('89) and Boys Will Be Boyz ('90), were just straight ahead rock, with the first two sounding a lot like Midnight Oil -- their Australia counterparts. Then they started going a little more CCM, then it got a little strange, now it is mostly praise-type.

Furler took over singing lead, once the original guy, John James, left due to drug and alcohol addiction in 1997. Their voices are somewhat similar, too.

I haven't heard that rumor, myself. Although every one has switched around a little in the Newsboys. The drummer now used to be the keyboardist.

Quote :

once the original guy, John James, left due to drug and alcohol addiction

WHAT ??
I've been a fan of Newsboys since "Read all about it" came out. Seen 'em in concert back then when John was their singer and Peter was just the crazy drummer. I always wondered where John went... I enjoyed his singing and tryed to find out what band he went to... but I had no idea that he fell to d&a.

God I hope he's doing ok these days.

As for Tait, I heard he was doing some stuff with Santana.

Ive heard this same rumor. It was on the newsboys message board. You can see what everyone else is saying here:

http://boards.newsboys.com/showthread.php?t=3088

I still don't know if its true myself, so Im going to hold all opinions until Its a sure fact.

Reportedly the president of Inpop has posted a message that an announcement will come out regarding the change. Appears to be legit

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Quote :

once the original guy, John James, left due to drug and alcohol addiction

WHAT ??
I've been a fan of Newsboys since "Read all about it" came out. Seen 'em in concert back then when John was their singer and Peter was just the crazy drummer. I always wondered where John went... I enjoyed his singing and tryed to find out what band he went to... but I had no idea that he fell to d&a.

God I hope he's doing ok these days.

As for Tait, I heard he was doing some stuff with Santana.

Here is an article in regards to the subject...

http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/print.php?Article_ID=25790

INO Records has made a small statement saying that this is 100% true and that they will issue a full statement sometime this week. Peter Furler is out and Michael Tait is in.

I don't think that this will be good for the Newsboys. They have a new CD coming out in May, and now your vocalist at shows will not be the person on that new CD. I don't think that the fans will be overly enthused with Tait as vocalist. IMO, the Newsboys are just about done.

alldatndensum wrote:

I don't think that this will be good for the Newsboys. They have a new CD coming out in May, and now your vocalist at shows will not be the person on that new CD.

Unless they pull a Decyfer Down and re-record the entire album.

silentthunder89 wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

I don't think that this will be good for the Newsboys. They have a new CD coming out in May, and now your vocalist at shows will not be the person on that new CD.

Unless they pull a Decyfer Down and re-record the entire album.

And that would be really strange, since their new single has been out for a few weeks.

Quote :

And that would be really strange, since their new single has been out for a few weeks.

At least they didn't put out a 3 song ep first like Decyfer Down did

Quote :

Unless they pull a Decyfer Down and re-record the entire album.

They could reenter the studio and let Michael redo the vocals. There is still time if they rush it and make the May release. But, the studio heads are telling fans that you will hear Peter Furler's voice on the CD.

Looks like it is a Bob Hartman of Petra thing. In the statement it said that Michael Tait will be the lead singer on the tour but that Peter will stay involved in the studio side of things as far as writing and what not. Kind of like when Bob pulled out of Petra and the tours but stayed on "behind the scenes"

And it cost Petra BIG time. It was during that time that Petra's popularity really sunk, and they also put out the least interesting music ever.

To a lot of folks, myself included, Furler IS the Newsboys. Without him, it's just another band. If he steps to the sidelines, then I have no interest.

I am betting that this is why they recently brought back their original guitarist. At least there will still be an original member in the band. Everyone else has come along since the early days. Without an original member, you'd just have an over-glorified cover band doing Newsboys songs.

silentthunder89 wrote:

Quote :

And that would be really strange, since their new single has been out for a few weeks.

At least they didn't put out a 3 song ep first like Decyfer Down did

Yeah, guess you are right. I just didn't think about the 3 song EP for Decyfer Down since I had the whole album. Guess I was just going to consider it a new album, since there are two different songs on the new one with TJ. There are two songs from the Caleb album that aren't on the new one.

They have a huge announcement on their Myspace about this, along w/ a phone number people can call to voice their opinion about the subject (interesting...) so it looks like this is legit. Sad, IMO. Tait's a good guy, and a good vocalist, but I agree - at this point, w/ John James out of the picture for so long, Furler IS the Newsboys. Oh well - I haven't followed them closely for a while, so I guess I won't be that impacted by it.

That's pretty much me too. I was really only listening to any of their stuff a few years ago when our praise band seem to playing so much of them. I was never really a major fan, so this doesn't really impact me that much.

BTW welcome to CHM MetalFRO, cool to see you over here

Thanks, man!

I think Tait is awesome. I thought he was easily the best singer in DC Talk. While this will certainly be a dramatic change, I think this could very much re-energize the fans. Will they lose some diehards? Perhaps. But I'm excited to hear what he sounds like singing with them. Its a shame that this switch couldn't have happened before a new record was just recorded.

Van Halen switched singers and it worked. Petra switched singers and it worked. Big time bands can switch singers and it works just fine.

Van Halen switched vocalists too many times, though. The Newsboys are starting with number 3. The singers were never the heart and soul of Petra. It was Bob Hartman. When he left, that band faded out fast. When he returned, it was too little, too late. Peter has become that heart/soul of the Newsboys. Without him, you've got nothing. Nada. Time to pack it up and head home. Nothing more to see.

If Tait is so great, then why has his own solo projects not performed well? Could it be that the fans of DC Talk did not agree that he was the best? Going by popularity, I'm guessing most fans think it was Toby Mac that was the best. He's the only one packing out any sort of arena of the three.