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'The Calling' Singer

Suspicious Injuries

It's Not a Hoax, I Swear!!!

8/19/2013 12:33 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF


The Calling
singer Alex Band has released photos of the injuries he allegedly sustained during a violent abduction Sunday morning in Michigan ... but let's be honest ... they don't paint a picture of a "near-death" encounter.

Alex's publicist tells TMZ ...  the singer suffered a fractured lower spine, 15 stitches to the lower chin, 3 broken teeth and is bruised on his side and stomach from a beating that occurred after Band was snatched off a Lapeer, Michigan street by mysterious people in a van.


According to the rep, the only reason Alex escaped with his life is because his captors took mercy on him for having a baby on the way. The rep says Alex told them, "Don't kill me as I am about to be a dad," and the captors responded, "We don't kill fathers." It's like something out of a bad movie.

As we first reported, police are investigating the incident ... but we've tried multiple times to get someone from the PD on the phone and they're stonewalling it.


  • Fake
  • Real
And get this ... Alex's PR team just announced The Calling's big comeback.  Coincidence?

Even though it smells fishy, Band is sticking by his story, insisting, "I was near death due to this unbelievable situation and the rumors are categorically false and not a hoax as reported.”


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Why would anyone assume this is a suspicious incident, when getting jumped at 4am in or near Detroit is a daily occurrence? Until you've lived here you haven't a clue.

208 days ago


FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! I live in Albuquerque, NM, home of Walt and Jesse, If his story was true they would have been prying his @$$ out of a metal drum with a very large can opener. Looks like a drug deal gone bad to me too. Remember ... I am the one who knocks, I AM THE DANGER! ... LOL!

208 days ago

Rusty Shackleford    

... i guess the abductors dont have any shot at UFC anytime soon...

more likely story: he tripped over his dildo and fell down in the shower.

208 days ago


His "abductors" were driving a blue minivan and they let him live because they "don't kill fathers." This guy looks like he slapped a bandaid on his nose. Whatever broken teeth he claims to have they must be his molars bc the front teeth look perfectly fine. I hardly think he looks like he was near death!

208 days ago


This is not Michael Jackson.
He didn't lie that bullies inflicted injuries on him after the public saw his criminal behavior.
He didn't lose all his money.
He's not a drug addict.
He didn't butcher his face on purpose.
He didn't buy babies from a woman he had a sham marriage with.
He didn't sleep with little boys.
He didn't abuse kids.
He didn't punch women.

Gavin Degraw was beaten up too.
Was he looking for sex & drugs?

If Alex wanted to break his spine, wouldn't he
have no ability to play his guitar & earn money?
The people who wished more injuries on him never cared if he existed. They have little money.
No wonder they're jealous that a white boy can sing & play the guitar. Their heroes are dead from drug crimes & were pedophiles.

208 days ago


His story is so ridiculous. He said he was walking to a mini mart to get something to eat. Why would he walk at least five blocks to an all night gas station when there is a 24 hour grocery store ACROSS THE STREET from the hotel. Lapeer is so small there are only two hotels in the entire town and they both are right by a Meijer's store which is open 24 hours. Why on earth would someone in their right mind go walking to a "mini mart" at 4am, alone, in a town they don't know? They wouldn't. He either made this story up or was looking for drugs.

I tend to believe he was looking for drugs because the band's performance was delayed due to the fact that the band was too ****ED UP to take the stage. They had to wait for them to sober up before they could perform.

I call bull**** on this entire story.

208 days ago

Nobodies business    

I like how people who have never been to Lapeer or don't even live in Michigan seem to know so much about our town. If this guy needed something there is a 24hr. grocery store right behind the hotel, why would he walk farther than he needed to. Nobody remembered or cared who he was, he acted like a jerk that night because his video equipment didn't work, not his instruments, his light show. He made all the people wait 45 minutes because the computer wouldn't project a "cool" light show. He had a bad experience here, that he brought on himself, and this is how he is going to get back at the city of Lapeer. Badly beaten but no swelling to his face, teeth didn't look broken, any kind of back injury would limited your mobility especially a fracture. There are two stories on TMZ about this and both have slightly different accounts of the evening. Can't wait to see how this plays out.

208 days ago

Nobodies business    

I wonder if TMZ will report on this guy when he finally confesses that he lied

208 days ago


How is having a gun pointed in your face not considered a life threatening situation?

I am from Lapeer and I was also at the concert. While Lapeer is a small town and not typically thought of as a threatening, Lapeer Days always seems to bring the s*** out of the woodwork as well as from surrounding areas(like Flint... one the most dangerous cities.) Growing up in Lapeer, this was my first actual experience attending because I am a fan of The Calling. Otherwise, I typically avoid the festival.

The show lasted until about midnight, plus they had to pack up their equipment, and probably grabbed some food, not to mention amped on adrenaline. So it's not that shocking that he would have been up at that time. Also, the mini mart is literally across the parking lot from the hotel they were shown to have been staying at. He was probably just going to buy some smokes.

There's a lot of down and out people in the area, and someone probably followed him to the hotel. I believe him and that this incident was real. They're talented enough that they don't need to be fracturing their spine and chipping their teeth for publicity. I really enjoyed the show and their new music! It's unfortunate this happened and I wish Alex and the rest of the band much success!

208 days ago


I believe him. Lapeer Days always brings the s***miest people out of the woodwork.

208 days ago


The plot thickens.

208 days ago


this is my hometown that Alex Band is lying about, and this is a bull**** story. I don't doubt he got his ass kicked and served to him on a platter, but not under the cir***stances he describes in this CNN story.

Let me explain why I feel this way.

Simply put, things like this simply do not happen here. PERIOD.

