{"key":"232561","name":"Arctic Monkeys","bio":"By distilling the sounds of Franz Ferdinand, the Clash, the Strokes, and the Libertines into a hybrid of swaggering indie rock and danceable neo-punk, Arctic Monkeys became one of the U.K.'s biggest bands of the new millennium. Their meteoric rise began in 2005, when the teenagers fielded offers from major labels and drew a sold-out crowd to the London Astoria, using little more than a self-released EP as bait. Several months later, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not became the fastest-selling debut album in British history, entrenching Arctic Monkeys in the same circle as multi-platinum acts like Oasis and Blur. Frontman Alex Turner and guitarist Jamie Cook began their music careers in 2001, when the friends both received guitars for Christmas. Two years later, they began performing shows around their native Sheffield with drummer Matt Helders and bassist Andy Nicholson, two fellow students at Stocksbridge High School. A series of demo recordings followed, and Arctic Monkeys' audience swelled as fans circulated those recordings via the Internet. The musicians soon found themselves at the center of a growing media circus, with such outlets as BBC Radio examining the band's music and mounting hype. By distributing their homemade material on the Internet, Arctic Monkeys were able to build a sizable fan base without the help of a record label, effectively circumventing the usual road to superstardom. They continued to buck tradition by signing with Domino Records in 2005, eschewing a major label's budget for Domino's D.I.Y. cred and hip roster (which also included Franz Ferdinand, a touchstone for the band's sound). The smart moves paid off as Arctic Monkeys' first two singles -- \"I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor\" and \"When the Sun Goes Down\" -- both topped the U.K. charts. Critical reception was similarly favorable, but few could have predicted the whirlwind success of the band's debut album, which ousted Oasis' Definitely Maybe as the fastest-selling debut in British history (a record that was broken one year later by Leona Lewis' Spirit). Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not sold 363,735 copies during its first week alone, transforming Arctic Monkeys from underground stars into mainstream figures. Arctic Monkeys' debut sold approximately 300,000 total copies in America -- enough to warrant more media coverage, but notably less than the album's British sales during its first week alone. Nevertheless, their success continued as they released a spring EP, Who the F**k Are Arctic Monkeys, and prepared for a stateside tour. Temporary bassist Nick O'Malley was brought aboard for the band's American shows, while a fatigued Nicholson stayed at home. Nicholson then announced his official departure when the band returned home in June 2006, and O'Malley remained with Arctic Monkeys as a permanent member. That fall, the guys received the 2006 Mercury Prize and donated the accompanying money to an undisclosed charity. Additional accolades included Best British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards and Best New Band at the NME Awards. NME also made a bold assertion by deeming the band's debut one of the Top Five British albums ever released. Released in April 2007, Favourite Worst Nightmare updated Arctic Monkeys' sound with louder instruments and faster tempos. The bandmates had recorded the sophomore album quickly, wishing to return to the road as soon as possible, and the speedy turnaround between records helped maintain the band's popularity at home. Favourite Worst Nightmare sold 85,000 copies during its first day of release, and all 12 tracks entered the Top 200 of the U.K. singles charts. As Alex Turner briefly turned his attention to a side project, the Last Shadow Puppets, Arctic Monkeys received another Mercury Prize nomination and took home two titles at the 2008 Brit Awards. Recording sessions for a third album commenced in early 2008 and lasted throughout the year, with producers James Ford (who previously worked with Turner on the Last Shadow Puppets' album) and Josh Homme (frontman of Queens of the Stone Age) adding some newfound heft to the band's sound. Meanwhile, Arctic Monkeys released a concert album entitled At the Apollo -- with accompanying video footage captured on 35mm film -- before unveiling Humbug in August 2009. Humbug went platinum in the U.K. but failed to produce a Top Ten hit, with \"Crying Lightning\" peaking at number 12 and \"Cornerstone\" topping out at 94. The band hit the road that February, kicking off a multi-leg tour that ran through the rest of the year. After playing another handful of shows in early 2010, the guys took a short hiatus before reconvening with James Ford for their fourth album. Sessions began that fall, and the resulting Suck It and See arrived in spring 2011. Meanwhile, Turner also wrote music for a Richard Ayoade film, Submarine, whose soundtrack doubled as the frontman\u2019s first solo release. Andrew Leahey, Rovi","featuredImage":"https:\/\/www.aaemusic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/2012ArcticMonkeys02DC011211-920x584.jpg","feeRange":"100,000 - 150,000"}

{"key":"194","name":"Coldplay","bio":"Coldplay is a British alternative rock band, formed in London, United Kingdom in 1997. The band comprises vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland \u2013 who met each other in September 1996 at Ramsay Hall (halls of residence) at University College London - bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion.Not only have Coldplay had 7 highly successful studio album releases (all of which debuted at #1 on the UK album chart) - with their latest 7th studio album released on December 4, 2015 (A Head Full of Dreams) - Coldplay have also achieved great success with their singles, such as Yellow, Speed of Sound, the Grammy-winning Clocks and the US and UK #1 single Viva La Vida.InfluencesColdplay\\'s early material was often compared to that of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, while also drawing comparisons to U2 and Travis. Since the release of the band\\'s debut album, Parachutes (2000), Coldplay has also drawn influence from other sources, including Echo and the Bunnymen and George Harrison on A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) and Johnny Cash and Kraftwerk for X&Y (2005).Frontman Chris Martin credits 1980s Norwegian pop band a-ha for inspiring him to form his own band.Coldplay never intended to become England\\'s favorite rock & roll sons when their signature rock melodies ruled the charts throughout 2000. The quartet yearned to mess around a bit, plucking their own acoustics for fun while attending the University College of London. All had been playing instruments since their early teens and had been influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, the Stone Roses, Neil Young, and My Bloody Valentine.They never imagined taking reign of the UK\\'s ever-changing rock scene. Each member had come from a solid household of middle-class parents who encouraged music. Chris Martin, the eldest of five siblings, began playing the piano as a young child. He started playing in bands around age 15 and sought solace in the words of Tom Waits. Jonny Buckland, on the other hand, was into the heavy guitar work of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and was playing guitar by age 11. Scotland native Guy Berryman was into funk instead of indie rock, therefore leaving him to play bass. The multi-instrumentalist Champion had not planned to be a drummer until he joined Coldplay. He favored playing guitar, bass, and the tin whistle, but caught on to playing percussion when the band became official.When they burst onto the scene, Coldplay were heart-wrenching like Travis, passionate like Jeff Buckley, and as fresh as Oasis. They played their first gig at a festival for unsigned bands in Manchester, and the Safety EP was issued shortly thereafter. The Brothers & Sisters EP was issued by Fierce Panda and released a year later. (Both releases saw only 500 pressings.) Their sweet melodies and swooning lyrics landed Coldplay a UK deal with Parlophone in April 1999, and the five-track limited edition Blue Room EP followed that autumn. With nods from the media, the dream pop foursome was hailed as the next Travis, thanks to their simplistic acoustics and charming personas. Two more EPs, Shiver and Yellow, arrived in Spring 2000.AlbumsThe band has released 5 albums with the latest sixth album scheduled for release in May 2014: Parachutes (2000), A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002), X&Y (2005), Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008), Mylo Xyoto (2011) and in May 2014, Ghost Stories (2014).Parachutes (2000)Their full-length debut album, Parachutes, earned the band a Mercury Music Prize nomination in the UK. It saw a US release in November 2000, and a month later Yellow, was chosen as the theme song for all promo spots for the American TV network ABC. The well-received hype surrounding Coldplay continued throughout 2001 as well; they were nominated for three Brit Awards and embarked on a sold-out ten-date tour of the US. Rumors of a split consumed most of the US tour. Martin frequently battled nasty colds and voice exhaustion, which led Coldplay to cancel a series of American dates and scrap a European tour. With all gossip aside, Coldplay resumed playing in Summer 2001 and earned additional success with second single Trouble.A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)By the autumn, they had headed into the studio for a second album. Rumour had it that it might be Coldplay\\'s last album, since the band members felt they might not capture such brilliance again. A Rush Of Blood To The Head was released in August 2002. The CD\/DVD package Live 2003 was issued a year later. Capturing the band\\'s show at the Horden Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, it highlighted Coldplay\\'s monumental success worldwide with A Rush Of Blood To The Head. Martin specifically earned a higher notch on the celebrity scale by marrying actress Gwyneth Paltrow in December 2003. Paltrow gave birth to the couple\\'s first daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, the following April.X&Y (2005)Fatherhood did not stop Martin from working, as Coldplay began recording material for a third album within weeks. Previously recorded material with long-time producer Ken Nelson was scrapped early on, while producer Danton Supple (Morrissey, The Cure) joined Coldplay to complete the recording of X&Y. Speed Of Sound marked Coldplay\\'s first single from their long-awaited third effort in Spring 2005; the album followed in June, topping the charts around the world, including America and Britain.Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)Coldplay\\'s fourth album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was released on June 12, 2008 in the United Kingdom, with the first single Violet Hill having been previously released as a free download through their official website for a week from April 29, 2008. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was produced by Brian Eno, mixed by Markus Dravs, and drew influence from the time the group spent in South America. The album received lots of positive feedback for its originality in melodic acoustics and slightly less \\'synth-dependent\\' riffs. It offered a great insight into how significantly the band\\'s music had adapted and developed to themselves and the public.Charity duet (single) for World AIDS Day (2008)Barely a week before the album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends was released, a duet with Kylie Minogue, which was intended to be used on the album, was scrapped with the comment that \\'it\u2019s just too sexy also we haven\u2019t quite finished it\\'. The track, Lhuna was subsequently released as a charity single to promote World AIDS Day 2008 on December 1, 2008.Mylo Xyloto (2011)Coldplay\\'s fifth album, Mylo Xyloto, was released on October 24, 2011, with the first two tracks from the album - Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall and Paradise - were released on June 3, 2011 and September 12, 2012 respectively. The album was no.1 in over 34 countries, and has sold over 8m copies worldwide.Ghost Stories (2014)The band\\'s sixth album, Ghost Stories, was officially released on May 19, 2014. Prior to the release, Coldplay made the full album available to stream via iTunes, with an animation of the album artwork designed by Mila F\u00fcrstov\u00e1, one week ahead of the official release date. The first track from the album, Midnight was released on February 25, 2014. The album was recorded at The Bakery and The Beehive studios in London, England. Ghost Stories entered the Billboard 200 as Number 1 and marked Coldplay\\'s fourth straight number 1 studio album, selling 383,000 copies in the US in the week ending May 25, 2014 - of which 64% came from digital downloads according to Billboard.A Head Full of Dreams (2015)The band\\'s 7th studio album, A Head Full of Dreams, was released December 4, 2015 on the Parlophone label. The 11-track album (with an additional hidden track called \u201cX Marks The Spot\u201d) was recorded in LA and London, and was produced by Stargate and Rik Simpson. A world tour is promised to accompany the album in 2016.Super Bowl - February 2016Coldplay headlined at the much coverted Super Bowl 50 half-time show on February 7, 2016. The band performed a remixed version of their hit single \\\"Yellow\\\", before playing \\\"Vida La Vida\\\", \\\"Paradise\\\" and their 2015 single \\\"Adventure Of A Lifetime\\\". Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson then took to the stage to perform their hit \\\"Uptown Funk\\\", before Beyonc\u00e9 emerged on stage with her latest single \\\"Formation\\\".2016 - First US tour since 2012Coldplay announced its Head Full of Dreams tour on January 28, 2016 - the first in the USA since 2012. The first concert will be held at MetLife Stadium (New York) on July 16, 2016.Commercial endorsementsColdplay are one of very few current British music acts to achieve major success in North America. Despite their large worldwide popularity, the band has remained protective of how their music is used in the media, refusing its use for product endorsements. In the past, Coldplay had turned down multi-million dollar contracts from Gatorade, Diet Coke, and Gap, who wanted to use the songs Yellow, Trouble, and Don\\'t Panic respectively. According to Martin, \\\"We wouldn\\'t be able to live with ourselves if we sold the songs\\' meanings like that.\\\" On the other hand, Yellow has been used to back TV trailers for \\\"The Simpsons\\\" and Viva La Vida featured on an iTunes TV advert.Political and social activismSince 2002, Coldplay have been active supporters of various social and political causes. They have been visible advocates of Oxfam\\'s Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. The group has also performed at various charity projects such as Band Aid 20, Live 8, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.Official website: www.coldplay.com","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/194_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"750,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"195","name":"Muse","bio":"Muse are an alternative rock band from Teignmouth, England, United Kingdom. The band consists of Matthew Bellamy on lead vocals, piano, keyboard and guitar, Chris Wolstenholme on backing vocals and bass guitar, and Dominic Howard on drums and percussion. They have been friends since their formation in early 1994 and changed band names a number of times (such as Gothic Plague, Fixed Penalty, and Rocket Baby Dolls) before adopting the name Muse. Since the release of their fourth album, Morgan Nicholls has also appeared with the band at live performances to provide keyboards, samples\/synth, and backing vocals.Their sound is a blend of alternative rock, classical music, electronica, metal, spanish guitars, and progressive rock. Usually they use the bass line as the driving force, often with the guitar providing only an extra layer to the song rather than carrying the melody, the bass has distortion and other effects applied to it to achieve a greater weight, allowing the guitar to digress from the main tune and play higher notes. Another peculiarity is Muse\u00b4s piano style in many of their songs; their music has been inspired by the works of Romantic pianist-composers such as Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Liszt, and has thus resulted in a fusion of Romantic style with modern rock.The band are known for their energetic live performances and front man Matthew Bellamy's eccentric and avid interests in global conspiracy, extraterrestrial life, theology and the apocalypse (as much as in Space and theoretical physics). Their lyrical themes involve madcap conspiracy theory, revolutionary rabble-rousing, weird stuff about aliens (or Zetas, if you please), religions and other such classic Muse concerns. In general their music and lyrics gaze on helplessly at the subjugation of humanity by corrupt world leaders and encroaching environmental or galactic disasters (and certainly their fourth album 'Black Holes And Revelations' has its fair share of climate change\/oil crisis\/global inflagration paranoia). In October 1999, Muse released their first full length LP; 'Showbiz'. The album received mixed reviews among critics, and music fans, labeling the band as 'Radiohead copycats'. This, however, did not stop the album from selling over 700,000 copies, with success coming from singles; Unintended and Muscle Museum. The album also earned Muse a nomination at the 2000 BRIT Awards, for Best New Act.2001, with John Leckie behind the desk again, saw the release of Origin of Symmetry along with Top 20 entries for Plug in Baby and New Born. The album went unreleased in the United States until 2005 because their record label at the time, Madonna's Maverick, allegedly thought the falsetto vocals would discourage radio play and wanted the band to re-record alternate vocals. The band refused, and terminated its contract with Maverick.Muse followed up with a b-side\/live CD\/DVD named Hullabaloo Soundtrack, showcasing the band's concert from France in late 2001. To promote the album, Muse also released the Dead Star\/In Your World EP, which charted high in the UK charts and proving Muse could also write \"radio-friendly\" rock tunes, as well as the 7 minute long epics on Origin of Symmetry. Muse polished off their impressive year by winning Best Live Band at the 2002 Kerrang! Awards.In 2003, Muse asked Rich Costey to step behind the desk to help create Absolution. The album had very strong sales all over the world, and helped the band achieve their first UK number 1 album. Its release was preceded by a download-only single and online video for the song Stockholm Syndrome. Followed by the singles Time is Running Out and Hysteria, which charted well in the UK charts and helped Muse secure a headline spot at the 2004 Glastonbury Festival.Glastonbury saw Muse storm troop onto the high table of classic Glastonbury headline acts and prove themselves a formidable force in British rock. Although many had their doubts at putting Muse on the bill with names such as Paul McCartney, Muse proved them all wrong and played what Bellamy described as \"the best gig of our lives.\" It was only with that triumph fresh in their throats, they claim, that they realised they'd 'made it'. However tragedy struck just shortly after Muse came off stage when Dom Howard's father (a big Muse fan) collapsed after witnessing his son play and died on the site.Later that year, Muse toured the US, promoting Absolution, before returning home to play two sell-out gigs at London's Earls Court at the end of the year.In 2006 and after a long and exhaustive tour, the band returned to the studio, and released Black Holes and Revelations.Interview with Dominic 2006With the LP, the band secured their second UK album chart number one, whilst reaching the top spot in several other countries, as well as a Top 10 in the US billboard chart. The controversial single Supermassive Black Hole became Muse's highest UK entry in the charts, reaching number four, and also scored high entries in other countries. The album's second single, Starlight, reached number 13 in the UK charts in September 2006. The 3rd UK single was fan-favourite Knights of Cydonia, released on November 27th, and it reached number 10 in the UK charts. The 4th single from Black Holes & Revelations was Invincible, and was released April 15th 2007. It entered the UK singles chart at 21st place, and was the first single from the new album not to enter in the Top 20. On November 2, 2006, the band won an award for Best Alternative Act at the annual MTV EMA in Copenhagen. Muse were also named 'Best Live Act' at the Brit Awards in 2006 and have retained the title in 2007.Two of the album's singles reached the highest US Modern Rock chart positions in the band's career during 2007: Starlight reached #2 in February 2007, and the all-falsetto Supermassive Black Hole reached #6 in October. 