The constant relaunches and various iterations spanning multiple genres, spectacularly failing and then being reconstituted into something “new” will give you whiplash just reading about it.
Call it a guilty pleasure at this point to peep into the doings of country music’s most fascinating and utterly dysfunctional family band, The Band Perry. The constant relaunches and various iterations spanning multiple genres, spectacularly failing and then being reconstituted into something “new” will give you whiplash just reading about it. And each season now spanning some 20 years is marked by its own unique hairdo, often with peroxide involved. It really is an incredible specimen to marvel over, even if it would take a small novel to enumerate all the various versions of this band, and how they’ve failed. Let’s title the latest chapter as, “And There There Was One.” Apologies for being away on more pressing business at the time, but apparently Reed Perry—who was the last of the two Reed brothers that backed sister Kimberly in The Band Perry for many years—has officially left the band. He exited in October of 2025 to become an artist manager, saying in an Instagram post, “To the fans, you’ve always been my favorite part of this. I’ve decided to leave TBP. I’ll be missing seeing you in the crowd at a Band Perry show but I’ll be around, managing a new voice I believe in more than anything, Ryan Coleman. For me it was and will always be about making great country music, with and for the hardworking people who love it and live it. Thank you for every memory, I’ll see you back in the saddle.”The other brother Neil Perry never returned to the band after they announced a hiatus in March of 2023 after spending the years between 2017 and 2023 trying and spectacularly failing to make it in pop, abandoning their country roots where they had been quite successful. The Band Perry became the cautionary tale for country artists wanting to find greener pastures in the world of pop. Then after announcing the hiatus, Kimberly Perry launched a solo career, which was shortly abandoned when it was discovered she likely didn’t come with any booking muscle, or name recognition. The only track from her solo album that did semi well was “If I Die Young Pt. 2”—a take on The Band Perry’s previous hit. So then The Band Perry was restarted again in June of 2025 with Neil Perry being replaced by Kimberly Perry’s current husband, Johnny Costello—a spitting image of Uncle Joey from the ’90s version of Full House who dutifully adopted a bleached hairdo of his own as initiation into the band. But then Reid Perry left six months later, necessitating yet another reboot. So now The Band Perry is officially Kimberly Perry, and her husband Johnny Costello. Confused yet? To kick off this latest restart of a restart of a reconstituted career, The Band Perry has released the perhaps aptly titled “Psychological”—officially the band’s first new “country” song in nine years. It’s about a lover going “psycho” over a beau, which is only “logical” because they’re such a catch, or something. It’s not written by a Perry, but by Clara Park, Grace Tyler, and Colton Venner. It’s a smart use of wordplay, but it does give you a bit of an unhinged feeling. Cause you make crazy seem rationalI’d say obsession feels naturalYou’re all I want, any hoop, any obstacleBoy, you make going psycho logical
The track was the “most added” at country radio this week. So apparently the industry (or at least radio) does have an appetite to at least try the latest Band Perry reboot on for size. Let’s not get too excited though. These “most added” accolades haven’t really been panning out lately as guaranteed #1s nine months down the road. But we’ll see. As part of the latest reboot, Kimberly Perry sat down with Rolling Stone Country, who characteristically did not offer her and scrutiny whatsoever on all the relaunches and gaslighting over the years. But they did help her assert that the reason for The Band Perry’s departure to pop and eventual breakup somehow had to do with “Bro-Country” or being “kicked out of Nashville.” When prompted about whether they were “kicked out” or not, Kimberly Perry gave a brilliant, elongated gobbledygook non-answer.
“I think it’s a cross of the two. I think it’s six one way, half a dozen another. And I think it’s so funny because I got to make that comment before I’ve come all the way back home to my OG label home. And so having the perspective of now a couple additional years to that, I think the redemption story and the transparent conversations that we’ve gotten to have with each other now with our OG team has been really interesting. I think we were all after the same thing and the same vision for our band. We just thought there were different ways of getting there. But they are a very powerful force of people. So we felt very not supported in that season. But I also feel like we needed our college years to step away, follow the creative muse, and I think every artist deserves the opportunity to do that. It’s not always about the financial outcome, or just keeping the business on the tracks. If that’s the main goal, then you have to make those decisions. But I don’t think in that moment, that was not our main goal. I think it was to be true to ourselves … I do think our fans have appreciated that from us over the years. We’re definitely in the season of rebuilding, redemption, and coming back to the things that brought us to the dance in the first place. But I do appreciate that our story has paralleled our own humanity … I think that has connected with a lot of our fans over the years.
It’s always been part of the story of The Band Perry implosion that Scott Borchetta and Big Machine Records were trying to coax the band in a certain direction during the Bro-Country era to keep them relevant. After seeing the success of fellow Big Machine artist Taylor Swift’s foray to pop, perhaps that was the path set out for them. It does feel like picking low hanging fruit by picking on The Band Perry. But the problem appears to be that they never knew who they were, and it’s unclear if they know who they are now. When you don’t know who you are, it allows others to define you. When you have a strong vision for yourself, everything else bends around your will, not vice versa. This is the difference between Taylor Swift going pop and becoming the biggest artist in the world, and The Band Perry going pop and falling off a proverbial cliff. And that’s what still doesn’t feel right about what The Band Perry (or what’s left of it) is doing here. No doubt the Music Row system is still able to push a song, or even an artist to the top of its gerrymandered, rigged system like they’ve done early on with “Psychological.” But what does that even mean in 2026? What value does that offer to an artist?Right now the #1 song in country music is a traditional country song in Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas.” This is the direction of country music. If The Band Perry wanted to get back to its OG start, it would be picking up banjos and mandolins right now, not soliciting three songwriters for a radio hit. When Reid Perry sees better prospects managing someone else’s career instead of fulfilling his own in his family band, it’s not a good sign. Maybe the Kimberley Perry/Johnny Costello iteration of The Band Perry will finally, finally be the one to get the project back on track. Maybe “Psychological” will become a big hit. But it still feels like we’re living through a moment where The Band Perry is the perfect cautionary tale of how not to navigate a musical career in country music.
The lesson here is to be grateful about what you’re exceptional at and don’t carry so much hubris that you see it as a limitation.
Source: savingcountrymusic.com