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Calling Singer Abducted, Robbed
Days after The Calling announced its official return from an eight-year hiatus with a video on “Extra,” frontman Alex Band was reportedly abducted early Sunday in Lapeer, Mich., and then assaulted and robbed. The band was in town to play “The Lapeer Days Festival.”
The incident occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday following The Calling’s performance at the festival Saturday evening.
TMZ broke the story, reporting that its sources say Band was walking from his hotel to a nearby mini mart when a van pulled up.
In a statement from Sgt. Craig Gormley of the Lapeer City Police Department (via People) Band “reported being forced into a blue-colored minivan-style vehicle between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. by two male subjects.”
Gormley’s statement adds, “The victim reported being assaulted, robbed and dropped off on another street [before he] was transported to the local hospital emergency department by another band member.”
Photo: Chuck Kim/AP Photo
The Calling frontman after he was allegedly abducted and beaten in Lapeer, Mich.
Band’s manager called 911 and told the operator, “I don’t know who kidnapped him … He’s bleeding all over the place bleeding and I found him on the side of the road,” according to the 911 call obtained by TMZ.
The manager said that he went to go look for Band after he was missing for a couple of hours.
Band was treated and released from the hospital, according to the police statement.
A press release from the group’s PR rep says that after its hiatus, The Calling now features the frontman backed by a new band.
The announcement notes that Band “was at the height of music stardom in the early 2000’s pop world but took a severe, almost death drop on a roller coaster of a ride by almost dying from drug abuse combined with the struggle of personal relationships.”
Band says, “This second chance has given me great fodder for our new music.”
The Calling is putting out an album of acoustic renditions of its top hits, called The Calling: 8 Track, along with an album of new songs set for release in early 2014.