Steve Hewitt Parts Ways With Placebo

After 11 years on the drum stool, Placebo sticksman Steve Hewitt has left the band. The split is apparently down to 'personal and musical differences', although it has been described on the band's MySpace site as 'amicable'. Frontman Brian Molko has released a statement, saying:

"Being in a band is very much like being in a marriage, and in couples - in this case a triple - people can grow apart over the years. To say that you don't love your partner anymore is inaccurate, considering all that you've been through and achieved together. There simply comes a point when you realize that you want different things from your relationship and that you can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak."

The band recently returned from touring the US as part of the Projekt Revolution Tour, which also featured My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park. Remaining members Molko and Stefan Olsdal paln to start work on Placebo's sixth studio album, the follow-up to 'Meds', in the spring of 2008.