In recent hours, fans of The Common Linnets have been asking, “Where’s Waylon?” Or, if we’re talking Twitter, they’ve been asking #waariswaylon. Waylon has been found, but the news is bad: The Common Linnets are breaking up.
Waylon stated this evening on his Facebook that The Common Linnets is more of a thing for Ilse, not himself and that he will no longer be a part of it.
Waylon’s statement in full:
“Dear Fans,
I would like to take this opportunity to let you know I’ve been found again. It’s strange to notice that I’ve now become national property and also that a national search was started to find me. But there is not so much going on, other than what one suggests.
Over the past year I’ve had a lot of fun as part of The Common Linnets together with Ilse DeLange. We, for the occasion, decided to join forces in our love for our country and Americana music.
The Common Linnets, however, Ilse DeLange’s project. She has figured it out and it’s always been clear that this would be in a varying arrangement [with different people singing with Ilse].
We have always agreed that I would make a record with her, later our participation in the Eurovision Song Contest and the concert on 21 June in the Twente Stadium. These [events] are on our calendars.
The success that has followed the Eurovision Song Contest took both of us by surprise. It’s something we’ve had to look at.
For me there are a lot of layers and obligations in the coming period with the release of my new album “Heaven after Midnight” in September. Last year I recorded and funded this myself. It’s an important and personal album. I have already postponed it due to the Eurovision Song Contest.
Now add to my calendar full foreign promotion of The Common Linnets. That has so many more consequences for me than for Ilse. I have to go for a longer period with the duo rather than freeing myself, perhaps for a year or longer, especially if America is also in the picture.
I hope that you understand that these are choices that I cannot simply take, and also not alone.
For long periods of time I have wanted to connect fully to The Common Linnets. Ilse and I have long talked about it, but it has not yet come true. That has nothing to do with money, but with an emotional commitment of two people to a duo in a fixed composition, and putting our solo careers in the fridge.
Ilse is free with The Common Linnets, as they initially intended, to vary the composition of the group and go on tour.
The international success of course tasted delicious and worked properly with Ilse and her band. Finally, Jake, JB, Rob and Matthew are fantastic musicians and lyricists! I look forward to Tuckerville on June 21, the place where Ilse and I will meet again.
Love, Wally (Waylon)”
You can read the full statement here (in Dutch).
Waylon was nowhere to be found the past week and Ilse had to perform this week with a ‘Waylon-double’, Jake Etheridge as the Common Linnets. At the beginning of the week, assumptions were made that Waylon had fallen back into bad habits. In the past, Waylon was known for disappearing because of his drugs- and alcohol addiction. These rumours turned out to be false.
Waylon’s manager Sandra Nagtzaam advised Waylon to place a statement on Facebook. This was important since not even his parents could escape the horde of fans and journalists searching for him.
Rumours were also circulating that Ilse was taking too much ownership of the project: Willem Vogels, a former member of Waylon’s band Santarosa, said that most of the credits of, for example, ‘Calm After the Storm’ only mentioned Ilse and not Waylon. Dutch singer and friend of Waylon Rachel Kramer stated she heard several rumours in the Dutch pop circuit berating him for not showing up for appointments. Ilse was growing more and more annoyed.
There has not been an official statement confirming that Jake Etheridge will be the permanent replacement for Waylon or if Ilse will perform with different singers under the name Common Linnets. Fact is that the Common Linnets were rocking the charts after ESC and could have made an name for themselves even outside Europe.
They will play today at Helden van Amstel live
Too bad, The Common Linnets must not break up. My girlfriend is a big fan of them! :'( At least Netherlands didn’t fail this year, and next year they must not fail again…
The Common Linnets did NOT brake up. Not yet. Waylon is open to stay in The Common Linnets but there has to be some changes financially and to make better artistic presence to Waylon. Waylon has for many years now a solo carreer and his own band of musicians to support him. It’s about them. Waylon had for staying in to The Common Linnets to hold down his own band at home for a whole year. Now is new album is ready, he still need to fire his own bandmembers to play in The Common Linnets. For that reason he… Read more »
Ilse is a well known dutch singer – Waylon is (I’m sorry) kinda nobody. He should be happy for his time with Ilse and their CD.
It was destined to end this way.
Maybe I’m just having a more “spiritual” evening today, but I guess what was missing was that *spark* in his eye. Like, you know, when you love what you’re doing. Perhaps that is why they (especially him, actually) never managed to get it across to some listeners/viewers like me. On the other hand, if this deal does not please him, none of us is entitled to call him a fool. Just think about the quick money he could grab, even if TCL were to become a “one-album wonder”. I have to respect him for that.
Good! The Netherlands STUNK this year!!
@Lanti. : yes.
So… long story short, Waylon said TCL was pretty much “Ilse and Co.”?
Silly you….what a load of self pitying tripe…splitting up….big mistake. …but you reap what you sow. ….this eurovision has gone to your head!!!
that sucks! 🙁 i read somewhere that the common linnets were the ones with the biggest success around the world since ABBA. He would’ve gotten more success with Ilse, than alone that’s for sure……….
Headline’s misleading for all of you… The Common Linnets did not break up or we would have seen something on their FB, only Waylon left the group. Leaving a group and disbanding are not the same. Anyway, Ilse DeLange is the core member of the group, created as a side-project, country/Americana music platform consisting of her and different singers (atm Jake Etheridge). And Waylon has a solo album which was put on hold because of ESC. But then he and Ilse worked together and are friends for a long time, so who knows, maybe a Waylon/Ilse reunion in the not-so-near… Read more »
chances don’t come along that often for ‘success’, I would have said run with it while the opportunity arises. Come back competition winners such as Loreen and Emmilie who actually want to make more music and go for success.
I must confess I’ve never liked Waylon, but that aside, he’s free to do whatever he wants and if he prefers to focus on his own thing instead of staying with TCL, he’s more than right to do so, what’s stupid about that? Good luck to both of them. But anyway weren’t TCL from the very beginning just the union of Ilse and Waylon JUST for Eurovision? At least that’s how I interpreted when it was first announced they would represent The Netherlands, so more than surprised about this I was starting to wonder when they would make the announcement… Read more »
Yeah. He had more to gain with her than without her
Seriously, what a stupid, stupid man.
What a stupid, stupid man.