Ween, the alternative rock band formed by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, will stop producing music, says Freeman in a new interview with Rolling Stone.
"It's time to move on," Freeman said. "I'm retiring Gene Ween."
Gene Ween was Freeman's alter ego, while Dean Ween was Melchiondo's stage name. The pair formed Ween together in high school after meeting in an eighth-grade typing class. While Rolling Stone stipulates that Freeman and Melchiondo are still friends and that the split was harmonious, Melchiondo seemed taken aback by the news.
"This is news to me," he wrote on Facebook, "all I can say for now I guess."
Ween released 17 combined studio and independent albums between 1985 and 2007, as well as six live recordings. The band was known for its eclectic mix of sounds, from rock to pop to heavy metal to prog rock and electronic. For non-fans, they might be best known as the butt (ahem) of the joke on "Beavis and Butt-head." The MTV animated characters mocked the video for Ween's 1992 single, "Push th' Little Daisies."
"It's been a long time, 25 years," Freeman told Rolling Stone. "It was a good run."
Leave your favorite Ween memories in the comments below. Watch some of the band's videos in the accompanying slideshow.
[via RS]
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Posted: 05/30/2012 1:24 pm Updated: 05/30/2012 1:24 pm