Bad Wolves in a double crisis: lost tour with Skillet and AJ Rebollo's departure over the "Jolene" cover
American hard-rock and metal band Bad Wolves from Los Angeles has, within just a few days, lost one of its most important autumn engagements and guitarist AJ Rebollo, while two separate controversies are simultaneously spilling over from the music industry onto social media. The band was first removed from Skillet's U.S. tour, where new singer Sara "Killboy" Skinner was supposed to perform live for the first time as Bad Wolves' frontwoman. A few days later, Rebollo announced that he was leaving the band, citing as the breaking point Better Noise Music's decision to release a cover of "Jolene" immediately after Dolly Parton's death. Although the events are unrelated, together they have raised questions about the control musicians have over their own projects, the influence of online reactions on concert bookings, and the way posthumous music releases are presented to the public.
According to information available as of September 1, 2026, there is no publicly released detailed explanation from Skillet confirming why Bad Wolves was removed from the tour. Skinner claims the decision came after some Skillet fans began investigating her online presence and spreading claims about her gender identity and OnlyFans profile. On the other hand, the dispute over "Jolene" is documented through Rebollo's public statement and a subsequent statement from Better Noise Music, which presents a substantially different view of the motives behind the release. The record label claims that Dolly Parton approved their version of the song, planned to record guest vocals, and supported the idea of releasing the cover as a tribute, with proceeds intended for her Imagination Library program.
Tour confirmed and then canceled for Bad Wolves within just one week
On August 18, Better Noise Music officially announced that Bad Wolves would support Skillet on the autumn U.S. tour "Comatose: 20 Years, Still Screaming", together with Escape The Fate. The tour was scheduled to begin on September 30 in Schenectady, New York, and end on November 10 in Orlando, Florida, with more than twenty performances across the United States. For Bad Wolves, this engagement was not just another series of concerts: the label announced it as the first major live appearance of the new lineup in front of an audience and as Skinner's concert debut as the band's permanent vocalist. In the official announcement at the time, the members listed were Skinner, drummer and founder John Boecklin, bassist Derek Bolman, and guitarist AJ Rebollo.
Just one week after the announcement, Skinner posted on social media that Bad Wolves would not, after all, take part in the tour. According to her description of events, some of Skillet's audience, after the joint dates were announced, began closely examining her earlier work and private online presence. Discussions included claims that she was transgender and that she had an OnlyFans account, and Skinner said ironically in her message that only one of those claims was true. Several music outlets later cited OnlyFans as a real component of her online presence, but it is important to distinguish that from the reason for ending the collaboration: Skillet has not publicly released a detailed explanation confirming that this was specifically the reason Bad Wolves was removed.
Current concert listings additionally confirm the change in the lineup itself. On Live Nation pages for a number of tour dates, Skillet and Escape The Fate are listed as performers, while Bad Wolves is no longer among the announced participants. It is therefore beyond doubt that the initially confirmed collaboration was terminated, but publicly available information does not provide a complete answer as to who made the final decision and according to what criteria. Skinner also claimed that Skillet's team did not want her to speak publicly about the situation, but that claim has likewise not yet been independently confirmed by Skillet's camp.
Skinner was supposed to open a new chapter for the band
The controversy surrounding the tour is particularly sensitive for Bad Wolves because it was supposed to mark the beginning of a new phase following yet another change of vocalist. Skinner was officially introduced in June 2026 with the single "Paint It Red", the band's first release of that year. Better Noise Music emphasized at the time that this was not a temporary replacement but a new creative lineup, while Boecklin said in promotional material that the singer could expand the group's sound and take the songs in a different direction. The planned tour with Skillet was therefore meant to be the first onstage test of that lineup, as well as the first time Skinner would perform Bad Wolves' older catalog before a wider audience.
Bad Wolves have already gone through several major personnel changes during their career. They gained broader international recognition in 2018 with a cover of The Cranberries' song "Zombie", and later changed vocalists and several instrumentalists. By the summer of 2026, Skinner had replaced Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz, while Rebollo was part of the current lineup alongside Boecklin and Bolman. As a result, losing the tour and Rebollo's departure in the same week are not merely two media episodes, but a practical problem for a band that was just trying to stabilize a new live and studio lineup.
For Skinner, the cancellation of the tour participation also meant postponing her planned concert debut with the band. By September 1, no comparable replacement tour had been announced that would take over the role of this major presentation of the new lineup. That does not mean Bad Wolves will not perform under a different arrangement, but at the time this story was published, their immediate concert plans were considerably less clear than they had been in mid-August.
AJ Rebollo claims "Jolene" was the final line
The second crisis erupted almost simultaneously. On August 28, AJ Rebollo announced that he was leaving Bad Wolves after learning that Better Noise Music would proceed with the planned release of a metal cover of the classic "Jolene". In his message, Rebollo claimed that he could no longer support decisions that, in his view, were being made for the band without the members having real control over the process. He took particular issue with the timing of the release, because Dolly Parton had died only a few days earlier, on August 25, 2026. The Associated Press reported that the legendary American singer-songwriter died at the age of 80 after a short battle with cancer.
According to Rebollo's version, after Parton's death the band members did not want to release the song at that moment because it was no longer possible to realize the guest appearance that had originally given the project its special meaning. He believed that releasing it immediately after her death could create the impression of commercially exploiting the enormous public interest and mourning. He described the record label's decision as the final point in a broader dissatisfaction with the way business matters surrounding Bad Wolves were being handled. In other words, Rebollo did not present his departure as a dispute over a single song, but as the consequence of a longer-standing feeling that the band did not have enough influence over key decisions.
