About Shinedown
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original lineup of Jasin Todd as guitarist, Brad Stewart on bass, and Barry Kerch on drums. Consistent for the first two album cycles, several lineup changes followed in the late 2000s, eventually stabilizing with Smith and Kerch alongside Zach Myers on guitar and Eric Bass on bass. The group has released seven studio albums: Leave a Whisper , Us and Them , The Sound of Madness , Amaryllis , Threat to Survival , Attention Attention , and Planet Zero .
Shinedown has the most number one singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts with 19, and all of their released singles have reached the top five on the chart. Additionally, on June 3, 2021, Shinedown was ranked number one by Billboard on the Greatest of All Time Mainstreams Rock Artists chart released to celebrate the Mainstream Rock chart's 40th anniversary. To date, the band has sold more than 10 million records worldwide.
The band's origins trace back to frontman Brent Smith's prior band, Dreve, which had signed a record deal with Atlantic Records in 2000. The record label, unhappy with Dreve as a whole, dropped the band prior to releasing an album, but retained Smith, who they felt was worth developing separately as an artist. Atlantic signed Smith to a development deal where record representatives helped him with his song writing ability, and helped him recruit members for a new band, which would become Shinedown. Smith moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began work on the project in 2001. The first member he recruited was bassist Brad Stewart, through local Jacksonville music producer Pete Thornton. Smith and Stewart began recording demos together in a small local studio, whose owner recommended they meet with her fiancé, guitarist Jasin Todd, who Smith brought in as the third member. The original lineup was rounded out by drummer Barry Kerch, who was the seventh drummer the band had auditioned for the spot. The four worked together on creating demos, and submitted their work-in-progress material to Atlantic, who approved of the material and green-lighted a full-length album.
The resulting work was the band's debut album, Leave a Whisper, which was released May 27, 2003. While not an immediate success, through the extensive touring and successful singles, eventually certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States, indicating sales of over 1 million. Four singles were released from the album: "Fly from the Inside", "45", a cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Simple Man", and "Burning Bright". All four singles charted in the top five of the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, peaking at fifth, third, fifth, and second, respectively. The band toured extensively in support of the album, playing over 400 live shows over the course of 2003 and 2004. The band ended up touring for 24 months straight, doing various tours with Van Halen, Seether, and Three Doors Down. The band later released a live DVD titled Live from the Inside that documented the live shows of the touring cycle.
The band did not start work on a follow-up album until 2005, with the band finding the touring lifestyle too hectic to start writing or recording material. This, however, left the band with limited time to record new music, with their record label pressuring the band to get the album out in a six-month time period. Despite the time restrictions, the label did not pressure the band on the album's musical direction after the commercial success of Leave a Whisper. The band worked with music producer Tony Battaglia, and chose to go in a more "mature" and "stripped down" direction for the album's sound, Kerch describing it as just "pure rock." During the same time, the band was also approached by Hollywood Records to record a song for a tribute album for the band Queen, something the band agreed to out of their respect for the band. They recorded a cover of the track "Tie Your Mother Down," which was released on Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen .
The band released their second studio album, Us and Them, on October 4, 2005. The album debuted higher than Leave a Whisper on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number 23 versus Leave a Whisper's number 53 peak, but the album ultimately sold less than its predecessor. Despite this, the band's three singles from the album, "Save Me", "I Dare You", and "Heroes" ended up being more successful than their prior album's singles. The lead single, "Save Me" was the band's first to reach the number one spot on the Mainstream Rock Charts, and held the position for twelve weeks in a row. The second single, "I Dare You", also peaked at number 2 on the same chart. Notably, both songs were also the band's first to have crossover success on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, hitting 72 and 88 respectively.
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