2007 also saw the band play to sellouts at Madison Square Garden and the Forum in Los Angeles, as well as headlining Austin City Limits Festival and Lollapalooza.Even when the band says they do not see themselves as a massive stadium band, their headline concert on June 16th 2007, at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, sold out in 45 minutes six months before the gig and the band had to add a second show on June 17, where they proved to be more than worthy of stadium gigs. The Wembley gigs became two of the biggest hyped concerts of 2007. Already the gigs have been compared by music journalists to Live Aid and Queen gigs, also performed on the \"Hallowed Ground.\" The band's next release, HAARP: Live from Wembley, is expected to be made up of footage from the June 17th show.In July 2007, Bellamy confirmed that he had begun to work on a new studio album and new songs, some more in line with electronic or \"dance\" music and others more with classical or symphonic music. In January 2008 the song \"Knights of Cydonia\" was voted number 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100, Australia's biggest annual alternative music countdown.In 2009, the band released The Resistance, which contained the successful single \"Uprising\", the band's first Top 40 pop hit in the United States (achieving this with very little radio airplay) and their first #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart. Followup singles \"Resistance\" and \"Undisclosed Desires\" also proved successful. The band's sixth album, The 2nd Law, was released on 1 October 2012. The album's first single, \"Survival\", is the official song of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The second single, \"Madness\" was released on 20 August 2012. The third single, \"Follow Me\" was released on 7 December 2012, with an accompanying lyrics video released on the band's YouTube channel on 1 November 2012. The album has recieved generally positive reviews, with Allmusic noting \"their excursions into dubstep and dance music on tracks like \"Madness\" and \"Follow Me\" feel more like remixes than original songs.\"Their latest album Drones was released on June 5 2015","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/195_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"200","name":"Linkin Park","bio":"Linkin Park is an American band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries. Its following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video era and the third best of the new millennium behind Oasis and Coldplay.Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007. The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year. The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mashup EP Collision Course, and many others included on Reanimation. The band's most recent studio album, A Thousand Suns, was released on September 8, 2010. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards.Charity:On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song titled Not Alone as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage. The single itself was released on October 21, 2011.On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of The Catalyst from the \"Linkin Park featuring YOU\" contest.Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music for Relief to help the victims of the 2011 T\u014dhoku earthquake and tsunami disasters. Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children. The band released the song titled as Issho Ni, meaning \"we're in this together\", on March 22, 2011 via Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan.In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, Linkin Park played at Club Nokia during the \"Music for Relief: Concert For the Philippines\" in Los Angeles, California, and raised donations for victims. The show was broadcast on AXS TV on February 15. Other artists during the tour included The Offspring, Bad Religion, Heart, and The Filharmonic.Official Site: http:\/\/www.linkinpark.com\/mainGenres: Alternative rock, nu metal, rap rockCurrent members:Chester Bennington \u2013 vocals (since 1999)Rob Bourdon \u2013 drums, percussion (since 1996)Brad Delson \u2013 lead guitar (since 1996)Dave Farrell \u2013 bass (1996\u20131998, 1999, since 2001)Joe \"Mr. Hahn\" Hahn \u2013 turntables, programming, samples (since 1996)Mike Shinoda \u2013 vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard (since 1996).Former members:Mark Wakefield - vocals (1996\u20131998)Kyle Christener - bass (1999)Scott Koziol - bass (2000\u20132001).Discography:Albums:1. Hybrid Theory (2000)2. Reanimation (2002)3. Meteora (2003)4. Live in Texas (2003)5. Collision Course (2004)6. Minutes to Midnight (2007)7. Road To Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes (2008)8. A Thousand Suns (2010).9. iTunes Festival: London 2011 (2011)10. Living Things (2012)11. Recharged (2013)12. A Light That Never Comes (Remixes) (2014)Singles:1. One Step Closer (2001)2. Crawling (2001)3. Papercut (2001)4. In The End - Include Previously Unreleased Material (2001)5. In The End (2001)6. In The End (2002)7. Pts.Of.Athrty (feat. Jay Gordon) (2002)8. Somewhere I Belong (2003)9. Faint (2003)10. From The Inside (2004)11. Breaking The Habit (2004)12. Numb (with Easier To Run -Live- ) (2004)13. Numb (with From the Inside -Live- ) (2004)14. Numb\/Encore (with Jay-Z) (2004)15. Numb\/Encore (2004)16. What I've Done (2007)17. Bleed It Out (2007)18. Shadow Of The Day (2007)19. Given Up (2008)20. Leave Out All The Rest (2008)21. New Divide (2009)22. Download To Donate For Haiti (2010)23. Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion! (2010)24. The Catalyst (2010)25. Waiting for the End (2010)26. Burning In The Skies (2011)27. Iridescent (2011)28. Burn It Down (2012)29. A Light That Never Comes (collab. Steve Aoki) (2013)30. Guilty All the Same (feat. Rakim) (2014)","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/200_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"210","name":"Foo Fighters","bio":"Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed by singer\/guitarist\/drummer Dave Grohl in 1995 in Seattle, USA. Grohl formed the group as a one-man project after the dissolution of his previous band Nirvana in 1994. Prior to the release of Foo Fighters in 1995, Grohl drafted Nate Mendel (bass), William Goldsmith (drums) (both of Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft), and Pat Smear (guitar) (of The Germs) to complete the group. Goldsmith left during the recording of the group's second album The Colour and the Shape (1997), soon followed by Smear. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl left prior to the recording of the group's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999).Chris Shiflett joined as the band's second guitarist after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album One by One in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and harder-rocking material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace in 2007. Over the course of the band's career, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six have been nominated for Grammys. The band's seventh album Wasting Light was released in 2011 and peaked at #1 in several countries.Formation and debut albumDave Grohl joined the band Nirvana as the group's drummer in 1990. In order to occupy himself during tours, he took a guitar with him and wrote songs. Grohl held back these songs from the band; he said in 1997, \"I was in awe of frontman Kurt Cobain's songs. And intimidated. I thought it was best that I keep my songs to myself.\" Instead, Grohl occasionally booked studio time to record demos, and even issued a cassette of some of those songs called Pocketwatch under the pseudonym \"Late!\" in 1992.Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home on April 8, 1994, and Nirvana subsequently disbanded. Grohl received offers to work with various artists, and almost accepted a permanent position as the drummer in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Ultimately Grohl declined and instead entered a studio in October 1994 to record twelve of the forty songs he had written. With the exception of a guitar part on \"X-Static\" by Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs, Grohl played every instrument and sang every vocal on the tracks. \"I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life,\" Grohl later said. \"I thought that I would rather do what no-one expected me to do. I enjoy writing music and I enjoy trying to sing, and there's nothing anyone can really do to discourage me.\" Grohl completed an album's worth of material in five days and handed out cassette copies of the sessions to his friends for feedback.Grohl hoped to keep his anonymity and release the recordings in a limited run under the title \"Foo Fighters\", taken from the World War II term \"foo fighter\", used to refer to unidentified flying objects. According to Rope Songfacts, he was reading a book about military World War II sightings at the time and he wanted people to think it was a band. So he called it Foo Fighters as it was plural. However, the demo tape circulated in the music industry, creating interest among record labels. Grohl formed a band to support the album. Initially, Grohl talked to former Nirvana band mate Krist Novoselic about joining the group, but both decided against it. \"For Krist and I, it would have felt really natural and really great\", Grohl explained. \"But for everyone else, it would have been weird, and it would have left me in a really bad position. Then I really would have been under the microscope.