After the minor avalanche of criticism thrown at former Fall Out Boy vocalist Patrick Stump due to his semi-retirement from performing, fellow Illinoisan and Lawrence Arms co-vocalist Brendan Kelly has come to his defense. Kelly noted:

Right away, I'll tell you that Pat's piece is refreshingly sincere and unguarded while still being self-aware enough to realize that he's gonna get even more shit for daring to express dissatisfaction with what many consider to be an ideal life. Again, that's how it is. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you don't want people being as cruel as they can possibly be to you, mercilessly mocking your looks, your abilities, your dreams, your ideas, your kids, wishing death and worse upon you and your loved ones, then you should never, ever attempt to publically express yourself, creatively or otherwise.

The one thing that I, speaking as a spokesman for the entire rest of the world who isn't you, will not tolerate in our celebrities, Pat Stump, is a lack of confidence. It's the kiss of death. You're better than that, Pat Stump. You got your shit together and did something brave after you put out some record that people hated and apparently booed. You made a weird record that threw everyone for a curve. That's ballsy. Now you're sad because your weird album and transformation took people by surprise? What the fuck did you think would happen?

You can read the entire piece here. Kelly, for his part, will be expressing himself creatively (and publicly) on March 27, 2012 with the release of I'd Rather Die Than Live Forever under the name Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds.