Panic at the Disco Split Down the Middle

It seems like a major split, but members of Panic at the Disco past and present are urging their fans to not...um...panic. Two days ago guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker announced they will be leaving the group. That leaves vocalist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith to continue on as Panic at the Disco. Ross and Walker plan to work on their own projects together, and their message announcing the split said, in part, "Though the four of us have made music together in the past, we've creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve."

Panic at the Disco's plans to join No Doubt on tour in August are still in place. A third Panic at the Disco album is planned. Rumors are floating around that the new music will be more like the group's breakthrough album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out that featured the big hit single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and not the most recent album Pretty. Odd.

_{Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images}