Shinedown's Eric Bass stepping away from tour for mental health reasons

Shinedown bassist Eric Bass is stepping away from Shinedown's upcoming tour due to his mental health.

"I had a pretty serious mental health crash, I guess you could say, a few weeks ago," Bass says in a video posted to Facebook on Friday. "I don't really feel it's the wise thing for me to do to go out on tour right now."

"I debated whether or not to make this announcement at all and just not be there and then show back up when it's time," he continues. "But mental health being such a thing that I have championed and the band has championed, I thought that it would be not the best look to maybe seem like I'm ashamed of it."

Bass adds that he's currently in treatment and is feeling better, but he doesn't yet have a timeline for his return. 

"Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later," he says. "But I wanna make sure that I'm safe."

Josh Sturm and Zack Mack will be filling in for Bass during his absence.

Shinedown's tour launches Saturday in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It supports the band's new album, EI8HT.

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