On January 16, 2019, Gardner confirmed in a Facebook post that she

On January 16, 2019, Gardner confirmed in a Facebook post that she had definitely left Vixen, to devote more time to family and prioritize her solo career. The band later released a statement on their official Facebook page stating they plan to continue without Gardner and that a new studio album has been in the works for what would have been a 2019 release. On January 22, they announced that Lorraine Lewis of Femme Fatale , Vixen’s contemporaries during the glam metal heyday and also an all-female band from its refoundation in 2013 until its dissolution later in 2019, became their new singer, starting with a performance on February 9 in Clearwater, Florida . Lewis met Petrucci and Ross during her past collaborations with them in Rocktopuss and L.A. Nookie, a local cover band, respectively. She later explained in May that the band’s upcoming album would have had a tentative 2020 release year. However, this album’s release stalled, with its recording and writing sessions being continual and infrequent throughout 2021 and 2022. Shortly after Gardner’ departure, the band’s early member Nancy Shanks died in May 2019 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 63.