Alabama Shakes drummer Steve William Johnson’s alleged child abuse lawsuit was dismissed last week on December 16. The case was dismissed by the judge “with prejudice” which means that the same suit cannot be refiled at later date. Earlier this year, Johnson was arrested and charged with “alleged willful torture, alleged willful abuse, and alleged cruelly beating or otherwise willfully maltreating a child under the age of 18.” He was released on bail after spending 15 days in jail. According to Johnson’s attorney, these allegations of child abuse stem from “a spanking incident and nothing more.” All charges have been dismissed, but went through all of 2021 since March with these allegations connected to him. Johnson maintained his innocence the entire time. Johnson had previously pleaded guilty to violating a domestic violence protection order in March 2020, which he served a jail sentence for.
Johnson was a founding member of the alternative rock band Alabama Shakes. The band released 2 critically successful albums in Boys and Girls and Sound and Color. The band has not released a studio album since 2015 due to lead singer Brittany Howard focusing on her solo career. Howard also formed a new band called Bermuda Triangle. While many of the other members of Alabama Shakes have split off and done their own solo work, Johnson has remained in the band as the drummer. The band was known for their musical combination of hard rock, southern blues and country and folk elements. They were nominated for Grammys for their album Sound and Color. With the band seemingly working apart more often, it is unclear what Alabama Shakes’s response to Johnson’s lawsuit dimissal will be.
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