Steven Drozd has opened up about being fired from Flaming Lips, saying that frontman Wayne Coyne “just stopped communicating with” him after he “went back to treatment”.
Uncertainty about Drozd’s place in the indie band arose last year, when the multi-instrumentalist was absent from their live shows and replaced by AJ Slaughter.
At the time, none of the members publicly addressed the line-up change, however, in December Drozd accidentally confirmed his departure on Threads, writing: “They’re done with me – but we’re not talking about it. Yes I’m moving on.”
He soon deleted the post and said that it was a “blundering mistake” to upload it, as he thought it was going to be sent as a private message.
From there, Coyne made a post on Instagram confirming Drozd’s departure but added that the “reason he left is sad and infuriating”. He also said that it was “HIS responsibility to tell everyone what happened”, accused him of lying in his Threads post, and added: “I was trying to give him his own space and time to let everyone know what REALLY happened.”
Drozd then shared another update with fans, saying that he started to think “it would be best for me and my family if I didn’t tour anymore” in 2024, and therefore sat out of the live shows in 2025. “Then it just kinda went from there. Wayne and I have parted ways after 33-34 years,” he wrote.
He expanded on these comments in January, saying that he left due to a “personal crisis”, but thought that he would be allowed back into the line-up after getting back on track.
Now, the multi-instrumentalist has spoken candidly about his departure from the band again and revealed that his desire to take a step back from touring was gradually building, but “reached a climax” when his daughter went missing in October 2024.
Aged 16 at the time, Charlotte Drozd was reported missing in Seattle and Wayne Coyne joined in calls for people to help find her. After three days, it was confirmed that she had been “found and is safe”.
“It’s hard to get back into [touring after that] because it really was traumatic. She was missing for three days. We didn’t know what was going on,” Drozd told Stereogum, adding that the ordeal led to him going into treatment for drinking, and having to return to treatment again over the holidays after a “relapse”.
“I went back to treatment, and then Wayne just stopped communicating with me,” he claimed. “So the way it ended is really sad because it didn’t have to end that way… I haven’t heard from him since January 3, 2025. That’s been weird.”
He also added that the band “decided to go ahead and do some shows in Australia without me”, and said that “no one really told me anything” along the way.
In our new in-depth interview, Steven Drozd discusses getting kicked out of the @theflaminglips during addiction treatment, his 33-year history in the band, his forthcoming solo debut album, and more pic.twitter.com/PFqhMXsT08
— Stereogum (@stereogum) May 6, 2026
“I just assumed that after some time Wayne and I would communicate again. But that didn’t happen,” he shared. “So, by the summer of last year, I knew. I knew it was over and that was it. I wasn’t gonna be back in the Flaming Lips, and I kinda accepted it.”
Later in the interview, Drozd stated that he didn’t want to “trash-talk the Lips”, and added that he felt “the way the whole thing ended is just really sad.”
“I was surprised. It was upsetting. It upset my family. And people in Oklahoma City are all like, ‘Wow, what’s going on with that?” I’m like, I don’t really know what to tell you,” he said. “It’s poopy, the way it all ended, and there’s nothing I can do to change that. I went to treatment. And came home. And I relapsed around Christmas and went back to treatment. That’s when Wayne just stopped talking to me. And that’s how it ended.”
Stereogum reports that a rep for Coyne declined to respond to the comments made by Drozd in the interview.
Drozd is now working on a solo album and confirmed that he hopes to have it released this autumn. More details about the record are set to be announced soon.
Late last year, Flaming Lips’ drummer Matthew Duckworth Kirksey spoke about the band’s plans for the future, saying that they had “new music on the way” and considers it to be “the best thing we’ve done in ages”.
Among their upcoming live dates is a slot at Latitude Festival, where they will be joining the bill alongside Lewis Capaldi, Teddy Swims and David Byrne.