That claim is important because it raises a broader question about the relationship between artists and record labels. In the modern music industry, contracts can grant labels broad rights over distribution, release scheduling, and commercial exploitation of recorded material, but the specific terms of the agreement between Bad Wolves and Better Noise Music are not publicly known. It is therefore not possible to independently determine whether the label formally acted against the band's wishes or exercised rights granted to it under the contract. What has been publicly confirmed is that Rebollo directly linked his decision to leave with the disagreement over "Jolene" and with the way, in his view, the label manages decisions related to the group.
Dolly Parton was supposed to guest on the recording
Better Noise Music responded by releasing the song itself on August 31 and issuing an extensive statement emphasizing that the project had not originated after Parton's death. According to John Boecklin, the idea had developed earlier because Skinner is a major Dolly Parton fan and had already performed "Jolene". The band recorded a heavier, rock or metal version of the song, after which record label executive Dan Waite forwarded the material to Parton's longtime manager Danny Nozell with a proposal for the songwriter herself to join the recording.
In Better Noise Music's statement, Nozell confirmed that Parton had heard the Bad Wolves version, approved it, and was interested in recording her own vocals. According to the same release, technical materials for the collaboration had already been sent to her studio team, but the recording did not take place before her death. The label therefore presented "Jolene" as a memorial release rather than a project conceived afterward in order to capitalize on news of her death. This directly contradicts Rebollo's impression of the label's motivation, although it does not disprove his claim that some band members opposed the timing of the release.
The most important element through which Better Noise Music is seeking to demonstrate the humanitarian purpose of the release is the decision to direct proceeds from the song to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. It is a program Parton launched in 1995 to encourage reading among children. According to the organization's official data, the program currently operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland, and sends free, age-appropriate books to registered children from birth to age five. The organization states that several million books are distributed each month.
The humanitarian component does not settle the debate over whether the timing of the release was appropriate, but it changes the context compared with the claim that this was merely an attempt to profit from a tragedy. Available information indicates that two realities existed simultaneously: Rebollo believed that a release after her death could appear unethical and claims the band opposed such a move, while Parton's longtime manager says she herself had previously supported the cover and planned to participate. Without public access to internal communication between the band, the label, and management, it is impossible to determine precisely how much the members' positions changed after her death or how the final decision on the release date was made.
The "Zombie" precedent has once again become part of the story
The case has an unusual connection to Bad Wolves' biggest hit. In 2018, the band was preparing a cover of "Zombie" with a planned guest appearance by Dolores O'Riordan, singer of The Cranberries. O'Riordan died before she managed to record her part, but Bad Wolves released the song anyway, and it became a major international success. Better Noise Music has now directly cited that precedent in defense of the decision regarding "Jolene".
The label's statement quoted Don Burton, O'Riordan's husband and manager, who said that after her death the label and band sought the family's blessing to continue the project and promised to direct proceeds to her children. According to Burton's statement, that promise was later fulfilled and a significant amount was paid to the family. Better Noise Music is thus attempting to show that a model in which an unexpectedly unfinished collaboration is transformed into a memorial release with a humanitarian purpose is not new in Bad Wolves' history. Still, the fact that a similar decision in 2018 had a positive outcome does not automatically mean that all members of the current lineup must accept the same approach in 2026, something Rebollo's departure clearly demonstrates.
Two separate controversies leave the band with unanswered questions
By the beginning of September, Bad Wolves therefore finds itself in a situation in which two different issues have merged into a broader crisis of identity and management. In the case of the tour with Skillet, the key unknown remains the official reason for the band's removal. Skinner publicly linked the decision to reactions from part of the audience toward her and her online presence, but Skillet has not provided a detailed explanation that would confirm that interpretation. In the case of "Jolene", the conflict is more clearly documented: Rebollo claims the label moved ahead against the members' wishes, while Better Noise Music emphasizes Dolly Parton's prior approval, the intended collaboration, and the humanitarian purpose of the release.
For a band that only a few weeks earlier had been promoting a "new era" with singer Skinner, the consequences are immediate. The planned major concert debut of the new lineup no longer exists in the announced form, and the guitarist position has been left vacant following Rebollo's departure. At the same time, "Jolene" has already been released and is available to the public, so the debate is no longer about whether the song will come out, but about how it will be perceived and whether its humanitarian goal can soften the controversy surrounding the timing of the release.
Bad Wolves have not announced that they are abandoning new material or ending the band, and Better Noise Music continues to promote Skinner as the vocalist of the group's current phase. What is clear as of September 1 is that the band is facing the practical consequences of two disputes that touch on some of the most sensitive areas of the music business: who decides who is allowed on tour, how much an online audience can influence those decisions, and who has the final say when artistic intent collides with contractual and commercial interests. The answers to those questions will probably determine the shape of Bad Wolves' next phase more than the viral controversy itself.
Sources:
- Better Noise Music - official announcement about the release of the "Jolene" cover, Dolly Parton's planned guest appearance, and the donation to the Imagination Library program (link)
- Better Noise Music - official announcement of Bad Wolves' tour with Skillet and Escape The Fate and the band's lineup at the time (link)
- NextMosh - report and transcript of Sara "Killboy" Skinner's statement about Bad Wolves being removed from the tour (link)
- NME - report on Bad Wolves being removed from the tour, the controversy surrounding Skinner, and AJ Rebollo's departure (link)
- ThePRP - report on Rebollo's statement, his departure from the band, and the dispute with Better Noise Music over the release of "Jolene" (link)
- Associated Press - confirmation of Dolly Parton's death on August 25, 2026, and basic biographical context (link)
- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library - official information about the free-book program for children and the countries in which it operates (link)
- Live Nation - current list of dates for the "Comatose: 20 Years, Still Screaming" tour, on which Bad Wolves is no longer listed alongside Skillet and Escape The Fate (link)