STONE SOUR guitarist Josh Rand "has checked into a treatment center" and will sit out the band's U.S. and Canadian tour dates in late January and early February.

STONE SOUR says in a statement: "Though [Josh] will be back as soon as possible, we ask you all to keep him in your thoughts. Until then, the rest of STONE SOUR will see you all on tour in January/February. Thank you."

STONE SOUR is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Hydrograd", which was released last June via Roadrunner Records. The disc was recorded at Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, California with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX and STEEL PANTHER.

Rand told Hughes & Kettner that STONE SOUR's most recent tour has been "amazing." He said: "We've been doing it for 17 years, and now, this album, for whatever reason, it's really drawing people in. We're always going to have our core audience, but it's, like, we're growing. The band has consistently gotten bigger every album we've put out. For that, I'm very grateful.

"We've always evolved, and our fans have kind of grown with us growing — not only as musicians and artists, but as just people," he continued. "I think we've always done records that we 100 percent backed as far as the creativity side of it. We've never painted ourselves in a corner, even from the first album, which has allowed us the freedom to create whatever we want, and I think that by doing so, there's an honesty that I think that you hear in the records. The main thing, though, is I just think our audience has grown with us. Every record is a progression of the previous one, and we're not a band that puts out the same record over and over again. I think there's just a maturity over time, just like if you do in any industry or profession. The more you do it, the more comfortable that you become with it."