Placebo drummer Steve Hewitt has left after eleven years in the band.
Singer Brian Molko described the parting as like a married couple drifting apart.
"Being in a band is very much like being in a marriage and in couples, in this case a triple. People can grow apart. To say you don't love your partner anymore is inaccurate considering all that you've been through and achieved together. There simply comes a point when you realise that you want different things from your relationship and that you can no longer live under the same roof, so to speak."
Placebo are in no rush to find a replacement.