Winston Marshall rose to fame more than a decade ago as a banjoist for the folk-rock band Mumford & Sons. Now, after years of success and inspiration, Marshall is leaving the band for good.
Winston Writes His Farewell on Medium
In a lengthy post on the text-sharing site Medium, the musician stated his reasons for leaving. They are not at all what one would expect.
Winston Marshall begins his farewell with a reminiscence of the band’s touring days. Each show was a new challenge in itself, which each member rose to on every occasion. The banjoist admired his bandmates, writing, “What a blessing it is to be so close to a talent such as theirs. It will be with immense pride that I look back at my time with Mumford & Sons.” And yet, with all these fond memories, Winston has decided to part ways for good.
He contributes his decision to Twitter controversy, sparked after a tweet in May admiring Andy Ngo’s novel, Unmasked. Publishing a tweet admiring a novel seems typical enough, as Marshall had made a habit of doing so during quarantine. However, Ngo identifies as a right-wing conservative and has caused much havoc across internet forums. Expressing gratitude for his novel seemingly rubbed the Mumford & Sons fan base the wrong way, along with a large portion of Twitter. After the commotion, the banjoist issued another apology. To which, “rather predictably another viral mob” came after him for “the sin of apologizing.”
His Heartfelt Goodbye to His Bandmates
As a result, Marshall has decided to leave the band so as not to involve his bandmates in any further controversies. He admits that the other men of Mumford & Sons asked him to stay, but that he could not be convinced. In order to continue his path of Twitter expressions and book reviews, he needs to distance himself from the band. He leaves them with nothing but compliments and well-wishes, writing, “I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best.”
His bandmates wish him farewell on Twitter.
We wish you all the best for the future, Win, and we love you man. M, B & T. pic.twitter.com/EiXTIkxxL5
— Mumford & Sons (@MumfordAndSons) June 24, 2021
