Former The Band Perry member Neil Perry accused his sister Kimberly of kicking him out of the band one day after his birthday when he objected to her husband joining the group amid their bitter fallout.
Neil, 36, claimed Wednesday that he wasn’t on speaking terms with his siblings in the year that followed the Grammy-winning country act’s music hiatus, saying “I explicitly asked my sister not to misrepresent my support for the current version of the band.”
The “If I Die Young” hitmakers’ original lineup — Kimberly on vocals, Neil on mandolin and Reid on bass — announced their hiatus in 2023 to focus on individual projects before Kimberly floated the idea of a reunion.
“Reid had stopped engaging in both personal and business matters. Kimberly came to me about bringing the band out of hiatus, and we initially agreed that moving forward with Reid was not something we were prepared to do,” Neil wrote on Instagram.
Neil claimed Kimberly presented him with three options on how to move forward as a group when Reid “confirmed he was not interested” in joining the band — one of which included bringing on Kimberly’s husband Johnny Costello, whom she married in 2021.
“I was then presented with three options: move forward as a duo, hold auditions or have her husband step in. I was fine with the first two, but soon understood Kimberly wanted to move forward with the third. We ultimately decided not to proceed.”
A few weeks later, Neil said, Reid rejoined the band “through conversations I was not part of,” and Neil was given three days to decide whether he would continue.
“At the end of that three-day window, I asked for a conversation the following week and was told I was out of time,” he wrote.
Neil said he was approached again a month later but still could not move forward.
“At that point I understood that continuing to tour was no longer realistically an option for me and I would soon be forced out by the 2/3 partnership agreement,” he wrote.
“What I did not agree to was losing my financial interest and access to the resources and business I had spent my life helping build.”
“Shortly after the band signed a label deal, my brother left the band,” he added. “What remained is my sister and her husband.”
Reid announced his departure from the group in October 2025, saying he was stepping away to become a talent manager and adding that “I wish Kimberly and TBP the best as they move forward into the future.”
Kimberly and Costello have since returned to music under The Band Perry name, where they’ve released songs such as “Psychological” and “Kill It.”
Kimberly said she believed her brothers supported her continuing the band without them, according to her interview with Rolling Stone.
“Reid commented on our last post about ‘Psychological.’ He’s like, ‘I’ll be cheering from the bleachers,’” she said. “And it’s just so cool to feel that love and support.”
She also said there was “always an open seat for a brother in the band if they ever want to tour.”
In a clip from “The Bobbycast,” host Bobby Bones asked Kimberly whether the lineup changes had been planned.
“I wish I could claim that because maybe it would assure job security forever and ever,” she said. “But no, it just happened the way that it happened.”
“It did not feel authentic to me to play Band Perry songs live under the solo artist banner,” she added. “And also, I just missed the hell out of playing with family on stage, whoever that family ended up becoming. But no, not strategic.”
Neil pushed back on that version in the caption accompanying the clips.
“My sister wanted her husband to become a member of the band, taking my brother’s place. I made it equally clear that I was not okay with that,” he wrote.
“By then, the situation had become about far more than the lineup. I had witnessed instability and broken trust that fundamentally changed my ability to move forward,” he continued. “Weeks later, I was terminated. The day after my birthday.”
He said he never expected that refusing to participate under those circumstances would mean losing his financial interest and access to the band’s platforms, resources and audience.
“Then I watched a story emerge that didn’t resemble the one I lived,” he wrote.
The Band Perry formed in 2005 in Greeneville, Tenn., and broke out with their 2010 self-titled debut album, which featured their biggest hit, “If I Die Young,” which won the 2011 Grammy for best country duo/group performance.
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