Ted Leo responds to retirement rumors
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 8:44 PM 
Apparently rumors that Ted Leo will be retiring have been going around. The rumors stem from a post made by The Daily Swarm titled "Ted Leo Says Music Can't Be His Job Anymore", which quotes an interview Leo recently did with BuzzGrinder.com.
It’s a losing proposition for us at this point. It’s something we can’t keep doing. It’s a simple, unfortunate fact. In our particular case, it is totally tied to a downturn in record sales. - Ted Leo
Well, today Ted issued a statement clarifying what exactly his statement meant. You can find an excerpt of Mr. Leo's statement below. Read the full statement on his website.
The important part of what I said in the particular interview that was re-quoted without full context by Buzzgrinder, is that we’re completely booked through the end of 2010, but that yes – by next year, you will see some changes – it simply can’t go on like this forever; followed by “I’M SURE I’LL NEVER STOP MAKING MUSIC,” which is a statement I stand behind, but as I said in Spin a while ago (just to make sure you understand that this doesn’t come completely out of left field), pretty soon, I have to start figuring out what comes next.
One thing I don’t want to have happen, is to wake up turning 50, and have to just be starting this conversation then. I’m looking at things realistically, I’m looking ahead, I’m telling the truth about it, and I’m hoping to find the right way forward.
Oh, and I’ve got plenty of better songs to come… - Ted Leo
Reader Comments (3)
I guess things are getting really bad in the music industry. ugh.
Considering he lives in NJ I'm sure he'll always play shows around here, but this still definitely sucks in general.
It really is depressing to see so many musicians hurting. Like every month I see an article about some artist bitching about not making enough money. Kind of always thought they were being divas, beginning to think that's not actually the case. I'm sad to say I'm part of the problem, but at the same time I feel like record companies could've tried harder to curb downloading, they've pretty much gave up by now.