Insane Clown Posse plans 'slow' farewell tour as Violent J battles heart condition
The long-running Detroit rap duo Insane Clown Posse had a pair of bombshell announcements for fans this weekend.
The group’s Violent J, addressing a crowd Saturday at the 21st Gathering of the Juggalos in Ohio, revealed he was recently diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a condition involving abnormal heart rhythm.
Violent J, the charismatic 49-year-old born Joseph Bruce, told fans his heart issue “means basically we can’t do things the way we used to do them.”
With longtime music partner Shaggy 2 Dope and his brother, Robert Bruce, alongside him onstage, Violent J said ICP will be scaling back its concert activity.
That will include a farewell tour next year with dates in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Australia — albeit at a lighter pace than normal for the longtime road warriors. Calling it a “slow tour,” Violent J said ICP will play three or four shows a week.
He said his doctors are “not too amped on me doing shows, period. But it’s not a wise move to get out and play six nights a week with (the heart) situation.”
Saturday’s announcement came on the final afternoon of the three-day Gathering, held this year in Thornville, Ohio. The freewheeling annual festival draws ICP fans from across the country — “Juggalos,” in the group’s parlance — for camping, special activities, and performances by the duo and associated acts.
Violent J and Shaggy said the tour won’t be the end of their performing career. The group would continue to play once a month and stage its special events, including its yearly Gatherings and the Hallowicked show held annually in Detroit in October.
Moreover, the 2022 farewell tour may not be the only one, Violent J joked.
“I always thought it would be cool to do a farewell tour like Kiss does,” he said. “And then do another one two years later.”
Juggalos descend on D.C. to fight FBI gang distinction as pro-Trump activists rally
The group also said it will continue to make music regardless.
Violent J said his heart condition was diagnosed after he found himself frequently winded during short walks on his property in Farmington Hills. He described an alarming series of hospital visits that included an emergency fibrillation.
A later ablation procedure managed to correct his abnormal heart rhythm, he said, but it doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods: The condition could manifest at any point.
ICP, which formed in 1989 initially as Inner City Posse, was one of Detroit’s first breakout rap acts, becoming heavyweights in the horrorcore subgenre. With its distinctive clown makeup, a “Dark Carnival” mythology woven through more than a dozen albums, and periodic spikes of controversy for its violent imagery, the group fostered a devoted Juggalo audience.
Juggalo 101: Who they are and why they're marching on Washington
The group also proved its chops on the entrepreneurial side, building a label (Psychopathic Records), a merchandising mini-empire and even a wrestling division at its Farmington Hills headquarters.
Shaggy 2 Dope vowed that Saturday’s news doesn’t mean the demise of Insane Clown Posse.
“The last 30 years were just a warmup,” he said.