Bad Wolves have hit a rocky patch. Within a few days, the Los Angeles metal band had its guitarist depart and have been kicked off a tour following wild speculation about their singer, according to band members.
In a Saturday social media post, AJ Rebollo, now-former guitarist for Bad Wolves, announced he left the band after its label decided to release a cover of “Jolene” by Dolly Parton against band members’ wishes.
“I can no longer in good faith remain a member and co-sign the decisions constantly being made FOR this band by the label, among other issues I have with the inner workings of the business,” Rebollo said in the post. The guitarist added the band felt releasing the “Jolene” cover, which was supposed to feature Parton, would be perceived as capitalizing on the country music singer’s death and opposed the release.
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Better Noise Music, the band’s label, decided to put out the cover, and this was the last nail in the coffin after a string of decisions the label made contrary to the band’s will, according to Rebollo. The record label told fans that profits from the Parton cover will be donated to her Imagination Library, a literacy organization, which Rebollo applauded in his statement with the caveat that he believed Better Noise had “ill intent” in releasing the song.
“The amount of hate, negativity, and harassment we receive on a daily basis due to decisions made outside of our control has taken a massive toll on our sanity,” Rebollo said.
Only four days before Rebollo put out his statement, Bad Wolves singer Sara “Killboy” Skinner, who joined the group in June, released a video on social media saying that the band had been kicked off a tour with Christian metal band Skillet after backlash from their fans who lobbed speculation about her gender identity and presence on a website popular with pornographic content creators.
The singer began the video by saying that Skillet’s camp didn’t want her to say anything about Bad Wolves being scratched from the tour, and went on to say, “I am not someone who has ever hidden who the fuck I am, so let’s not leave you to speculate. (Skillet’s) fans had a field day doing extensive research that their booking agents and management did not do. And upon their findings, I am a trans OnlyFans bitch. Now, unfortunately, only one of those things is true. Have fun finding out, and we will see you on the next tour.”
Skillet have not said anything publicly concerning Skinner’s statement, but the band did announce Friday that they added Canadian hard rock band Autumn Kings on their fall 2026 tour.