\" Having heard about the disbanding of Seattle-based emo band Sunny Day Real Estate, Grohl drafted the group's bass player, Nate Mendel, and drummer, William Goldsmith. Grohl asked Pat Smear, who served touring guitarist for Nirvana after the release of its 1993 album In Utero, to join as the group's second guitarist. Grohl ultimately licensed the album to Capitol Records, releasing it on his new record label, Roswell Records.The group played its debut show at a keg party in February 1995. Grohl refused to do interviews or tour large venues to promote the album. Foo Fighters undertook their first major tour in the spring of 1995, opening for Mike Watt. The band's first single \"This Is a Call\" was released in June 1995, and its debut album Foo Fighters was released the next month. \"I'll Stick Around\", \"For All The Cows\" and \"Big Me\" were released as subsequent singles. The band spent the following months on tour, including their first appearance at the Reading Festival in England in August.The Colour and the ShapeAfter touring through the spring of 1996, Foo Fighters entered a studio in Woodinville, Washington with producer Gil Norton to record its second album. While Grohl once again wrote all the songs, the rest of the band collaborated on the arrangements. With the sessions nearly complete, Grohl took the rough mixes with him to Los Angeles, intending to finish up his vocal and guitar parts. While there, Grohl realized that he wasn't happy with how the mixes were turning out, and the band \"basically re-recorded almost everything\". During the L.A. sessions, Grohl played drums on some of the songs. Goldsmith said Grohl did not tell him that he recorded new drum parts for the record and, feeling betrayed, left the band.In need of a replacement for Goldsmith, Grohl contacted Alanis Morissette's touring drummer Taylor Hawkins to see if he could recommend anybody. Grohl was surprised when Hawkins volunteered his own services as drummer. Hawkins made his debut with the group in time for the release of its second album, The Colour and the Shape, in May 1997. The album spawned the singles \"Monkey Wrench\", \"My Hero\", and \"Everlong\".Pat Smear announced to the rest of the group that he wanted to leave the band to pursue other interests. Four months later in September 1997 at the MTV Video Music Awards, Smear simultaneously publicly announced his departure from the band and introduced his replacement, Grohl's former Scream bandmate Franz Stahl. Stahl toured with the band for the next few months, and appeared on two tracks that the band recorded for movie soundtracks, a re-recording of \"Walking After You\" for The X-Files and \"A320\" for Godzilla.There Is Nothing Left to LoseIn 1998, Foo Fighters traveled to Grohl's home state of Virginia to write music for its third album. However, Grohl and Stahl were unable to co-operate as songwriters; Grohl told Kerrang! in 1999, \"In those few weeks it just seemed like the three of us were moving in one direction and Franz wasn't\". Grohl was distraught about the decision to fire Stahl, as the two had been friends since childhood. The remaining trio of Grohl, Mendel, and Hawkins spent the next several months recording the band's third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose, in Grohl's Virginia home studio. The album spawned several singles, including \"Learn to Fly\", the band's first single to reach the US Hot 100.Before the release of the album, Capitol president Gary Gersh was forced out of the label. Given Grohl's history with Gersh, Foo Fighters' contract had included a \"key man clause\" that allowed them to leave the label upon Gersh's departure. They subsequently left Capitol and signed to RCA, who later acquired the rights to the band's Capitol albums.Chris Shiflett joined Foo Fighters as a touring guitarist before becoming a full memberAfter recording was completed, the band auditioned a number of potential guitarists, and eventually settled on Chris Shiflett, who previously performed with No Use for a Name and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Shiflett initially joined the band as touring guitarist, but achieved full-time status prior to the recording of the group's fourth album.That same year, Foo Fighters established a relationship with rock band Queen, of whom the band (particularly Grohl and Hawkins) are fans. Guitarist Brian May added a guitar track to Foo Fighters' second cover of Pink Floyd's \"Have a Cigar\", which appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Mission Impossible 2. When Queen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001, Grohl and Hawkins were invited to perform with the band on \"Tie Your Mother Down\", with Grohl filling in on vocals for Freddie Mercury. In 2002, guitarist May contributed guitar work to \"Tired of You\" and an outtake called \"Knucklehead\". The bands have performed together on several occasions since, including VH1 Rock Honors and Foo Fighters' headlining concert in Hyde Park.One by OneNear the end of 2001, the band reconvened to record their fourth album. After spending four months in a Los Angeles studio completing the album, Grohl spent some time helping Queens of the Stone Age complete their 2002 album Songs for the Deaf. Once the Queens of the Stone Age album was finished, Grohl, inspired by the sessions, decided to reconvene Foo Fighters to rework a few songs on their album. Instead, they re-recorded nearly all of the album (save \"Tired of You\") in a ten-day stretch at Grohl's studio in Virginia. The final album was released in October of 2002 under the title One by One. Singles from the album included \"All My Life\", \"Times Like These\", \"Low\", and \"Have It All\". The band later expressed displeasure with the album. Grohl told Rolling Stone in 2005, \"Four of the songs were good, and the other seven I never played again in my life. We rushed into it, and we rushed out of it.\"For most of its history, the band chose to stay away from the political realm. However, in 2004 prior to donating 3 million dollars to the new Pittsburgh Penguins arena, upon learning that George W. Bush's presidential campaign was using \"Times Like These\" at rallies, Grohl decided to lend his public support to John Kerry's campaign. Grohl attended several Kerry rallies and occasionally performed solo acoustic sets. The entire band eventually joined Grohl for a performance in Arizona coinciding with one of the presidential debates.In Your Honor and acoustic tourHaving spent a year and a half touring behind One By One, Grohl did not want to rush into recording another Foo Fighters record. Initially Grohl intended to write acoustic material by himself, but eventually the project involved the entire band. To record its fifth album, the band shifted to Los Angeles and built a recording studio, dubbed Studio 606 West. Grohl insisted that the album be divided into two discs\u2013one full of rock songs, the other featuring acoustic tracks. In Your Honor was released in June 2005. The album's singles included \"Best of You\", \"DOA\", \"Resolve\", \"No Way Back\", and \"Miracle\".On June 17, 2006, Foo Fighters performed their largest non-festival headlining concert to date at London's Hyde Park. The band was supported by Juliette and the Licks, Angels & Airwaves, Queens of the Stone Age, and Mot\u00f6rhead. Mot\u00f6rhead's Lemmy joined the band on stage to sing \"Shake Your Blood\" from Dave Grohl's Probot album. Also, as a surprise performance, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen jammed with Foo Fighters, playing part of \"We Will Rock You\" as a lead into \"Tie Your Mother Down\".In further support of In Your Honor, the band decided to organize a short acoustic tour for the summer of 2006. The tour included former member Pat Smear, who rejoined the band as an extra guitarist, Petra Haden on violin and backup vocals, Drew Hester on percussion, and Rami Jaffee of The Wallflowers on keyboards\/piano. While much of the setlist focused on In Your Honor's acoustic half, the band also used the opportunity to play lesser-known songs such as \"Ain't It The Life\", \"Floaty\", and \"See You\". The band also performed \"Marigold\", a Pocketwatch-era song that was best-known as a Nirvana B-side.In November 2006, the band released their first ever live CD, Skin and Bones, featuring fifteen performances captured over a three-night stand in Los Angeles. An accompanying DVD was released, and featured tracks not available on the CD.Echoes, Silence, Patience & GraceFor the follow-up to In Your Honor, the band decided to call in The Colour and the Shape producer Gil Norton. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was released in September 2007. The album's first single, \"The Pretender\", was issued to radio in early August. The second single, \"Long Road to Ruin\", was released in December 2007, supported by a music video directed by longtime collaborator Jesse Peretz (formerly of the Lemonheads).In mid-to-late 2007 \"The Pretender\" topped the Modern Rock chart for a record 18 weeks, it also gave the band their third consecutive year at the top (a record), and made them the only artist besides Red Hot Chili Peppers to have 4 consecutive albums have songs reach the top (RHCPs have 5). When \"Long Road to Ruin\" reached the top it gave them their fourth consecutive year to have a song reach the top (breaking their own record). When the fourth single, \"Let It Die\", reached the top 20 it gave them 3 songs in the top 20, one of only four artists to do this. \"Let It Die\" is also the album's third Number One hit on the chart.Not long after completing the recording sessions for the album, the band participated in Live Earth at Wembley Stadium in London, England, performing the penultimate set of the night. Later that summer, the band headlined V Festival 2007, including a surprise acoustic set on the Channel 4 stage under the name 606. In October 2007, Foo Fighters started their world tour in support for Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The band performed shows throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada and Asia. The band finished its world tour in September 2008 at the Virgin Festival at Toronto Island Park in Canada.Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace was nominated for 5 Grammys in 2008. The Foo Fighters went home with Best Rock Album and Best Hard Rock Performance (for \"The Pretender\"). The album was also nominated for Album of the Year, while \"The Pretender\" was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rock Song.On 17 September 2008 Dave Grohl announced on The Chris Moyles Show that the band would be taking a long break from music so that they could return with a new sense of purpose, and also informed fans not to expect any new music for a while. \"We've never really taken a long break, I think it's time,\" Grohl commented. \"After doing Wembley, we shouldn't come back there for 10 years because we've played to everybody. We're over in the UK every year, every summer, so I think it's time to take a break and come back over when people really miss us.