Lacuna Coil stars quit the band

Rockers Cris 'pizza' Migloire and Cristiano Mozzati have retired from heavy metal group Lacuna Coil.

The Italian band announced the news in a statement on Friday (14Feb14), explaining the two stars have "had big changes impact their lives recently".

Singer Cristina Scabbia and her existing bandmates write, "We have nothing but total respect for their decisions to focus on their families and lives at home.

"We have such incredible memories of traveling and exploring the world together with Pizza and CriZ, and we want to wish them both all the best as they begin these exciting new chapters in their lives. We will never forget the important roles they played in this band, or the incredible times we shared together."

Migloire also addressed his decision to step down from the rock act, stating, "After over 16 years spent with the Lacuna Coil family, I decided to move on and begin a new chapter in my life. This hasn't been an easy decision, as you can imagine, but I felt like I needed to change some things around... I will never forget my time in Lacuna Coil and I wish my sister and brothers all the best for whatever the future may bring."

Mozzati adds, "Lots of very important things happened in my life - something really amazing, and deep enough to make me sit in front of my laptop to write these bittersweet words... I'm leaving my 'second family' Lacuna Coil because I need this change in my life.

"This hasn't been an easy decision at all and I've come to it with pain in my heart, because together we laughed and cried; we fought and gave all our lives to this amazing band... I want to say thank you Coilers, friends, crew, partners, and people that listen to our music for being such an inspiration for me."