Submitted by: kirkland on Wednesday October 11th, 2006 at 10:17 PM EST

Singer Justin Hawkins has left the British glam-revival band the Darkness to continue his drug rehabilitation and work on a solo album, telling the Sun newspaper Wednesday that "it's time for me to move on."

He added: "It would be damaging to my recovery to stay on. I'm not blaming the band for my problem -- I am an addict."

The group burst onto the worldwide stage with its 2004 debut, "Permission To Land," which has sold 698,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But last year's "One Way Ticket to Hell ... And Back" fizzled here, selling 91,000 copies to date.

» Full story @ Reuters