Sevendust

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Genre(s) Heavy metal, Alternative metal, Hard rock, Nu-Metal

Years active 1994 – present

Label(s) TVT (1997–2004)
Winedark Records (2005–2006)
Roadrunner Records (Europe) (2005-2006)
Asylum Records (2006–present)

Website www.sevendust.info

Members
Lajon Witherspoon
John Connolly
Sonny Mayo (2005-Present)
Vinnie Hornsby
Morgan Rose
Former members
Clint Lowery (1994–2004)

Sevendust is an American alternative metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. They formed in late 1994 under the name "Crawlspace" but later were forced to change their name to Sevendust when a group from the West Coast claimed rights to Crawlspace. They were originally signed to TVT Records, but then released their fifth album with Winedark Records (through Universal Music) in the US, and Roadrunner Records overseas. Currently, they are signed to Asylum Records.

History

Sevendust (1997-1998 Era)
Sevendust released their first self-titled album on April 15, 1997, known for its heavy riffs, angry vocals and thrash-like drumming, as the songs "Black" and "Bitch". "Black" was the opening song for nearly every Sevendust concert until 2004. The debut album also contains the song "My Ruin" from the Mortal Kombat soundtrack album entitled More Kombat released by TVT Records. After they appeared at Ozzfest 1998 and Dynamo Open Air the same year, their self-titled album went gold.


Home (1999-2000 Era)
Two years later, in 1999, they released their second album, Home, which had also gone gold and become known for the songs "Denial", and "Waffle" for which they have shot music videos. Skin from Skunk Anansie and Chino Moreno from Deftones appeared as guest vocalists on two songs, "Licking Cream" and "Bender". Also featured on "Bender" was additional guitar work by Troy McLawhorn of doubleDrive. They got a chance to play on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show by playing Waffle. They appeared in Woodstock 1999 and have toured with many bands such as Ko?n, Staind, Reveille, Godsmack, Mudvayne, Powerman 5000, Creed, Kid Rock, Machine Head, Limp Bizkit and Metallica. In 1999, they gained European exposure by opening for Skunk Anansie at various shows in Germany. They also joined Slipknot, Coal Chamber and other bands on a tour called "Tattoo The Earth Tour" in June of 2000 .


Animosity (2001-2002 Era)
They then headed into the studio to record their third album, Animosity, which was released on November 13, 2001. This album went gold and gained the band commercial success. They managed to obtain a spot on Late Night with David Letterman where they played an Acoustic Version of Angel's Son featuring Paul Shaffer on Keyboards. In the same year they are also seen in the Chris Rock movie Down to Earth as a partial clip of "Waffle" is played. Sevendust went on hiatus in 2002 due to the death of Lajon's brother.


Seasons (2003-2004 Era)
In 2003, Sevendust returned with their fourth album, Seasons, with the hit songs "Enemy", "Broken Down", "Face to Face" and "Separate". The song "Enemy" was used as the official theme song for WWE Unforgiven 2003. In 2004, for the first time in the band's career, they released a live album on a CD/DVD double disk package titled Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live. Both the CD and the DVD include a tribute cover of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails. In 2004, it was announced Clint Lowery had left the band due to musical differences, to be replaced by Sonny Mayo (from Snot and Amen). Clint is now working with a new band called Dark New Day which also features his brother, Corey Lowery. At roughly the same time, Sevendust and TVT Records parted ways.


Next (2005-2006 Era)
On October 11, 2005, Sevendust released their fifth studio album, Next, on their second label, Winedark Records, distributed by Universal Music. In the process, Sevendust also created their own record label, 7Bros Records. The first radio single off Next was the track "Ugly", released to radio August 9, 2005 followed by a music video. The track "Pieces" appeared on the soundtrack for the film Saw II. Next debuted at #20 in the US, selling around 37,000 copies in its first week, relatively unheard of for a band of Sevendust's hard rock genre. Not much longer after the release of Next, Sevendust's former label TVT Records released a greatest hits package for Sevendust, titled Best of (Chapter One 1997-2004), the label's final Sevendust release.


Alpha (2007 Era)
Sevendust released their sixth full-length studio album, entitled Alpha, on March 6, 2007. The album debuted at #14 in the US, the band's highest chart position yet, selling over 42,000 copies of the album in it's first week. The band also headlined a 57-date tour from February 8, 2007 to April 28, 2007.Boston heavy metal band Diecast, supergroup Invitro, and Christian rock band Red accompanied Sevendust on that tour. Retrospective 2, a CD/DVD combo including three previously un-released studio tracks, live concert footage never before seen, as well as the new music videos for the songs "Beg To Differ", "Ugly", "Pieces", and "Driven", will be released on December 11, 2007. Their songs "Feed" and "Driven" were used in the soundtrack to WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008.


Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow (2008 Era)
It has been announced that Sevendust will return to the studio at the end of November to finish up their 7th studio album, titled Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow. The record is slated for a release of March 4, 2008. However, it has been speculated that at recent live shows, Sevendust has announced the new record has been pushed back to April 1st. It has since been confirmed that Chris Daughtry and Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy will make appearances on the upcoming album. They will do a tour of Australia in March to open up for Ozzy Osbourne.


Members
Lajon Witherspoon – Vocals
John Connolly – Guitar, Vocals
Sonny Mayo – Guitar (2005–Present)
Vinnie Hornsby – Bass
Morgan Rose – Drums, Vocals

Former
Clint Lowery – Guitar, Vocals (1994–2004)

Discography
Main article: Sevendust discography
1997: Sevendust
1999: Home
2001: Animosity
2003: Seasons
2004: Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live
2005: Best of (Chapter One 1997-2004)
2005: Next
2007: Alpha
2008: Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow

Extra Tracks
"Breathe": From the "Strangeland" soundtrack (1998) and "Homework" album (1999).
"School's Out": From the "Homework" album (1999) and the "Best Of (Chapter One 1997-2004)" album (2005).
"Fall": From the "Scream 3" soundtrack (2000).
"What U See is What U Get (featuring Xzibit)": From the "Loud Rocks" album (2000).
"Going Back to Cali": From the "Take A Bite Outta Rhyme" album (2000).
"I Am (I'm Me)": From the "Twisted Forever" album (2001).
"Corrected": From the "The Scorpion King" soundtrack (2001).
"Break the Walls Down": From the "WWE Forceable Entry" album (2002).
"Leech": From the "Freddy vs Jason" soundtrack (2003).
"Inner City Blues": DVD bonus track from the "Seasons" album (2003) and from the "Best Of (Chapter One 1997-2004)" album (2005).
"Rain": From the "Seasons" album outside of the US (2003) and the "Best Of (Chapter One 1997-2004)" album (2005).
"Number One (The Ballad)": From the "Seasons" album outside of the US (2003).
"Coward": From the "Seasons" album outside of the US (2003) and the "Best Of (Chapter One 1997-2004)" album (2005).
"Hurt": From the "Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live " album (2004).
"Abuse Me": From the "Alpha" album outside of the US (2007).
"The Rim": From the "Alpha" album in Target stores and outside the US(2007) and the "Retrospective 2" CD/DVD package (2007).
"Losing You": From the "Retrospective 2" CD/DVD package (2007).
"Sleeper": From the "Retrospective 2" CD/DVD package (2007).

Videos
"Home" (1999): "Denial", "Waffle" and "Licking Cream"
"Animosity" (2001): "Praise", "Live Again", and "Angel's Son"
"Seasons" (2003): "Enemy" and "Broken Down"
"Next" (2005): "Ugly" and "Pieces"
"Alpha" (2007): "Driven" and "Beg to Differ"