admin It’s a Sunday morning, and Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley is lounging on the couch in my Las Vegas Airbnb. As always, he’s dressed in his signature punk-metal style: leather jacket, band T-shirt, spiky hair, and a couple of chains hanging from his jeans. He’d just driven over from his new home a few minutes away.
“I had to get out of L.A.,” he says. “It’s just gotten too crazy. You’d be surprised how many people—including musicians—have moved to Vegas to escape what L.A. has become.”
Whibley isn’t a big guy, standing around five foot six, and in moments like this, he’s soft-spoken. But Sum 41 fans know that when he’s got a guitar in hand and a stage beneath him, he’s a completely different animal.
That onstage energy, however, is winding down. In early 2023, as we talk, the conversation shifts to how he’s preparing to close the book on Sum 41.
“The next album is nearly done. It looks like it’ll be a double record, too. We’re independent now, so we can do whatever we want. All the music is finished; I just need to complete my vocals and finalise the mix. I’ve got my own studio at home—Studio Mr. Biz—where I can take my time. And once it’s done, that might be it.”
Sum 41—and Whibley in particular—have been through a lot since the band formed in Ajax, Ontario, 41 days into the summer of 1996 (the true origin of their name). Whibley quickly became the heart of the group, serving as lead singer, main songwriter, and focal point for everything. Raised by a single mother, he had a tough upbringing, so when the band took off, he and his bandmates embraced the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle with pranks, parties, and later, excessive booze and drugs. Far too much booze and drugs. But more on that later.
Sum 41 became relentless road warriors, constantly touring. They rode their signature mix of pop-punk and metal to massive success in the early 2000s, going platinum with All Killer No Filler, Does This Look Infected?, and Chuck. Their journey even took them to a war zone in the Congo while working with War Child, where they were nearly caught in a rebel militia attack on a UN-protected compound. There was also an incident in Japan involving some questionable drugs, with side effects that lingered far longer than expected.
By then, Whibley had relocated to Bel Air, where the partying escalated. He had a brief fling with Paris Hilton, which taught him the art of dodging paparazzi. Then came his high-profile marriage to pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne, pulling him even deeper into the tabloid spotlight. When they tied the knot, helicopters hovered over the ceremony and reception. The marriage lasted until 2010.
For a while, Whibley felt invincible, indulging without consequence. But in 2007, things began to unravel. A chronic herniated disc, aggravated by years of high-energy performances, became a persistent issue. Then, in 2010, an assault by three unknown attackers in a Japanese bar left him with even more injuries.
The band itself was also changing. The once-unbreakable group of friends from Ajax and Scarborough began to fracture. Internal tensions grew, leading to a string of lineup changes. Guitarist Dave “Brownsound” Baksh was the first to leave in 2006. Drummer Steve-O’s departure in 2013 was even more dramatic, following rising tensions within the band.
Sum 41’s era may be ending, but their impact on punk-rock history is undeniable.
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