A message for all you cynics out there who immediately said "rehab" when the news broke that Keane were cancelling three gigs because Tom Chaplin was recovering from "exhaustion". To assume that just because Chaplin is officially exhausted that that somehow means he needs help for a drink and drug addiction is sensationalist, cheap, unfair, petty and, as it happens, totally accurate.
Chaplin has admitted to his fans that he is checking himself into rehab. On the band's website he writes: "I've been having to deal with an increasing problem with drink and drugs, and the time has come to get the professional help I need to sort myself out. I feel desperately disappointed to be letting down our fans, but I want to get myself right now so that I can be back on the road for the rest of the year."
According to the Sun, Chaplin checked into The Priory last week, but left the rehab clinic at the weekend in order to perform at the V Festival. The tabloid say he is now back at the centre, presumably alongside Pete Doherty who, as previously reported, has been ordered to complete a full course of treatment at the clinic by the judge overseeing his most recent drugs charges.
As also previously reported, the three gigs affected by Chaplin's impromptu stint in rehab were to take place at Ibiza Rocks, Edinburgh's T On The Fringe and at a Vodafone TBA event in Dublin. Ironically it is the second Ibiza Rocks gig pulled due to a course of impromptu rehab - the aforementioned Doherty pulled his first gig of the year at the White Isle's rock night after checking into a Spanish rehab centre.