\" Wasting Light After taking a break from music, Foo Fighters returned in 2011 with the album Wasting Light. The album was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage, as opposed to Studio 606. Grohl addressed by stating \"There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley but also makes a record in a garage.\" Wasting Light features many guest musicians, including Krist Novoselic, who had played with Grohl in Nirvana. Foo Fighters released a 30 second teaser on January 17th 2011 of the song \"Bridge Burning\", and on February 1st 2011 the announcement of the release date of the album, April 12th 2011, was accompanied by a 30 second teaser of \"Miss the Misery\". On February 12th, the music video for \"White Limo\" was released. And on February 23rd \"Rope\" was released for online streaming. On March 1st \"Rope\" was released as the first single from the album. It peaked at number 1 in the US on the Rock, Alternative, and Mainstream Rock charts.On April 9th the band appeared on Saturday Night Live (host Helen Miren). They played the song \"Rope\" for their first performance, and debuted the song \"Walk\" for their second. Wasting Light peaked at number 1 on the Albums chart in 12 countries, including the US and UK. It has achieved platinum status in Australia and New Zeland. Musical styleWhen Grohl first started the band, its music was often compared to that of his previous group, Nirvana. Grohl acknowledged that Nirvana singer\/guitarist Kurt Cobain was a major influence on his songwriting. Grohl said, \"Through Kurt, I saw the beauty of minimalism and the importance of music that's stripped down.\" Foo Fighters also utilize the Pixies' technique of shifting between quiet verses and loud chorus, which Grohl said was influenced by the members of Nirvana \"liking the Knack, Bay City Rollers, The Beatles, and Abba as much as we liked Flipper and Black Flag, I suppose\". Writing and recording songs for the first Foo Fighters album by himself, Grohl wrote the guitar riffs to be as rhythmic as possible. He approached the guitar similar to how he approached playing a drumkit, assigning different drum parts to different strings on the instrument. This allowed him to piece together songs easily; he said, \"I could hear the song in my head before it was finished.\" Once Grohl assembled a full band, his bandmates assisted in song arrangements.The members of Foo Fighters meld melodic elements with harder sounds. Grohl noted in 1997, \"We all love music, whether it's the Beatles or Queen or punk rock. I think the lure of punk rock was the energy and immediacy; the need to thrash stuff around. But at the same time, we're all suckers for a beautiful melody, you know? So it is just natural.\"Campaigning and activismIn 2000, the band generated controversy through their public support of Alive & Well, an organization that denies the link between HIV and AIDS, questions the validity of HIV tests, and advises against taking medication to counter the disease. Foo Fighter bassist Nate Mendel learned of Alive & Well through What If Everything You Thought You Knew about AIDS Was Wrong?, a self-published book written by Christine Maggiore, the organization's founder. Mendel passed the book around to the rest of the band, who supported his advocacy.In January 2000, the band played a benefit concert for the organization, which Mendel helped to organize. The band also contributed songs to The Other Side of AIDS, a controversial documentary film by Maggiore's husband Robin Scovill, which questions whether HIV is the cause of AIDS. The band's position caused alarm in the medical community, as Alive & Well's advice ran contrary to established medical wisdom about HIV and AIDS. In a 2000 interview, Mendel spoke of using Foo Fighters' popularity to help spread the group's message and of holding more benefits for the organization. However, no further benefits have taken place, and the band has since removed the organization from its list of supported causes.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/210_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"64456","name":"Gerard Way","bio":"Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977 in Summit, New Jersey, United States) is an American musician and comic book writer who was the lead vocalist and co-founder of the band My Chemical Romance from its formation in September 2001 until its split in March 2013. He is the executive producer of the band LostAlone's second album I'm a UFO in This City. Way also wrote the comic mini-series The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, and wrote the Eisner Award-winning comic book The Umbrella Academy. His debut solo album \"Hesitant Alien\" was released on September 30, 2014 via Warner Bros. Records.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/64456_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"please contact"}

{"key":"211","name":"Green Day","bio":"Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tr\u00e9 Cool and guitarist and backing vocalist Jason White, who became a full member after playing in the band as a session and touring guitarist for 13 years. Cool replaced former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990, prior to the recording of the band's second studio album, Kerplunk (1992).Green Day was originally part of the punk scene at the DIY 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases were from the independent record label Lookout! Records. In 1994, its major label debut Dookie released through Reprise Records became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands Sublime, Bad Religion, The Offspring and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States.Green Day's three follow-up albums, Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), and Warning (2000) did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, though they were still successful, with Insomniac and Nimrod reaching double platinum and Warning reaching gold status. The band's rock opera, American Idiot (2004), reignited the band's popularity with a younger generation, selling five million copies in the United States. The band's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009 which achieved the band's best chart performance to date. 21st Century Breakdown was followed up by a trilogy of albums called \u00a1Uno!, \u00a1Dos!, and \u00a1Tr\u00e9! released in September, November and December 2012 respectively.They are one of the world's best-selling groups of all time, having sold more than 75 million albums and singles worldwide. The group has won five Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, Record of the Year for \"Boulevard of Broken Dreams\", Best Rock Album for the second time for 21st Century Breakdown and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording. In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design, losing only the first. Also in 2010, Green Day were ranked number 91 in the VH1 list of the \"100 Greatest Artists of All Time\".In 1987, friends Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, 15 years old at the time, formed a band called Sweet Children. Its first live performance took place on October 17, 1987 at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo, California. In 1988, Armstrong and Dirnt began working with Sean Hughes and the former Isocracy drummer John Kiffmeyer, also known as \"Al Sobrante\". As said in the film Punk's Not Dead, Armstrong cites the band Operation Ivy (which featured Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman of Rancid) as a major influence, and a group that inspired him to form a band.In 1988, Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band play an early show and signed the group to his label. In 1989, the band recorded its debut extended play, 1,000 Hours. Before 1,000 Hours was released, the group dropped the name Sweet Children; according to Livermore, this was done to avoid confusion with another local band Sweet Baby. The band adopted the name Green Day, due to their fondness for marijuana.Lookout! would release Green Day's debut studio album, 39\/Smooth in early 1990. Green Day would record two extended plays later that year, Slappy and Sweet Children, the latter of which included older songs that the band had recorded for the Minneapolis independent record label Skene! Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records re-released 39\/Smooth under the name 1,039\/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, and added the songs from the band's first two EPs, Slappy, and 1,000 Hours. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Sobrante left the East Bay area to attend college. The Lookouts drummer Tr\u00e9 Cool began filling in as a temporary replacement and later Cool's position as Green Day's drummer became permanent. The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993, and played a number of shows overseas in Europe. The band's second studio album Kerplunk sold 50,000 copies in the U.S.Kerplunk's underground success led to a number of major record labels being interested in signing Green Day, and the band eventually left Lookout! and signed to Reprise Records after attracting the attention of producer Rob Cavallo. The group was impressed by his work with fellow Californian band The Muffs, and later remarked that Cavallo \"was the only person we could really talk to and connect with\". Reflecting on the period, Armstrong told Spin magazine in 1999, \"I couldn't go back to the punk scene, whether we were the biggest success in the world or the biggest failure \u2026 The only thing I could do was get on my bike and go forward.\" After signing with Reprise, the band went to work on recording its major label debut, Dookie.Recorded in three weeks, and released in February 1994, Dookie became a commercial success, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos of the songs \"Longview\", \"Basket Case\", and \"When I Come Around\", all of which reached the number one position on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. At a September 9, 1994 performance at Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, mayhem broke-out during the band's set (cut short to seven songs) and by the end of the rampage, 100 people were injured and 45 arrested. The band also joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza festival and Woodstock '94, where they started an infamous mud fight. During the concert, a security guard mistook bassist Mike Dirnt for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth. Viewed by millions by pay-per-view television, the Woodstock 1994 performance further aided Green Day's growing publicity and recognition, and helped push its album to eventual diamond status. In 1995, Dookie won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and the band was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year.In 1995, a new single for the Angus soundtrack was released, entitled \"J.A.R.