Brian Burkheiser Breaks Silence on I Prevail Exit: ‘I Didn’t Deserve How Things Went Down’

After weeks of speculation, ex-I Prevail vocalist Brian Burkheiser has finally spoken out and he’s not sugar-coating it.

In a deeply personal and lengthy statement posted to Instagram stories, the former I Prevail co-vocalist Brian Burkheiser confirmed what fans had feared: the split wasn’t clean, and it wasn’t easy.

Beneath the surface of the band’s polished farewell message lies a story of fractured communication, unspoken tensions, and a frontman left blindsided by how it all ended.

“I had a falling out with the dudes… But yeah, sh*t did get tough along the way and I do think that I didn’t deserve how things went down.”

“Divorces normally happen due to lack of communication… I did try to communicate more and I wish that they would’ve talked to me more,” he continued.

It’s a stark contrast to I Prevail’s official statement back in May, which called the split a “difficult decision” but painted a relatively smooth picture. Burkheiser’s version? Messier. More human. And undeniably painful. He doesn’t accuse his bandmates of malice, but he’s clear that he felt abandoned in the final stretch.

“We were all just kids. None of us knew what the f**k we were doing. It all happened so fast.”

He reflects on the chaos of the last decade — the fame, the pressure, the silent distance that crept in. It reads like someone still processing the wreckage, trying to make peace with a situation that spiralled beyond his control. Despite it all, he says “every member of I Prevail is a good person.”

“Everyone is trying to feed the family… But if it took it coming down to this to teach the world this lesson then I’m OK with that….There is no beef,” the statement continues.

Read Brian Burkheiser’s full statement on his split from I Prevail below:

“I will change the music industry forever. There are no rules to this sh*t. You can be whatever the f*ck you wanna be. But if you don’t live your truth, don’t go blaming anyone else. Someone taught me that this week and I have run with that mindset ever since.

I had to do this for my family. I couldn’t take this anymore. I am meant to be here. I’m just gonna keep posting music till I go to bed. But tomorrow everyone’s gonna wake the fu*k up and treat each other kindly. Every single member of I Prevail is a good person.

We were all just kids. None of us knew what the f*ck we were doing. It all happened so fast. There is no beef. I love every single one of those guys whether they know it or not. But yeah, sh*t did get tough along the way and I do think that I didn’t deserve how things went down. But it doesn’t mean they are bad people. We’re all just going thru sh*t. Everyone is trying to feed the family. The only thing I will say is that I did try to communicate more and I wish that they would’ve talked to me more. But if it took coming down to this to teach the world this lesson then I’m OK with that because I want to rekindle my friendships with those guys one day.

Whether you know it or not, I am proud of you Eric. You went through a lot of things the world doesn’t know about. I want to see you. I miss you.

Maybe I f*cked up tonight. Honestly, I have really no idea what I’ve done, but I’m just trying to be as vulnerable as I can be. I’m trying to prove to the world that any relationship can be mended. I guess I’m trying to have my My Name Is Earl moment. I have no idea all of this stuff was going to happen two days ago. I had no idea that I was going to post Instagram Stories. But I mentally broke. The truth is this sh*t has had me so mentally unwell for so long.

If anybody goes and talks shit to I Prevail [at] their show today, I will be so upset. You better give them the best f*cking show of their lives.

Also I love every single member of the I Prevail crew. Those guys work their f*cking asses off. Today I want all of you guys to please give them a big ass round of applause for everything they did for me over the 10 years in this band.

I’ll be honest. I had a falling out with the dudes. A lot of things happened over 10 years and I’m sure they have different perspectives on certain things. But this sh*t does happen in life. But divorces normally happen due to lack of communication. I think we both could’ve improved on that over the course of time as we got bigger and bigger.

I just want all of us to go on and live our lives. I want all our families to be happy. I love all of their significant others and children. Let’s just do the sh*t guys, let’s all change the industry and show everybody that we can get past it. Maybe it took our band to show the world that relationships are f*cking hard and the music industry is even harder.

Please go sell this tour out. There are so many f*cking amazing bands on this. The truth is it’s not selling great because it’s in amphitheaters. But these bands deserve to be treated like f*cking pop stars. If I had one last wish before I turned into scatterbrain, it would be that you guys sell this out for me and make sure every single one those bands goes and blows up.

Dave Shapiro was I Prevail’s manager. Dom Mackie is a good person. He co-managed with Dave. Dome was one of my best friends and I have talked to him in a long time. I know it was take a hell of a lot of burden off him if you guys sold this tour out.”