WELSH rock band Funeral For A Friend have announced their return to the stage after one of their biggest fans was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Hailing from Bridgend, they became one of the forefront bands in the emo wave.

The shows at the Globe in Cardiff and London’s Shepherd’s Bush O2 Empire on October 28 and 29, will be the first since May, 2016.

The decision to come back was sparked by their love for their fans and the deterioration of their ‘biggest fan’.

In a statement released, the band explained that the decision had been made after they found out that long-time fan and close friend of the band Stuart ‘Big Stu’ Brothers had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

They wanted to honour his support by returning to the stage, and will also be auctioning off some memorabilia.

All proceeds will be going to Stuart’s family, to help care for his three young sons.

Further adding to the momentous occasion, the band’s original guitar duo of Kris Coombs-Roberts and Darran Smith will be on stage together for the first time since Darran left in 2010. Drummer/vocalist Ryan Richards, who left the band in 2012, will also be re-joining.

The sets will also be filled with tracks from their early days, circa 2002-2007.

READ MORE:

Funeral For A Friend’s statement is in full below:

“FFAF Family,

"When we left the stage on May 21st 2016 at London’s Kentish Town Forum, we all agreed that it was the perfect way to end Funeral For A Friend. We’d toured the UK one last time, playing some of the biggest shows we’d performed in years, in front of our friends and families. It was the perfect ending. Since then, we’ve been asked many times - ‘do you think you’ll ever come back?’ and the answer has always been a resounding ‘no’, because there was never any reason to.

"Until now.

"Recently, a man who can quite legitimately lay claim to being the world’s biggest FFAF fan (both literally and figuratively!), our friend Stuart ‘Big Stu’ Brothers, has been stricken with a terrible illness which has ultimately led to a terminal prognosis. Last month, Stu was given a few short weeks to live by his Doctors.

"As Stu’s friends, we wanted to do something to help; particularly for his family and 3 young sons, who are going through unspeakable trauma right now. We discussed the possibility of auctioning off some FFAF memorabilia (which we’ll still do), but it became apparent that the way in which we could best help Stu was to perform some fundraising shows, with the proceeds going directly to his family.

"So, on October 28th and 29th, at the Cardiff Globe and London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire respectively, Funeral for a Friend will be performing two more shows to benefit the Brothers family.

"Being that Stu was an old-school fan right from the very start, we will mainly be performing material from the early part of our career circa 2002-2007. Joining Matt, Kris, Gav and Rich for the shows will be guitarist Darran Smith (who left the band in 2010) and drummer/vocalist Ryan Richards, who left in 2012.

"Tickets will be available from Wednesday for O2 Priority Customers, and on general sale from Friday. All information can be found at www.funeralforafriend.co.uk

"Additionally, a fundraising page has been set up for Stu’s family

here

.

"If you can, please give generously to a great man and a great cause.

"Thank you, and we’ll see you in October.

"Matt, Kris, Gav, Rich, Darran and Ryan.

"FFAF.”

Tickets go on general sale on Friday, August 9 at 10am. O2 Priority customers will be able to get tickets early on Wednesday, August 7.

Tickets are available from Funeral For A Friend's website, See Tickets and Ticketmaster.