About Pennywise
Pennywise is an American punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band took its name from the antagonist in Stephen King's horror novel It known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
Between their 1991 self-titled debut and 2005's The Fuse, Pennywise released an album every two years on Epitaph Records, a label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. To date, the band has released twelve full-length studio albums, one live album, two EPs and one DVD. Although their first two studio albums were critically acclaimed, Pennywise would not experience worldwide commercial success until the 1995 release of their third studio album, About Time, which peaked at number ninety-six on the Billboard 200, and number fifty-five on Australia's ARIA Charts. The band's mainstream success coincided with a growing interest in punk rock during the 1990s, along with fellow California bands NOFX, Rancid, Blink-182, Bad Religion, Green Day, The Offspring, Lagwagon, and Sublime. By 2007, the band had independently sold over three million records worldwide.
Pennywise's current line-up consists of Jim Lindberg , Fletcher Dragge , Randy Bradbury , and Byron McMackin . They had kept their original line-up together until bassist Jason Thirsk died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1996, after which Bradbury joined as his replacement. In August 2009, Lindberg decided to leave the band; he was replaced in February 2010 by Ignite singer Zoli Téglás. With Téglás, the band recorded their tenth studio album All or Nothing, which was released on May 1, 2012. Lindberg rejoined the band later that year after Téglás was sidelined by a back injury.
Pennywise was formed in 1988 in Manhattan Beach, California, by singer Jim Lindberg, guitarist Fletcher Dragge, drummer Byron McMackin and bassist Jason Thirsk. They originally performed as "P.M.A.", which stood for "Positive Mental Attitude". They released two EPs A Word from the Wise and Wildcard . Each of the band members had played in other bands in the Hermosa Beach area and attended Mira Costa High School, except for McMackin, who attended Redondo Union High School.
The group signed to Epitaph Records in 1990 and released their first album Pennywise . The album quickly circulated throughout the punk community, earning the band some nationwide recognition. Lyrics in the album endorsed a positive mental attitude, helping promote progressive ideals for Generation X. Lindberg left the band soon after the debut record. In 1992, The Vandals lead singer Dave Quackenbush took over on vocals for a brief stint to help with touring. Bradbury left the band and Thirsk returned to bass.
Lindberg got married and returned to the group in 1992 in time for their second album Unknown Road, released in August 1993, an underground hit that established the band as a force in punk music. While the album did not chart on the Billboard 200, it gained Pennywise supporting slots on national and world tours with bands such as The Offspring. It contained 13 tracks and one hidden track, "Slowdown".
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