Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. They released their debut album, Swan Songs, on September 2, 2008, and their live CD/DVD Desperate Measures, on November 10, 2009. Their second studio album, American Tragedy, was released April 5, 2011. All of the band members use pseudonyms and wear their own unique mask, most of which are based on the common hockey goaltender design. The band members currently consist of Charlie Scene, Da Kurlzz, Danny, Funny Man, J-Dog, and Johnny 3 Tears. The band has sold over two million records in the United States alone, and about three million records worldwide. Their third studio album, titled Notes from the Underground, was released on January 8, 2013.
Their fourth studio album, Day of the Dead, was released on March 31, 2015. Five new singles off of the album, "Usual Suspects", "Gravity", "How We Roll", "Live Forever", and "Disease".
History
Formation and Swan Songs (2005-2009)
The band originated on June 3, 2005 as The Kids from a song titled "Hollywood" (Later released as "The Kids") that Jorel Decker (J-Dog), Aron Erlichman (Deuce), and Jeff Phillips (Shady Jeff) posted on the band's MySpace profile to positive reviews, leading them to form the group Hollywood Undead with their friends George "Johnny 3 Tears" Ragan, Jordon "Charlie Scene" Terrell, Dylan "Funny Man" Alvarez, and Matthew "Da Kurlzz" Busek. In an interview with Shave magazine, J-Dog explained that when forming the band "Whoever was in the room at the time and played an instrument was in the band." Phillips later left the group because of conflict with Erlichman.
The band only took one year working on their debut album, Swan Songs. The other two years were spent looking for a company that wouldn't try to censor the album. They first signed a record contract with MySpace Records in 2005 but they left the label after the label tried to censor their first album. They then signed a contract with A&M/Octone Records and their first album, Swan Songs was released on September 2, 2008 and reached No.22 on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release, selling 21,000 copies; which was later on released in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2009 with two bonus tracks. In April 2009, the band toured with American electronic musician Skrillex as "Sonny and the Blood Monkeys". On June 23, 2009, Hollywood Undead released Swan Songs B-Sides EP through iTunes.
The band released a CD/DVD set entitled Desperate Measures on November 10, 2009. The set includes a CD of previously unreleased six new songs, three of which are cover songs, as well a previously unreleased remix of "Everywhere I Go", and six live recordings of songs from Swan Songs, and a DVD of a full live performance by the band. In December 2009, the band won Best Crunk/Rock Rap Artist at the Rock on Request Awards. In its first week of release, Desperate Measures reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200. It also peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard's Rock Albums chart, No. 8 on the Alternative Albums chart, No. 5 on the Hard Rock albums chart, and No. 15 on the Digital Albums chart.
Departure of Deuce and American Tragedy (2010)
In early 2010, the band announced that singer, Deuce, had left the band due to creative differences. Ragan and Busek later cited arguments over writing credits, and Deuce not wanting to tour, as reasons for the departure. Decker and Terrell also stated that Deuce wanting to bring his own personal assistant for touring caused a rift between members. The band asked long-time friend, and lead singer of Lorene Drive, Daniel Murillo, to fill in for Deuce's role. Murillo had just advanced past the auditions for season 9 of American Idol, but decided to drop out to join the band.
The band soon began writing material for their second studio album; American Tragedy, in mid-2010, with hopes to release it by the end of the year. The band has also confirmed that producer Don Gilmore, would return to produce the album. Recording concluded around mid-November and the band began mixing the album the day after Thanksgiving.
The band co-headlined the Nightmare After Christmas Tour with Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour to support the album. The first single, "Hear Me Now", released in December 2010. Within its first couple days of release, the single made it to number 2 on the iTunes Rock Chart. On January 21, they released a new song, "Comin' in Hot" available for a free download. and announced that the official release date for the album would be March 8, 2011. but as of February 22, 2011, it was announced that the album has been pushed back to April 5, 2011. On February 6, 2011, the band released another song titled "Been to Hell", for a free download.
American Tragedy turned out to be more successful than their first album Swan Songs, selling 66,915 in its debut week and peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. It has also peaked at No. 2 on many other charts, while also reaching No. 1 on the Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart. The album was also very successful in other countries, making No. 5 in Canada and No. 43 in the United Kingdom. To continue promoting the album, the band headlined the Revolt Tour, along with 10 Years, Drive A, and New Medicine. The tour took place between April 6 and May 27, 2011. After the tour, the band played several shows in Europe, Canada, and Australia. They will then headline the Endless Summer Tour with All That Remains and Hyro da Hero, which took place between July 18 and August 7, 2011.
The band announced in August 2011 that they would be releasing the remix album titled American Tragedy Redux, that would contain both professional and fan remixes from winners of a remix contest. of songs. It was released on November 21, 2011. In the same month, the band set out on the "World War III" tour, with Asking Alexandria, We Came As Romans, Borgore, and D.R.U.G.S. Following the tour, the band also joined Avenged Sevenfold again on the "Buried Alive" tour, with Black Veil Brides and Asking Alexandria, with dates running from November 11 to December 14.
Notes from the Underground (2012-2013)
Work on a third studio album began in late November 2011, with the band will beginning to write and record demos while on the "Buried Alive" Tour, and heading to the studio to start recording after the conclusion of the tour. The band aimed to return the sound of their first album, Swan Songs, and that their record label had given them full creative control for the album. He also stated that the band hoped to feature more collaborations on the album.
Artistdirect named the band's upcoming album as one of the most anticipated albums of 2012, alongside other bands such as Linkin Park, Metallica, and Black Sabbath. The band revealed that Griffin Boice and Danny Lohner would return to produce the album. They also revealed that they will be upgrading their masks again, like they did prior to the release of their prior album.
During 2012, the band played a series of music festivals, including Epicenter 2012, Summerfest, Aftershock, Rock Fest, and others, joining bands such as Stone Temple Pilots, Escape the Fate, Deftones.
On October 19, they released the track "Dead Bite" from the album for a free download, along with a lyric video to it and announcement for the upcoming album's first single. On October 29, the lead single "We Are" was released along with the album title, Notes from the Underground. On December 10, the band released their official music video for "We Are" on their Vevo account on YouTube. The teaser of the video prior the release of the video credit's Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan as the director the music video.
The album was released on January 13 and sold over 53,000 copies in its first week, charting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Canada's Top Albums chart, making it highest charting album by the band.
Day of the Dead (2014-present)
On April 12, 2014, Johnny 3 Tears posted a photo on his Instagram revealing plans for the band to release a new album in the summer. On October 17, Hollywood Undead's Vevo channel leaked the audio video with a song from their new album titled "Day of the Dead," although it was removed shortly afterwards. The song was later made available on iTunes on October 21, 2014. and officially premiered through Revolver Magazine. It was also revealed that the album will also be titled Day of the Dead.
The second single, titled "Usual Suspects", was released on February 17, 2015. The next single, titled "Gravity," was released on February 24, 2015. The album was released on March 31, 2015.
On November 3, 2015, Johnny 3 Tears announced during an interview with Louder Noise, the band planned to release an EP of previously unreleased songs for free in the Holiday season.
Band members
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- Timeline
Discography
Main article: Hollywood Undead discography- Studio albums
- Swan Songs (2008)
- American Tragedy (2011)
- Notes from the Underground (2013)
- Day of the Dead (2015)
Accolades
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Been to Hell" | AOL Radio: Top 10 Rock Songs of 2011 | Won | 5th |
[ Source: Wikipedia ]