The Marías lead singer María Zardoya has alleged that The Neighbourhood drummer Brandon Fried sexually assaulted her at a bar, after which Fried’s band fired him. 

Maria took to her Instagram story and made the bombshell claim that Fried’s abuse was “one of the most uncomfortable things [she’s] ever experienced.”  

“I was at a bar last night, and I was groped under the table by Brandon Fried @brandonfried_, the drummer of the Neighbourhood,” she wrote. “It was one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve ever experienced. I felt an invasion of my space, privacy and body. @thenbhd y’all need a new drummer, this guy is a complete creep.”

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She also tweeted to The Neigbourhood in order to make them aware of the allegations. 

Who is María Zardoya?

Zardoya was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She has Latin roots.    

She and her partner Josh Conway, the drummer, met at a show at the Kibitz Room, the bar and music venue inside Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles. She was performing on the bill and he was managing the sound. They began writing almost immediately after meeting, and immediately afterward began dating.

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 “When we first worked on a song together, both of us knew right off the bat that we had chemistry, both personally and creatively,” she told Vogue in a 2019 interview. 

Soon they recruited close friends to join as band members; Edward James on keyboards, and guitarist Jesse Perlman. “Our music is emotional, but also dreamy and relaxing,” she explained. “We just want to transport people.”

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Last year in September, their single Hush topped the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart, becoming their first chart-topping single. In November of that year, the Recording Academy announced that the band’s debut album Cinema was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

María Zardoya has stated that her influences include the late Tejano singer Selena, Norah Jones, Sade, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Carla Morrison, Julieta Venegas, Erykah Badu, and filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar,