Dance Gavin Dance Debut in Billboard Top 10 Amid Controversy, Fans React
This week, Dance Gavin Dance let fans know that their new album, Jackpot Juicer, just debuted within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, hitting No. 8. But the California post-hardcore act didn't mention the controversy in which the achievement is mired.
Some fans did in their replies, however. In June, Dance Gavin Dance revealed that clean vocalist Tilian Pearson was stepping away from the group. Days before the announcement, the singer responded to sexual assault allegations. The Billboard 200 is the record chart that ranks the most popular music albums and EPs in the U.S. each week.
See Dance Gavin Dance's tweets about their charting win, followed by subsequent fan responses, toward the bottom of this post.
"33,500 total albums sold in the first week!" Dance Gavin Dance relayed. "Thank you for tremendously supporting Jackpot Juicer, our 10th studio album. This has been our highest charting album to date and the first time that we've entered the Billboard Top 10 — a huge accomplishment for any artist."
They added, "Thank you for sticking with us. This album and its success is forever dedicated to the memory of Tim Feerick." Feerick was the Dance Gavin Dance bass player who died in April, as the band explained in a mournful statement at the time.
But as Dance Gavin Dance enjoyed their Billboard feat on Monday (Aug. 8), some Twitter followers expressed joy in the accomplishment but pined for Pearson's return. "Awesome Album!" one said before adding, "Please bring [Pearson] back!!!!!!!! The band won't be the same without him. I won't see you guys live until he is back with the band."
Another replied, "The dude has sexual misconduct allegations lol let's see if anything happened." That back and forth summed up several fan exchanges on Dance Gavin Dance's Twitter page. See more reactions below.
Dance Gavin Dance are now touring with a lineup that finds guitarist Andrew Wells taking clean singing duties from Pearson, Veil of Maya's Marc Okubo supplanting him on guitar. They were dropped from a tour with Coheed and Cambria after the allegations.