Why Did The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Break Up? | Only In MA

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The message the Mighty Mighty Bosstones posted on their Website Jan. 27 announcing "we have decided not to continue on as a band" suggested an amicable split after nearly four decades of recording and performing.

It was a blow for longtime fans like me, who saw my first Bosstones show at the Rathskeller in Kenmore Square in 1989, watched them rise to mainstream prominence in the late 1990s and continued to go to their shows and buy their albums up until last year, long after their cameo in "Clueless," their performance on Saturday Night Live and their 1990s star turn were distant memories.

But even hardcore fans of the Skacore band had to admit it had been a good run — a good run that was quickly overshadowed by an anti-vax controversy.

A few days before the band announced its split, Rolling Stone reported a song promoting Robert F. Kennedy’s anti-vax rally in Washington, D.C. "was apparently produced by Bosstones frontman Dicky Barrett." That report came on the heels of the Jan. 12 announcement that Barrett was stepping down from his side gig as the announcer for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after 19 years when he "decided to retire to Arizona."

Graham Nash has threatened to sue Kennedy for repurposing his 1971 "Chicago (We Can Change the World)" into the Barrett-produced "Heart of Freedom." Barrett has yet to confirm that he was the producer. But, notably, he also has not denied the reports.

Barrett did not respond to messages Patch left on a phone number listed for his home in Arizona, and declined comment when reached by WBUR, saying "I'd rather not talk to anyone right now." A representative for the band declined further comment to Rolling Stone, saying "this is a really private matter that is no one’s business except ours."

Barrett's other bandmates, save for one, have been mostly quiet about the split as well.
"Although the decision was sudden and final I am at peace with it," Ben Carr, one of four members of the band for all 39 years, said on Instagram. "I love our fans, I love our crew, I love my band mates! Thank you all!! My one regret is that we didn’t have one last show to say good bye!"

Like a lot of stories in the Internet era, the Bosstones split leaves us with more speculation than facts. A lot of speculation on the band's Reddit thread has centered on Barrett's wife, Jessica DePasquale, whose Instagram and Twitter profiles have been mined to reveal posts containing misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines.

But the only confirmed facts are:

1. The band split up on Jan. 27, canceling previously-announced shows scheduled for later in 2022 and just a few months after the release of their 11th studio album.
2. Someone named Dicky Barrett, who may or may not be the Dicky Barrett that fronted an important band in Boston's music history, produced a song for RFK Jr.

Kennedy's recent suggestion that Anne Frank was better off than Americans whose jobs require them to get vaccinated was called "reprehensible and insensitive" on Twitter by his wife, actress Cheryl Hines. Kennedy has since apologized for the remarks, but, even with the apology, people are keeping their distance from him.

Kay Hanley, another mainstay in the 1990s Boston music scene as lead singer of Letters To Cleo, shed more light on the split in a Twitter post on Jan. 27. But, more importantly, she captured what was lost in the controversy.

"These guys should be going out hero style. Fan pride blowing up social media, press lining up for glowy retrospectives," Hanley wrote. "Instead the moment is being trashed by one band member’s destructive decisions + that’s a shame. The Bosstones were really important."

Dave Copeland is Patch's regional editor for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).