\". The single debuted at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song was followed by the band's fourth studio album, Insomniac, which was released in the fall of 1995. Insomniac was a much darker and heavier response to the band's newfound popularity, compared to the more melodic Dookie. The album opened to a warm critical reception, earning 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone, which said \"In punk, the good stuff actually unfolds and gains meaning as you listen without sacrificing any of its electric, haywire immediacy. And Green Day are as good as this stuff gets.\" The singles released from Insomniac were \"Geek Stink Breath\", \"Stuck with Me\", \"Brain Stew\/Jaded\", and \"Walking Contradiction\".Though the album did not approach the success of Dookie, it sold two million copies in the United States. In addition, the album won the band award nominations for Favorite Artist, Favorite Hard Rock Artist, and Favorite Alternative Artist at the 1996 American Music Awards, and the video for \"Walking Contradiction\" got the band a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form, in addition to a Best Special Effects nomination at the MTV Video Music Awards. After that, the band abruptly cancelled a European tour, citing exhaustion.After a brief hiatus in 1996, Green Day began to work on a new album in 1997. From the outset, both the band and Cavallo agreed that the album had to be different from its previous albums. The result was Nimrod, an experimental deviation from the band's standard pop-punk brand of music. The new album was released in October 1997. It provided a variety of music, from pop-punk, surf rock, and ska, to an acoustic ballad. Nimrod entered the charts at number 10. The success of \"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)\" won the band an MTV Video Award for Best Alternative Video. The song was also used in the second \"clip show\" episode of Seinfeld and on two episodes of ER.The other singles released from Nimrod were \"Nice Guys Finish Last\", \"Hitchin' a Ride\" and \"Redundant\". The band made a guest appearance in an episode of King of the Hill entitled \"The Man Who Shot Cane Skretteberg\", which aired in 1997. In late 1997 and most of 1998, Green Day embarked on a tour in support of Nimrod. In 1999, the guitarist Jason White began supporting the band on the concerts as rhythm guitarist.In 2000, Green Day released its sixth studio album Warning. In support of the album, the band participated in the Warped Tour in 2000. The band also had an independent tour to support the album in 2001. Critics' reviews of the album were varied. Allmusic gave it 4.5\/5 saying \"Warning may not be an innovative record per se, but it's tremendously satisfying.\" Rolling Stone was more critical, giving it 3\/5, and saying \"Warning\u2026 invites the question: Who wants to listen to songs of faith, hope and social commentary from what used to be snot-core's biggest-selling band?\" Though it produced the hit \"Minority\" and a smaller hit with \"Warning\", some observers were coming to the conclusion that the band was losing relevance, and a decline in popularity followed. While all of Green Day's previous albums had reached a status of at least double platinum, Warning was only certified platinum.At the 2001 California Music Awards, Green Day won all eight of the awards that it was nominated for. The group won the awards for Outstanding Album (Warning), Outstanding Punk Rock\/Ska Album (Warning), Outstanding Group, Outstanding Male Vocalist, Outstanding Bassist, Outstanding Drummer, Outstanding Songwriter, and Outstanding Artist.The release of two compilation albums, International Superhits! and Shenanigans, followed Warning. International Superhits and its companion collection of music videos, International Supervideos!. Shenanigans contained some of the band's b-sides, including \"Espionage\", which was featured in the film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.In the spring of 2002, Green Day co-headlined the Pop Disaster Tour with Blink-182 which was documented on the DVD Riding in Vans with Boys.In the summer of 2003, the band went into a studio to write and record new material for a new album, tentatively titled Cigarettes and Valentines. After completing 20 tracks, the master recordings were stolen from the studio. Instead of re-recording the stolen tracks, the band decided to abandon the entire project and start over, considering the taken material to be unrepresentative of the band's best work. It was then revealed that a band called The Network was signed to Armstrong's record label Adeline Records with little fanfare and information. After the mysterious band released an album called Money Money 2020, it was rumored that The Network was a Green Day side project, due to the similarities in the bands' sounds. However, these rumors were never addressed by the band or Adeline Records, except for a statement on the Adeline website discussing an ongoing dispute between the two bands.Green Day collaborated with Iggy Pop on two tracks for his album Skull Ring in November 2003. On February 1, 2004 a new song, a cover of \"I Fought the Law\" made its debut on a commercial for iTunes during NFL Super Bowl XXXVIII.The resulting album, American Idiot (2004), debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, the band's first album to reach number one, backed by the success of the album's first single, \"American Idiot\". The album was labeled as a punk rock opera which follows the journey of the fictitious \"Jesus of Suburbia\". The album depicts the modern American life under the control from an idiot ruler who let people be misinformed by media as well as inserted \"redneck agenda\". It gives different angles on an everyman, modern icons, and leaders on the topic. Released two months before U.S. President George W. Bush was reelected, the album became protest art. American Idiot won the 2005 Grammy for Best Rock Album. The band also won a total of seven awards out of eight awards for which they were nominated, including the Viewer's Choice Award in MTV Video Music Awards 2005.Through 2005, the band toured in support of the album with nearly 150 dates (Longest tour in their career) visiting Japan, Australia, South America and the United Kingdom. While touring for American Idiot, they filmed and recorded the two concerts at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in England, which was voted 'The Best Show On Earth' in a Kerrang! Magazine Poll. These recordings were released as a live CD and DVD called Bullet in a Bible on November 15, 2005. This CD\/DVD featured songs from American Idiot as well as songs from all its previous albums, except Kerplunk and 1,039\/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. The DVD featured behind-the-scenes footage of the band, and showed how the band prepared to put on the show. The final shows of its 2005 world tour were in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, on December 14 and 17 respectively.On August 1, 2005 Green Day announced that it had rescinded the master rights to its pre-Dookie material from Lookout! Records, citing a continuing breach of contract regarding unpaid royalties, a complaint shared with other Lookout! bands.On January 10, 2006 the band was awarded with a People's Choice Award as favorite musical group or band.Green Day engaged in a number of other smaller projects in the time following the success of American Idiot. The group released an album under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs entitled Stop Drop and Roll!!! In 2008, the Foxboro Hot Tubs went on a mini-tour to promote the record, hitting tiny Bay Area venues including the Stork Club in Oakland and Toot's Tavern in Crockett, California.In an interview with Carson Daly, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson revealed that Butch Vig would be producing Green Day's forthcoming album. The span of nearly five years between American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown was the longest gap between studio albums in Green Day's career. The band had been working on new material since January 2006. By October 2007, Armstrong had 45 songs written, but the band showed no further signs of progress until October 2008, when two videos showing the band recording in the studio with producer Butch Vig were posted on YouTube. The writing and recording process, spanning three years and four recording studios, was finally finished in April 2009.21st Century Breakdown, was released on May 15, 2009. The album received a mainly positive reception from critics, getting an average rating between 3 and 4 stars. After the release, the album reached number one in fourteen countries, being certified gold or platinum in each. 21st Century Breakdown achieved Green Day's best chart performance to date. The band started playing shows in California in April and early May. It was their first live show in about three years. Green Day went on a world tour that started in North America in July 2009 and continuing around the world throughout the rest of 2009 and early 2010.Wal-Mart refused to carry the album as it contains a Parental Advisory sticker and requested that Green Day release a censored edition. The band members did not wish to change any lyrics on the album and responded by stating, \"There's nothing dirty about our record\u2026 They want artists to censor their records in order to be carried in there. We just said no. We've never done it before. You feel like you're in 1953 or something.