Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke addressed his ongoing feud with Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante. He discussed the “Softspine” rumors and revealed what he says really happened when Spiritbox withdrew from Falling In Reverse’s Popular Monstour.
Radke was asked whether artists avoid touring with him for fear of backlash from fans, despite the commercial benefits. He used Spiritbox as an example and denied that the band’s song “Softspine” is about him. Instead, he recounted a history with the band dating back to 2018.
Radke was asked, “When you deal with like all of the people that have negative opinions of you in the industry, you’re such a a force in rock and you’re a ticket selling you know you’re selling crazy tickets, do you think there are bands that even though it’s like best for business for them. They’re just afraid to tour with you cuz like 17 of their fans will complain.”
“Yeah. Spiritbox. Spiritbox is a prime example,” Radke said. “A lot of there’s like a bunch of fans that are like, ‘Softspine is about you.’ It’s like, ‘Actually, b*tch Softspine’s about you and your parasocial fan behavior.’ And there’s no way in hell that it’s about me. I mean, their manager said it wasn’t about, I wanted to know.”
Radke then described an incident from 2018 that he says shaped the relationship between the two acts.
“Here’s a funny story about Spirit Box 2018 Summerfest whatever the f*ck it’s called Milwaukee,” he continued. “Spiritbox is opening for me, we’re headlining. It’s like rainy. There’s not that many people there, because of how cold it is. But there’s a good amount, but it’s not like crazy. Before they go on stage they, Spiritbox, comes into my room, 2018 remember that, they come into my room and they’re like, ‘What’s up? How you doing?’ You know, so sweet. Canadian sweet. They’re genuinely sweet. They’re sweet.”
“And they go on stage, they have all these issues,” Radke said. “So what do I do? I leap into action and give them all of my equipment. In the middle of the thing and it helps them. And they got to play two or three songs and they got paid from the promoter because of it. They weren’t, you know, they still got their check or whatever. And it was unfortunate for them.”
He went on to explain how the dynamic shifted two years later, when the bands were set to tour together and fan backlash emerged.
“But then flash forward two years later when we do a tour with them, you know, they announce the tour, we announce a tour and they’re on it and you have a bunch of parasocial fans that can’t afford to get into the show anyways talking sh*t because you ever notice when everybody puts any tour out, everybody’s complaining about something about how someone’s a bad person, right?” Radke said. “It’s like the whole new norm. But it’s getting bad, but people are so numb to it now. They’re like, ‘F*ck you.’ But this was before that. This was like in the in the middle of it.”
Radke said the way LaPlante handled the tour cancellation, rather than the decision itself, is what damaged their relationship.
“This is why I lost respect and got mad is because she instead of calling me direct, she had her manager that they can’t do the tour,” he said. “And what that did was it separated the fans but she knew the whole time about my criminal history. She knew everything about me. I’ve been the same person. She’s known all about me. It’s not like she was like, ‘Oh, really? That happened? Oh, I can’t tour the tour.'”
He closed by reiterating his belief that LaPlante withdrew from the tour due to fan pressure rather than personal conviction.
“The only reason she didn’t do the tour is because 20 of her parasocial weirdo fans coffee barista weirdos with no septum piercings was mad at her,” Radke said. “And from that point on, I felt like control the her whole narrative. And I think that’s really f*cking whack. And I think that’s the reason why she wrote Softspine. So you can’t write Softspine about somebody like me when your spine is soft for dropping off a tour because 20 of your fans are mad at you.”
The tour dispute Radke references dates back to 2023, when Spiritbox and Falling In Reverse were slated to co-headline the Popular Monstour together.
Spiritbox exited the tour after facing significant pressure from fans. Fans urged the band not to compromise its values by sharing a bill with Radke, given his history of controversies. The band never issued a detailed public statement explaining the withdrawal at the time, leaving fans and media to speculate about the reasoning behind the decision for years afterward.
Radke did not take the exit quietly. He lashed out at Spiritbox in a series of social media posts that were later deleted. He accused the band of being weak and spineless for bowing to fan pressure instead of honoring the commitment.
The criminal history Radke referenced in his comments stretches back nearly two decades. In December 2006, Radke was involved in a violent altercation outside a Las Vegas casino that resulted in the death of 18-year-old Michael Cook. He was not held directly responsible for the killing, but he was charged with battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. He initially avoided jail time through a plea deal.
That reprieve did not last. Radke violated the terms of his probation and was arrested again in 2008. He ultimately served roughly two and a half years in prison. The fallout from those legal troubles led to his dismissal from Escape the Fate that same year. He has repeatedly cited that chapter of his career as proof that his past has never been a secret to those who chose to work with him.
