For a few weeks in 2018, Los Angeles band Threatin went viral for all the wrong reasons, after their debut UK tour was abandoned when no one showed up to their shows.
It was claimed that band leader Jered Threation had faked a Facebook fanbase to encourage bookings, much to the anger of venues who expected hundreds of fans to show up. In addition, he'd allegedly faked an entire support system for the band, with websites for a manager, booking agent, press agent and record label all reinforcing his 'legitimacy'.
“What is Fake News?," asked Threatin, after the tour fell apart. "I turned an empty room into an international headline. If you are reading this, you are part of the illusion.”
Threatin returned a year after the cancellations to play a bewildering and poorly attended show at London's Underworld venue, but it's been quiet since then.
Now Jered Threatin is back with a new single, Die Young, and a video that documents his health battles.
"Due to severe health issues, Jered Threatin has been hospitalized," advises Threatin's wife, KT. "After years of misdiagnosis, it was discovered that he had a life-threatening illness. Following a series of heart attacks, he underwent an emergency open-heart surgery that left him in a coma.
"In a race against his declining health, Die Young was recorded in the weeks leading up to his hospitalization. The new song has been released with a music video / mini-documentary that chronicles his battle with the fatal condition."
Fans have reacted to Threatin's new video with a mixture of support and suspicion, with some suggesting that the video is another PR stunt.
In 2019 Threatin told Classic Rock that he was suffering from PAVM [Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation], a malformation of one of the major arteries in his right lung, and was coughing up blood regularly.
According to Threatin's website, his second album has been mastered at Abbey Road and is expected to be released alongside a "highly anticipated Threatin film and documentary."
Warning: the following footage may distress some viewers.
