Pete had been a member of the London group since they formed in 2009. The drummer, who was born in California, also provided vocals on many of their tracks. In a statement on facebook, Pete says he's looking forward to "new challenges":

"After much thought and deliberation I have decided the time is right to end my time as a Vaccine. The last six years have been the most incredible years of my life and I will never forget them. I've seen and experienced more in these years than I'd have any right to expect from a lifetime."

On behalf of the group, Vaccines' frontman Justin Young added:

"It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that these last few weeks spent playing in America were also Pete's last shows drumming with The Vaccines. Pete let us know a few months ago he wanted to bow out and focus on other things and the time has now come for that to happen. We’ll love him and miss him on our adventures and we're all incredibly sad to see him go, but this sadness is only outweighed by our excitement for his future and our own."

A replacement drummer hasn't been recruited but Justin Young recently stated that he may hit the drums on the band's future material. Speaking to NME last year, the singer revealed:

"[The new songs] don't have names yet. But I'm playing drums now – Eagles, Genesis style. I've never really been able to play guitar and I was inspired by watching Phil Collins. I'm not lying. I'm doing lead vocals from the drums and Pete's playing guitar and keytar."