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Naomi Cooke Johnson took to Instagram with a bittersweet announcement… The lead singer is leaving Runaway June to pursue her own solo career. Cooke Johnson said she’s “incredibly excited” to launch her next chapter after seven years with the “Buy My Own Drinks” trio.
“…I am so grateful for the memories and time well spent with my bandmates, Hannah (Mulholland), Jen (Wayne) and Natalie (Stovall),” Cooke Johnson wrote in her Instagram caption. “It has been extremely hard to keep quiet about what I’ve been up to, and I cannot wait to share everything with you all very soon!! …I love you guys so much I could burst.”
Cooke Johnson didn’t include any details about the future of Runaway June, which she helped start in 2015. But Runaway June shared a new photo with Stovall and Wayne on Thursday (February 24), captioning: “It is SO much fun being on stage with this rockstar… she was born to be up there!! And we cannot wait to get back 🎶on the road again🎶”
Mulholland announced in 2020 that she would leave Runaway June. Cooke Johnson explained at the time that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her former bandmate “to reevaluate what was important to her. And that was being with her family and her husband in California.” Stovall filled Mulholland’s spot later that year, saying that “the more we discussed it and the more we started dreaming together, it just made so much sense.”
Since then, the bandmates have celebrated personal milestones together, including Cooke Johnson’s wedding to Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls, and Wayne’s adorable announcement that she and husband Austin Moody are expecting their first child together.
See Cooke Johnson’s latest announcement here: