About Living Colour
Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish . Stylistically, their music is a creative fusion influenced by heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop, punk, and alternative rock. The band's lyrics range from the personal to the political, including social commentary on racism in the United States.
Living Colour has released six studio albums so far. The band rose to fame with their debut album Vivid in 1988. Although they scored several hits, Living Colour is best known for their signature song "Cult of Personality", which won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990 and has been consistently used as the entrance theme for professional wrestler CM Punk since 2011. They were also named Best New Artist at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards and won their second Grammy Award for their follow-up album Time's Up . Their third album, Stain , was also well received by music critics. After disbanding in 1995, Living Colour reunited in late 2000, and has released three more studio albums since then: Collideøscope , The Chair in the Doorway and Shade . The band has been in the process of working on new material for the follow-up to Shade.
British-born guitarist Vernon Reid had formed several bands, and after a few years, he formed Living Colour in New York in 1984, using the British spelling of "colour". Reid assembled several bands under the name Vernon Reid's Living Colour from 1984 to 1986. Reid was well known on the downtown New York jazz scenes because of his tenure in Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society.
Early band members included bassists Alex Mosely, Jerome Harris and Carl James, drummers Greg Carter, Pheeroan akLaff and J. T. Lewis, keyboardist Geri Allen, and vocalists D. K. Dyson and Mark Ledford, with Reid occasionally singing lead vocals himself. The band's sound was vastly different from the songs later in their significant label recordings. Material from this period included instrumental jazz/funk workouts, politically pointed punk rock burners, experimental excursions via Reid's guitar synth, and an early version of the song "Funny Vibe", which was reworked for their debut album Vivid.
In 1986 a stable lineup was formed, consisting of vocalist/actor Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Muzz Skillings, and drummer Will Calhoun . After hiring managers Jim Grant and Roger Cramer, the band hired prodigy lighting designer Andy Elias in November 1986 to strengthen their live shows with explosive visual productions. Soon after, the band became experienced at touring and performed regular gigs at the club CBGB. Around this time, their career also benefited from English Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger's involvement. Jagger's interest in Living Colour was piqued after Vernon Reid auditioned for Primitive Cool, then arranged to see them live at CBGBs. Jagger went on to produce two of their demos. Jagger's 'endorsement' encouraged major record labels to renew their interest in Living Colour, resulting in a recording contract with Epic Records. When interviewed in 2018, Vernon Reid looked back on the deal as a bittersweet triumph; "We had to get the co-sign from a person who literally embodied what rock 'n' roll is, the fact that he had to come see us, and dig us, for us to get at the back of the line is crazy."
Vivid, released on May 3, 1988, gathered sales momentum when later that year, MTV began playing the video for "Cult of Personality". The album reached #6 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. On April 1, 1989, the band performed on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Four months later, the band gained further exposure as an opening act, along with Guns N' Roses, for The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.
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