Andy Burrows quits Razorlight – exclusive

Razorlight's Andy Burrows has quit the band, NME.COM can reveal.

The drummer – the band's second after original sticksman Christian Smith-Pancorvo departed just before the release of the band's 2004 debut album – will leave the group with immediate effect.

Suspicions about Burrows' future with the band were raised when he did not appear at Razorlight's gig in Wolverhampton on March 2 and was replaced by David "Skully" Sullivan-Kaplan.

"The past five years in Razorlight have been an amazing experience," explained Burrows. "I am very proud of everything that myself, Johnny [Borrell], Carl [Dalemo] and Bjorn [Agren] have achieved together, but for personal reasons I have decided to leave the band. I will be pursuing other musical ventures."

Frontman Borrell, meanwhile, said he would "miss" the drummer, but was adamant Razorlight will continue.

"Over the last two albums and five years Andy has been an integral part of Razorlight and we will miss him," he said.

"From the day he walked into our rehearsal studio it was obvious that he was an amazing drummer and he’s contributed on many levels beyond that. He's been a great player and a great friend and I think we'll both always be proud of the music we've made together. As far as the band's future is concerned, we're all looking forward to touring with Skully and getting on with making our next record."

Sullivan-Kaplan will continue to drum live for Razorlight until the end of 2009.

Burrows joined Razorlight in 2004 after auditioning for the group, and is credited with co-writing several of the key songs on recent albums 'Razorlight' and 'Slipway Fires'.

The drummer released solo album 'The Colour Of My Dreams' last year.

Razorlight tickets: