Kim Deal to leave the Pixies

Joey Santiago, left, Black Francis, David Lovering, and Kim Deal. Ladies and gentlemen: The Pixies. Deal has announced she is leaving the band.

The Pixies have announced that bassist Kim Deal is done with the band. In a statement signed by remaining members Black Francis, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering, the band said Deal has “decided to leave,” but her “place will always be here for her.” Deal could not be reached for comment. Though conceived in the wilds of western Massachusetts while Santiago and Francis were students at UMass, the Pixies didn’t become a functioning band until a few years later in Boston. Their first record was the EP “Come On Pilgrim,” followed in 1986 by the influential album “Surfer Rosa.” (Three LPs followed: the classic “Doolittle,” “Bossanova,” and “Trompe le Monde.”) The band broke up in 1993, but got back together in 2004 to tour the US and Europe. No reason was given for Deal’s departure, but she’s been recording and touring with her band, The Breeders, off and on since the 1990s. (That band, which includes Deal’s twin sister Kelley, is currently touring on the 20th anniversary of their LP “Last Splash.”) Here is the band’s full statement: “We are sad to say that Kim Deal has decided to leave the Pixies. We are very proud to have worked with her on and off over the last 25 years. Despite her decision to move on, we will always consider her a member of the Pixies, and her place will always be here for her. We wish her all the best.”