\"In 2009, the band met with award-winning director Michael Mayer and many cast and crew members of the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening to create a stage version of the album American Idiot. American Idiot: The Musical opened in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre during the end of 2009. The show features an expanded story of the original album, with new characters such as Will, Extraordinary Girl, and Favorite Son. On April 20, 2010, American Idiot: The Musical opened on Broadway, and Green Day released the soundtrack to the musical, featuring a new song by Green Day entitled \"When It's Time\". In June 2010 the iTunes received the single \"When It's Time\".During the Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009, it was announced that Green Day was set to have its own Rock Band video game titled as Green Day: Rock Band, as a follow-up to the last band specific Rock Band game, The Beatles: Rock Band. The game features the full albums of Dookie, American Idiot, and 21st Century Breakdown as well as select songs from the rest of Green Day's discography.During the second leg of the 21st Century Breakdown World Tour the band had said that they are writing new material. In an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Armstrong spoke about the possible new album: \"We did some demos in Berlin, some in Stockholm, some just outside of Glasgow and some in Amsterdam. We wanted get down in some early form.\" The band also stated that they were recording a live album during the entire tour on the last date of the tour in Mountain View, California, also before playing the song \"Cigarettes and Valentines\". In October 2010, Dirnt was interviewed by Radio W, mentioning that they have completed the writing process of the ninth studio album. In the interview, Dirnt also mentioned that a new live album will \"most likely\" be released. The live CD\/DVD and CD\/Blu-ray entitled Awesome as Fuck was released on March 22, 2011.During the end of 2011, the band played several secret shows (under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs) whose setlists consisted almost entirely of previously unheard songs. Green Day entered the studio and began recording new material in February 2012, later announcing a trilogy of albums titled \u00a1Uno!, \u00a1Dos!, and \u00a1Tr\u00e9! which would be released in the fall of 2012. The trilogy marked longtime touring guitarist Jason White's induction as the fourth member of the band. That summer Green Day played several festivals and promotional shows including the Rock en Seine festival in France, the Rock am See festival in Germany, and the Reading Festival in the United Kingdom.\u00a1Uno!, \u00a1Dos!, and \u00a1Tr\u00e9! were released on September 21, November 9, and December 7, 2012 respectively and were met with generally positive reviews. On January 22, 2013 the band announced that \u00a1Cuatro!, a documentary about the making of \u00a1Uno!, \u00a1Dos! and \u00a1Tr\u00e9!, would premiere on January 26 in Aspen, Colorado as part of the X Games FILM showcase, and would be released on DVD April 9, 2013. Another documentary was announced called Broadway Idiot which focuses on the creation on the American Idiot musical and Armstrong's run as playing the character of St. Jimmy. On March 10, 2013, Green Day began their 99 Revolutions Tour to support the trilogy. In June, Green Day broke Emirates Stadium attendance record with 60,000 tickets sold, in the United Kingdom. The band played Dookie from start to finish on several dates on their European leg, including during Reading Festival 2013 headline show.Demolicious, a compilation that album contains alternate versions and demos of songs from \u00a1Uno!, \u00a1Dos! and \u00a1Tr\u00e9! recorded during the studio sessions of these albums, was released on April 19, 2014, for Record Store Day. It also contains a previously unreleased song called \"State of Shock\" and an acoustic version of \"Stay the Night\", from \u00a1Uno!.Since 1991, members of the band have branched out past Green Day and have started other projects with other musicians. Notable related projects of Green Day include Billie Joe Armstrong's Pinhead Gunpowder (which also features Green Day's guitarist Jason White), The Frustrators in which Mike Dirnt plays bass, and The Network, a collaboration between Green Day and members of the band, Devo in which all members play under fake stage names. Green Day has also released an album titled Stop Drop and Roll!!! on May 20, 2008, under the name Foxboro Hot Tubs, they currently use this name to book secret shows. In late December 2011, Armstrong formed a new side band called The Boo along his wife Adrienne and their two sons.In September 2006, Green Day collaborated with U2 and producer Rick Rubin to record a cover of the song \"The Saints Are Coming\", originally recorded by The Skids, with an accompanying video. The song was recorded to benefit Music Rising, an organization to help raise money for musicians' instruments lost during Hurricane Katrina, and to bring awareness on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the disaster.In December 2006, Green Day and NRDC opened a web site in partnership to raise awareness on America's dependency on oil.Green Day released a cover of the John Lennon song \"Working Class Hero\", which was featured on the album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. The band performed the song on the season finale of American Idol. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008 but lost to The White Stripes' \"Icky Thump\". That summer, the band appeared in a cameo role in The Simpsons Movie, where they perform the show's theme song. Their version was released as a single on July 24, 2007.In 2009, the band collaborated with theatre director Michael Mayer to adapt their rock opera American Idiot into a one-act stage musical that premiered at the Berkeley Rep on September 15, 2009. The show then moved to Broadway on April 20, 2010.The reviews of American Idiot: The Musical have been positive to mixed. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote an enthusiastic review for the Broadway production. He called the show \"a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions \u2026 only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution, the show is as invigorating and ultimately as moving as anything I\u2019ve seen on Broadway this season. Or maybe for a few seasons past.\" Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald enjoyed the premise of the show but found that \"the music and message suffer in a setting where the audience is politely, soberly seated\".Michael Kuchiwara of the Associated Press found the show to be \"visually striking musically adventurous\", but noted that \"the show has the barest wisp of a story and minimal character development\". Paul Kolnik in USA Today enjoyed the contradiction that Green Day's \"massively popular, starkly disenchanted album \u2026 would be the feel-good musical of the season\". Time magazine's Richard Zoglin opined that the score \"is as pure a specimen of contemporary punk rock as Broadway has yet encountered there's enough variety. \u2026 Where the show fall short is as a fully developed narrative.\" He concluded that \"American Idiot, despite its earnest huffing and puffing, remains little more than an annotated rock concert. \u2026 Still, deserves at least two cheers \u2013 for its irresistible musical energy and for opening fresh vistas for that odd couple, rock and Broadway.\" Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, in his review of American Idiot, wrote \"Though American Idiot carries echoes of such rock musicals as Tommy, Hair, Rent and Spring Awakening, it cuts its own path to the heart. You won\u2019t know what hit you. American Idiot knows no limits\u2014it's a global knockout.\" The musical has been nominated for three Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Scenic Design. It was also nominated for a number of Drama Desk Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards.In October 2009, a Green Day art project was exhibited at StolenSpace Gallery in London. The exhibition showed artworks created for each of the songs on 21st Century Breakdown, was supported by the band, and led by their manager Pat Magnarella. He explained in an interview that \" basically like rock bands. Most are creating their art, but don't know how to promote it.\" For Billie Joe Armstrong, \"Many of the artists\u2026 show their work on the street, and we feel a strong connection to that type of creative expression.\"On April 13, 2011, a film version of American Idiot was confirmed. Michael Mayer, director of the Broadway musical, will be directing the film. It will be produced by Green Day, Pat Magnarella (Green Day's manager who also produced Bullet in a Bible, Awesome as Fuck, and Heart Like a Hand Grenade), Playtone (Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman) and Tom Hulce.On January 23, 2013, it was announced that a documentary showing Armstrong's journey from punk rock to Broadway was to be released. Called Broadway Idiot and showing a lot of behind-the-scenes of the American Idiot musical production, the movie was directed by Doug Hamilton, veteran television journalist for CBS News' 60 Minutes and PBS documentaries such as Nova, Frontline and American Masters. A trailer was released on January 30, 2013. The documentary premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 15, 2013.The band has generated controversy over whether the band's musical style and major-label status constitutes as \"true punk\". In reaction to both the style of music and the background of the band, John Lydon, former front man of the 1970s punk band the Sex Pistols commented:\"So there we are fending off all that and it pisses me off that years later a wank outfit like Green Day hop in and nick all that and attach it to themselves. They didn't earn their wings to do that and if they were true punk they wouldn't look anything like they do.\"Armstrong himself has discussed the group's status of being a punk band on a major record label, saying \"Sometimes I think we've become totally redundant because we're this big band now, we've made a lot of money \u2013 we're not punk rock any more. But then I think about it and just say, 'You can take us out of a punk rock environment, but you can't take the punk rock out of us.'\"On September 21, 2012, while Green Day was performing at the iHeartRadio music festival, lead vocalist\/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong stopped while performing Basket Case, because he believed their time was being shortened, possibly in order to extend R&B artist Usher's performance. Angered, Armstrong began ranting while a screen in the rear of the audience was labeled \"1 Minutes Left\", saying \"You're not gonna give me one fucking minute? You've gotta be fucking kidding me!