On Wednesday (Aug. 12), Neil Perry torched sister Kimberly Perry with a harsh rebuke for her version of how the Band Perry has evolved.. Among his claims were that he was fired from the family band and that he’s lost his financial interest and access to fans he spent his 20s building.
He also indicated there were deep fractures even before this latest drama began to unfold in 2024, and certainly before he talked about it. It was about much more than the Band Perry’s lineup, he says.
“I had witnessed instability and broken trust that fundamentally changed my ability to move forward,” Neil writes on Instagram.
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There’s a lot there and likely even more should Neil, Reid or Kimberly Perry really start scratching the surface. To understand what happened, it’s important to go back to the beginning.
Who Are the Band Perry?
In 2026, the Band Perry are singer Kimberly Perry and her husband Johnny Costello, but that’s a recent development.
The most successful and popular version of the band debuted with “Hip To My Heart” in 2009. Kimberly and her brothers Reid and Neil brought a fresh sound to country radio that was cool and new, but still rooted in traditional country and built with strong musicianship.
Within three years they were ACM and CMA Top New Artists and the Grammys nominated them for their version of the same award. “If I Die Young” is regularly included on lists of the best country songs of the 21st century (if not ever). As live entertainers they were nothing short of thrilling.
The Band Perry’s first two albums (self-titled and Pioneer) were widely celebrated. In 2014 they put out a cover of Glen Campbell‘s “Gentle On My Mind” for a tribute album and while controversial (a new artist covering a legend always creates controversy) it was creative, sincere and intriguing. The future looked bright until …
“Live Forever” was the first single from a never-released album called Heart + Beat. It was an anthem that some (like Taste of Country) praised as a fine attempt at trying something different. Other outlets foreshadowed the group’s fall in reviews of this genre-bending new song.
Not only did “Live Forever” whiff at country radio, it preceded a record label split. After that, a new batch of music seemingly flipped a middle finger at their old label, or at least those who attacked the creative spirit of that fallen single.
“Comeback Kid” (2016) was was released on Mercury Nashville and Interscope, which seemed to signal a move to pop. Talking to Taste of Country, the Band Perry denied this was their intention but one year later they released a certified pop song called “Stay In the Dark.”
Some fans loved the move, some fans hated it. Most were confused because every new iteration of the band seemed to come with new a hair color, a new mood and a total scrubbing of all social media outlets. After releasing a few more singles, the trio quietly retreated during the pandemic and no one really heard much from TBP until Kimberly Perry announced a solo career.
Kimberly Perry’s Solo Career (2023)
The singer’s Superbloom album came after she released “If I Die Young Pt. 2” (May 2023) to radio. It did well — peaking inside the Top 40 — and she made the rounds and reminded people how likable she was. Still, there wasn’t a huge promotional push at the time, in part because …
In August 2023, she and husband Johnny Costello welcomed their first child together. After that (per Neil Perry’s timeline) she began to think about bringing the Band Perry out of hiatus. That’s where our window into what happened opens.
Neil Perry’s Version of Why the Band Perry’s Original Lineup Broke Up
“By May of 2024, none of us were consistently on speaking terms, and Reid had stopped engaging in both personal and business matters,” Neil says on social media.
Still, Kimberly approached Neil about getting the Band Perry back together but both agreed they couldn’t do that with Reid (no reason given for his disillusionment.) She’d later confirm Reid wasn’t interested, Neil says.
The oldest Perry wanted to add husband Johnny to the group but, “I made it equally clear that I was not okay with that,” Neil writes.
That’s what ended up happening anyways. Reid actually had agreed to re-join the group by this point and by their 2/3 partnership agreement, Neil was terminated on July 24, 2024 (per his timeline)
“Shortly after the band signed a label deal, my brother left the band. What remained is my sister and her husband,” Neil writes.
He’s skipping ahead some. In July 2025, TBP announced they’d signed with Nashville Harbor Records and Entertainment, a part of the Big Machine Label Group. Reid was part of that announcement.
Quickly they dropped an EP and toured together, but subsequent singles didn’t include Reid Perry, who announced his departure in the fall.
Those new songs included “Kill It,” “Buzzards” and “Psychological,” the latter of which was the radio single.
In promoting the new single, Kimberly told the Rolling Stone Nashville Now podcast that, “I think they are very interested in the Band Perry getting landed as well.”
She was referring to her brothers and looking back it’s odd she dodged a fairly direct question from interviewer Joe Hudak about if Neil and Reid gave their blessing.
Reid did hint at some level of support in an October 2025 Instagram post announcing his departure but Neil was direct in saying the opposite.
“I explicitly asked my sister not to represent my support for the current version of the band,” he writes on the first of four Instagram slides.
Neither Reid, Kimberly or the Band Perry have responded to Neil’s posts. Johnny Costello has also remained quiet.
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