Breaking Benjamin Guitarist And Bassist Fired Over ‘Blow Me Away’ Remix

What many believed to be true all ready has actually happened: Breaking Benjamin frontman Ben Burnley has fired guitarist Aaron Fink and bassist Mark Klepaski over the release of the  unauthorized remix of the track 'Blow Me Away'.

Breaking Benjamin went on an abrupt and unexpected hiatus in the summer of 2010, which at first was unexplained, but later addressed with this statement from the band's drummer Chad Szeliga:

"For those of you who are concerned. We (Breaking Benjamin) are not breaking up. We are taking the summer off due to some health issues that [Ben] has been dealing with for some time now. I would like to personally thank all of you for the emails and comments. Thanks for your concern. It means a lot to Ben, Aaron, Mark and... myself."

Earlier this year Hollywood Records announced 'Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin' would be released August 16th of this year. The single that hit radio shortly thereafter was a previously unreleased version of the track 'Blow Me Away' that featured additional vocals by Syd Duran of the band Valora. This is where the real trouble began.

According to The Citizens Voice (a news website in the band's hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), Singer Ben Burnley was so upset over the new version of the song (which he did not approve) that he fired both Fink and Klepaski from the band via e-mail back in May.

Burnley filed suit in June claiming that the two made unauthorized decisions for the band. He further stated that no contact was made with him in regards to the $100,000 payment from the record label made in connection with that release.

The representation for Fink and Klepaski claimed that their contract (as a band) was voided when Burnley took ill and could no longer perform last year.

This whole business sounds pretty messy, but one thing is clear: Breaking Ben is broken (up). The band as we know it is dunzo. But you never know, years down the road they could patch their differences and reform with the original lineup. Bassist David Ellefson returned to be Megadeth's bassist years after he and frontman Dave Mustaine had a nasty court battle. All we're saying is it's possible (but not likely).

Here is the song that proved to be the undoing of Breaking Ben