\". He also told the crowd he was not Justin Bieber and labeled the festival as a \"joke\". When the screen went blank, Armstrong smashed his guitar, while bassist Mike Dirnt smashed his bass. Armstrong then gave the finger, and declared that Green Day would be back before throwing his microphone down and walking off the stage. Two days later, the band's representative apologized for the incident on their behalf stating that \"Green Day would like everyone to know that their set was not cut short by Clear Channel and to apologize to those they offended at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas\" also adding that Armstrong will be headed to rehab, for abuse of alcohol and prescription pills for anxiety and insomnia. However Mike Dirnt would later say in an interview with Rolling Stone that he agreed with what Billie Joe meant by his rant","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/211_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"266","name":"Arcade Fire","bio":"Arcade Fire is an indie rock band, perhaps most famous for their third studio album, The Suburbs, released in 2010 to critical acclaim and commercial success. They formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2001. The band consists of Win Butler (vocals, guitar, piano), R\u00e9gine Chassagne (vocals, accordion, keyboards, hurdy gurdy, drums), Richard Reed Parry (bass, guitar), William Butler (keyboards, guitar), Tim Kingsbury (bass), and Jeremy Gara (drums). Montreal percussionist Dane Mills performed on the EP and in early live shows. As of May 2005, the touring band includes horn players and violinists.The band\u2019s trademark fashion consists in wearing rather formal attire during live events and a use of orchestral instruments. When asked about the rumour that the band's name refers to a fire in an arcade, Win Butler replied: \"It's not a rumour, it's based on a story that someone told me. It's not an actual event, but one that I took to be real. I would say that it's probably something that the kid made up, but at the time I believed him.\" Win Butler and his brother Will grew up in Texas.Band formationArcade Fire formed around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and R\u00e9gine Chassagne. Joining together as recently as mid-2003, the current line-up solidified in late 2003\/early 2004, when their first full-length album Funeral was recorded. Before this an eponymous EP (often referred to by fans as the Us Kids Know EP) had been sold at early shows. The EP was subsequently remastered and given a full release once the band started becoming more prominent. Arcade Fire are known for their enthralling live performances, as well as its use of a large number of musical instruments. In addition to mainstays guitar, drums, and bass guitar, members play piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, keyboard, French horn, accordion, and harp. With several able musicians, the band take most of their instrumental diversity on tour and members switch instrumental duties throughout their shows. The number of instruments, along with a wide set of musical influences has provided a substantial number of resources on which to draw from during the recording process. The promise showed by the band in its live shows allowed it to land a record contract with Chapel Hill-based independent record label Merge Records.FuneralWithout a major label backing, the success of the band and the album Funeral has been acclaimed as an Internet phenomenon. After a 9.7 rating from Pitchfork, Merge Records sold out their inventory of Funeral and it became the label's first album in the Billboard 200 chart. An early tip from David Bowie was also influential. The band booked small clubs for their 2004 tour but growing interest forced many venue changes, far beyond the band's expectations, and continued internationally into mid-2005. The MTV2 2005 Review hosted by Zane Lowe named Funeral Album of the Year, and NME named Funeral Number 2 in their list of 2005's best albums and \"Rebellion (Lies)\" the best track. By November 2005, Funeral had gone gold in both Canada and the UK and sold in excess of half a million copies worldwide, a phenomenal number for an independent release with minimal television or radio exposure. It has also surpassed Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea as the biggest selling Merge Records album to date.Arcade Fire were featured on the April 4, 2005 cover of Time Magazine's Canadian edition, and hailed as a band who \"helped put Canadian music on the world map\". On April 2, 2006, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, they received the Juno Award for Songwriters Of The Year for three songs from Funeral: \"Wake Up\", \"Rebellion (Lies)\" and \"Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)\". Arcade Fire then planned to begin recording a follow up to Funeral in the winter of 2005-2006, having bought an old church forty minutes from central Montreal which they converted into a studio. Neon BibleIn mid-December 2006 www.neonbible.com went live containing nothing more than a phone number, 1-866-NEONBIBLE where people can listen to a new track called Intervention. Built in the style of customer support lines, the number has other features including a contest and a chance to talk to a live person at a specific time each week. Then in January 2007, they finally announced that the new album Neon Bible would be released March 5th in UK, March 6th in US. The announcement was made with a video in the album's website, with guitarist Richard Reed Parry using a gramophone and a paper mask of Parry's own face, and sitting on Win Butler\u00b4s chair. After the announcement of the album\u00b4s release, the website was updated with a streaming version of \"Black Mirror\", new art and a few phone messages sounding like the band\u00b4s members.The SuburbsThe band released their third album \"The Suburbs\" on August 2, 2010 in the UK and August 3, 2010 in the United States. It debuted at #1 in both countries. On February 13, 2011, the album won Album of the Year at the 53rd Grammy Awards.Arcade Fire recorded a song for The Hunger Games soundtrack (The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond), called \"Abraham's Daughter\". The song is featured in the movie's end credits. The soundtrack was released on March 20, 2012, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. It sold more than 175,000 copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the first theatrical film soundtrack to top the chart since Michael Jackson's \"This Is It\" debuted at No. 1 on the list. It is also only the 16th soundtrack to debut at No. 1 in the history of the Billboard 200 chart (those soundtracks include film, television, and straight-to-video efforts).ReflektorArcade Fire and Mercury Records confirmed that they would release a fourth album in late 2013. In December 2012, the band's manager Scott Rodger confirmed that Arcade Fire was in the studio working with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. The official Arcade Fire pre-order website sets the release date on October 28, 2013. The band announced on January 18, 2013 that they were selling the church they had been using as a studio due to a collapsed roof. Throughout 2013, the band worked on the album in several different recording studios - including Murphy's DFA Records studio in New York. On June 22, 2013, Rolling Stone reported that new material from the album would be released on September 9, 2013.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/266_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}

{"key":"668","name":"Lana Del Rey","bio":"Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, known by her stage name, Lana Del Rey, is a singer-songwriter known for hit singles such as \"Born to Die\" and \"Summertime Sadness\". Her music has been noted by critics for its stylized cinematic quality; its themes of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia; and its references to pop culture, particularly 1950s and 1960s Americana. Del Rey's music has been noted for its cinematic sound and its references to various aspects of pop culture, particularly that of the 1950s and 1960s Americana. The singer has described herself as a \"self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra\". Musically, she draws influence from what she deems to be the masters of each genre, including Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Nirvana, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, and Britney Spears, as well as from poetry and film noir. Born in New York City and raised in Upstate New York, Del Rey returned to New York City in 2005 to begin her music career. Following numerous projects including her debut studio album and the unreleased Sirens, Del Rey's breakthrough came after the viral success of her debut single \"Video Games\" in 2011. She signed with Interscope and Polydor later that year. Her major-label debut Born to Die (2012) proved an international success and spawned her only top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 with the Cedric Gervais remix of \"Summertime Sadness\", as well as the internationally successful singles \"Blue Jeans\", \"Born to Die\", and \"National Anthem\". Del Rey released the Grammy-nominated EP, Paradise in 2012. The next year, Del Rey ventured into film as she wrote, directed and starred in the short music film, Tropico, and released \"Young and Beautiful\" as the lead single for the romantic drama film The Great Gatsby (2013). Del Rey subsequently issued her sophomore major-label effort, Ultraviolence (2014), to critical success, topping the charts and spawning the single, \"West Coast\". That same year, Del Rey recorded the eponymous theme for the drama film Big Eyes, which garnered her Grammy and Golden Globe nominations. Shortly afterward, Del Rey released Honeymoon (2015) and Lust for Life (2017), the latter of which topped the charts in the U.S. and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Her sixth studio album, Norman Fucking Rockwell! (2019), received widespread acclaim and two Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year. In 2019, Del Rey also released the singles \"Doin' Time\" and \"Don't Call Me Angel\", the latter being a trio with Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus.","featuredImage":"https:\/\/assets.allamericanmusic.com\/images\/668_h_0.jpg","feeRange":"500,000 - 1,000,000"}