Towards the start of 2019, Ryan Adams revealed that his 17th studio album, Big Colors, was scheduled for release on April 17 via Pax Am (Pax Americana Recording Company), the record label he founded in 2004. However, in light of the recent abuse and sexual misconduct allegations made against him, plans have changed: Variety reports that Big Colors has been “put on hold.”
Pax Am has a distribution deal with Universal Music Group’s Blue Note, and the album has been pulled from UMG’s release schedule. Representatives from the labels have yet to comment on the situation, but Pax Am has removed its pages for pre-ordering the album. Additionally, three companies who release products with Adams’ name on them announced that those products will be taken off the market and/or out of development.
There’s no word yet on what this means for the two other albums Adams has planned for 2019: In January, he revealed that Big Colors would be followed by another album called Wednesdays and one more with an unannounced title. So far, Adams has released one single from Big Colors: “F*ck The Rain,” which features a guitar solo from John Mayer.
Two days ago, Adams apologized “deeply and unreservedly” to “anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally,” while adding that some of the details in the New York Times article in which the allegations surfaced are “upsettingly inaccurate.”
