L'Impératrice lead vocalist Flore Benguigui has announced her departure from the French pop outfit.
The news was originally broken by the remaining members of the band, who shared a statement to Instagram yesterday (September 26). "It is with great sadness that we share the news of Flore's departure, as she has decided to leave L'Impératrice to move on to new ventures," they wrote, translated from French. "In the very beginning, L'Impératrice's music was almost exclusively instrumental. Thank you, Flore, for giving it a voice, and for these wonderful years. You'll always be part of the group's history, and we wish you all the best for the future!"
Benguigui subsequently issued a statement of her own, going in depth about her reasons for leaving the band. "In late May 2024, I told the band that I couldn't go on. That I would handle the [Pulsar] album release and the festival tour that had already begun, but that it was physically and psychologically impossible for me to carry on playing around the world with them afterwards, even though it meant I wouldn't be able to properly say goodbye to the fans on stage which broke my heart," she explained. "At that stage, I had already sounded the alarm a few times about my state."
"Leaving this project in which I have put all my soul and energy for 9 years seems to be the only way for me to protect my physical and mental health that have been seriously mistreated for the past few years," she continued. "The profound personal, artistic and fundamental disagreements between the other members of the band and me have made a harmonious and healthy collaboration harder and harder, and now impossible. It's also the whole industry that I'm questioning today with this choice, this music industry so toxic and unfair especially towards women, towards victims, towards mental health, towards those that seem 'too fragile for this job.'"
Benguigui added, "I often thought about giving up on music to protect me, but today I want to carry on signing and writing songs, in control of my own ship, at my pace, having always the choice to do projects close to my heart. The band is going to carry on without me and a new singer will replace me from now on. I hope the fans will welcome her with the same kindness they offered me for years."
Read both statements in full below. L'Impératrice were scheduled to kick off a fall international tour with a North American leg at the beginning of the month, but were forced to postpone those overseas dates to early 2025 due to a Visa issue.