After everything he's told me, I couldn't possibly expose his story to the whole world, that wouldn't be fair. And although I know he's still keeping a few things about his past from me, he has still told me a lot, and he's made it clear that he doesn't want me to tell anybody. And what was worse, was the fact that I had originally walked into that hotel to get famous. I can't just use Michael like that, he's already been through enough. The least I could do was give him the respect he deserves.
I deleted the last few paragraphs of my rough draft so Michael was completely out of the picture. But then, if I didn't mention Michael, how would people know how I found out all this information? How could I be rightfully credited if it looks as if I made up everything I'm going to talk about?
"Why is he so secretive?" I sighed to myself as I pulled up another internet tab. I went straight to Google and decided to dig deeper into my research about Michael, and find out what exactly happened to 5 Seconds of Summer after he disappeared.
I typed '5 Seconds of Summer replacement' into the search bar, and looked over the results I was given.
The first thing that popped up was an article written in 2016, a year after Michael went missing.
5 Seconds Of Summer - Where Are They Now?
By Paul Lancaster -- April 12th, 2016
After the mysterious tragedy that struck the music industry last year, a lot has changed for the biggest pop band in the world. Michael Clifford went missing last June while staying an extra night in Los Angeles before a show they had spontaneously added on to their world tour. Nobody has a single clue of what could've happened to him, and most investigators have pronounced him dead. Since Clifford's disappearance, nothing about his band has been the same.
The remaining members of 5 Seconds Of Summer - Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, and Ashton Irwin - have taken almost a year off from making music and have ultimately stayed mute on the topic of discussion. A few months ago, however, when we finally had the chance to talk to them about Michael, here is what they said:
"You could say that the worst part of all this is that we don't even know what happened to him," Irwin began. "But the worst part of it all is the fact that Michael just isn't here anymore."
"We never would've expected something like this to happen," Hood added. "When we formed this band, we promised ourselves that we would stay together until the end. We just didn't expect 'the end' to come so abruptly."
Shaking and teary-eyed, Irwin continued. "Michael was a great guy, you know? He kept this us sane and kept this band together whenever we felt like we were falling apart. I miss him more than anything."
"We're not 5 Seconds Of Summer anymore," Hood stated, finishing the conversation. "We're just Calum, Ashton, and Luke."
In a separate interview, Luke Hemmings discussed what was next for the struggling band. "Since Michael disappeared, our numbers have dropped severely. And rightfully so. We'll never be the same band without Michael. But at the end of the day, this is our job, and we want to keep making music for those who have stuck around."
As of last week, 5 Seconds Of Summer has officially gained a new member to take Michael's place as their lead guitarist. "It's what's best for the band." they said.
They were officially joined by Zachary Rose at the beginning of the month. "Zach was a friend of mine in high school," Irwin explained in an interview, following their big announcement. "He's a great, great guitar player. Sure, he'll never be Michael, but he knows that."
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