If Alex had performed in Saginaw, Bay City, or Flint, I might give his allegations some credit. But for him to allege that he was 'kidnapped' in Lapeer??? Where excitement here is cow-tipping and watching the corn grow? Total BS. No one who lives here believes him.

In the CNN story he was 'abducted' while walking down the street at 3am after performing at a music festival. MUSIC FESTIVAL??? Right there, the first lie/stretching of the truth from either 'The Calling' or CNN.

There was no 'music festival' in Lapeer this weekend. We had Lapeer Days. The Calling played at 'Lapeer Days', a local community event...not a 'music festival'. Do 'music festivals' have a carnival in the park a couple blocks away and a parade replete with all sorts of floats...including farm equipment? Okay, I am guessing farm equipment was in this year's parade. I didn't make it to this year's parade, but farm equipment has been in parades in years past.

Let me describe the area the 'music festival' was in. Take a look at Google Maps, and look at the intersections of Nepessing Street and Court Street. There is a church, a gift shop, a local art gallery, and the lawn of the court house on those corners. The lawn of the court house wouldn't have been used that much (I didn't go to the concert, but I live here and I know how they use the area). Think more like bleachers and standing room.

In other words, they were playing in a small area on a stage on the North side of Nepessing, and there were bleachers (off to the side) and standing room in the street. Note: the South side of Court Street did not have bleachers blocking the street, but there were vendors on the sides of the street. I want to make it very clear that Lapeer Days is a SMALL small town festival and The Calling were playing in a small area in the middle of the street...that this was no ****ing 'music festival' they were playing at.

Moving on...

Nothing here is open after 2am aside from a couple fast food restaurants, a few gas stations, and some shopping (Walmart, and Meijer (if you've never heard of Meijer...similar concept to Walmart...but better). We have two hotels and two motels.

I am guessing he stayed at the Best Western or the Holiday Inn. Those are on either side of Main Street (the main drag here). On the Best Western side, right directly behind there is Meijer. In front of the Best Western is a gas station and a Burger King (which are technically also in front of the Holiday Inn, and there is a trailer park behind the Holiday Inn).

If you were here and could see what I'm talking about, you would know Alex Band isn't telling the entire truth about what happened. Tell me how Alex got 'kidnapped' walking from either of those places, both of which are well lit, and on the main drag? Even at 3am it just didn't happen.

Now...moving the CNN story said he was dumped and left for 'dead' COUGH...LIAR by the railroad tracks in Lapeer.

That sounds awfully dramatic. It also makes it sound rather ominous and dark. What you don't know is there are only five streets that cross active railroad tracks in Lapeer (and one that is no longer in use on McCormick Drive, the road that the Holiday Inn is on). #1 is Main Street...the main drag over by the Clark gas station where people would have seen him. #2 and #3 are Monroe Street and Bentley Street which basically surround Cramton Park. Monroe Street is 'isolated' in the sense that you have two businesses (I forget what they are) right near the tracks, and you are a block away from a residential area. Bentley Street north of the tracks is residential, and South there are some businesses/county buildings). #4 is South Court Street, and #5 is South Saginaw Street, both of which are within a block of houses. I'd like to know exactly where he was 'dumped', because people who live here wouldn't dump him along the railroad tracks. We have plenty of farm fields a good distance away from anything close to town for that. The last place someone local would dump him would be, 'the railroad tracks'.

I'm sure Alex Band and his manager are telling the truth that he got beaten up, but they are lying through their teeth about the abduction/kidnapping. Trust me when I say I live here and it just isn't possible under the cir***stances he describes. This just does not happen here.

I know it sounds cliche to say it just doesn't happen here, but it doesn't. Serious crime is so rare here that it is shocking when it does happen. What kind of excitement do we have here in Lapeer? We're talking the kind of excitement where one of the churches is having a 'family fun day' this upcoming Sunday where they expect handing out free food and games for the kids. Excitement here is going to the local high school sports games (R.I.P. Lapeer East/West...which have been consolidated into Lapeer High school because of a declining student population). This is so out of the realm of ordinary for Lapeer, people here are saying so on the local news, with one local resident saying he thought it was a publicity stunt. The first thing I thought when I heard about it on the local news was it was total BS.

I don't believe this is a publicity stunt, but I think he is lying through his teeth about the cir***stances. My thought is he pissed someone off, somehow, and rather than own up to being an idiot and getting his ass kicked because he pissed off and insulted a good 'ole redneck boy and got his ass kicked, he and his 'manager' come up with the idea to blame it on a kidnapping.

If this had happened in Flint, Bay City or Saginaw, this might be slightly more believable, but here? No.

Let me be very clear. Overall Lapeer is very rural. Major crime here is getting caught speeding, or teens partying. This simply does not happen here.

If Alex really was 'kidnapped', which I doubt, or had his ass kicked (which is apparently true), then he either seriously insulted someone or f***** around in some way to bring it on himself. In my opinion, if he were 'really' kidnapped by someone in Lapeer, they would have dumped him outside of town. If it were someone from Flint who was visiting Lapeer at the time...he wouldn't be alive to tell the story.

208 days ago

Jay Kay     

Okay dude, next time you want to do this, pick Detroit, not one of the nicest areas an hour away from Detroit. I live a 10 blocks away from Detroit and this crap does not even happen where I live.

208 days ago

Knock Biebers Face In. lil Puke    

How did anyone even realize this loser was missing?

208 days ago


I live in Lapeer (was at Lapeer Days too). If this REALLY did happen I will walk down the exact same street as him at 4am nekkid. I call BS. Thanks d!ck for trying to give our small town a bad name

208 days ago

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