Biography | Artist Actors Biography

Nickelback is a post-grunge rock band founded in western Canada in 1995. The name derived from the nickel in change Mike Kroeger frequently had to give customers back in his job at a Starbucks coffee shop.

The core of the band hails from Hanna, Alberta. They are now based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Nickelback’s climb to mainstream was helped by Cancon, the Canadian law that requires a certain percentage of music played on Canadian radio to be from Canadian bands. Their second album, The State, propelled them to mainstream status even before Silver Side Up.

Nickelback has achieved major success on rock radio, scoring ten Top 10 hits since 1999. They have also crossed over to mainstream radio, scoring multi-format smashes on their last two albums. Coincident with the release of the first Spiderman film’s soundtrack was the single “Hero,” sung by band leader Chad Kroeger and Saliva singer Josey Scott.

Nickelback released their Silver Side Up album on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. On that morning, they were on their tour bus traveling across Pennsylvania less than 10 miles from where Flight 93 crashed. To some, the first single, “How You Remind Me”, became an anthem of sorts in memory of the fallen Americans on 9/11 and became one of the most played songs in the U.S in 2001 and much of 2002.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickelback

Goo Goo Dolls are a modern rock band, formed in 1986. They are perhaps most famous for the hit Iris, featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Currently, the band consists of three members:

* Johnny Rzeznik - Vocals, guitar (Founding member)
* Robby Takac - Vocals, bass (Founding member)
* Mike Malinin - Drums (Hired in 1995, made official member in 1998)

Background

Founded in Buffalo, New York, the Goo Goo Dolls initially consisted of John Rzeznik, Robby Takac, and George Tutuska, and were known as the “Sex Maggots.” The band changed their name to the Goo Goo Dolls (the name was picked out from an ad in a True Detective magazine) at the request of a local club owner who refused to let them play otherwise. They were signed early on by Metal Blade Records and they released their self-titled debut album in 1987.

In their early career, they were often dismissed by critics as Replacements wannabes. While they were embraced by college radio, especially after the release of their third album, Hold Me Up (1990), it was not until 1995, when their single “Name” (from the album A Boy Named Goo) hit the airwaves that the Goo Goo Dolls realized commercial success at last. After a lengthy legal battle with Metal Blade records over royalties that were being withheld from the band, the Goos switched to Metal Blade’s parent company, Warner Brothers. In 1998, “Iris” was released on the City of Angels soundtrack and the Goos were propelled to stardom, as the song stayed on the Billboard charts at number one for 18 weeks and was nominated for three Grammys that year.

Other important people

* George Tutuska, drummer from 1986 to New Year’s Eve 1994. He was dismissed and was replaced by Malinin. George had said that he had not received any royalty checks from the albums he had played on, providing a reason as to why he is no longer part of the band.
* Lance Diamond a Buffalo, New York entertainer who has played with GGD live on many occasions, as well as recording with them on the tracks Down On The Corner, Never Take The Place of your Man, My Girl, Do You Believe, and Bitch.
* Nathan December played as a touring guitarist for the Dizzy Up the Girl album tour.
* Dave Schulz also toured with the band on the Dizzy Up The Girl tour. He currently works as a producer and session player in Los Angeles.
* Greg Suran touring guitarist for the Gutterflower tour, working as a session player in Los Angeles.
* Jason Freese touring keyboardist/saxophonoist for the Gutterflower tour, now on tour with Green Day.
* William Howell Was the uncredited A&R scout who helped sign the band to Metal Blade in 1987.

sosurce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goo_Goo_Dolls

David Crowder Band is a 6-piece electronic rock / worship band from Waco, Texas.

The band began as a result of David Crowder realizing that almost half of his fellow students at Baylor University, Texas were not attending church, which he found surprising given that it was a Christian college. He and Chris Seay started a church, University Baptist Church in 1996 while he was still a student. Crowder led worship there and continues to lead worship there throughout the year. The the church’s congregation grew, as did the band’s lineup. Tragically, his pastor of seven years, Kyle Lake, was electrocuted in the baptistry while performing a baptism (while handling a partially submerged microphone) during the Sunday morning service of October 30, 2005. He was taken to a nearby hospital and later died.

Crowder began writing songs to incorporate into the worship times at the church and eventually the church released an independent CD, Pour Over Me followed by All I Can Say in 1999. These CDs brought the band to a wider audience and invitations to festivals and events followed. The band was signed to Sixsteps/Sparrow Records and has released five more albums to date (Can You Hear Us, Illuminate, The Lime CD, Sunsets & Sushi, A Collision). The band tours the United States incessantly while still making it back to their home church in Waco, Texas, almost every Sunday.

With their latest release in September 2005, A Collision, David Crowder Band has explored a new realm of musical diversity. It houses a mix of bluegrass, folk, alternative, and worship. All of these genres are weaved together with a touch of electronic ambience. This release landed them the #2 spot on the iTunes Music Store and the #39 spot on Billboard 200 only one day after its release.

Samhain was a rock music band formed by Glenn Danzig after he disbanded The Misfits. He originally planned it as a side project, but after the demise of The Misfits in 1983, it became his full-time band. Glenn took the name of the band from Samhain, the ancient Celtic New Year, which influenced the modern Halloween. Samhain is usually pronounced “Sow-In”, although the band name is often pronounced “Sam-Hane” for the sake of simplicity.

Samhain was much darker than The Misfits, with lyrics rooted in the horrors of reality and the occult, as opposed to the sometimes cartoonish ghouls and ghosts of the Misfits. Samhain’s musical style was a dark and gritty combination of punk and metal, which helped pave the way for the goth metal and Gothcore genre.

Samhain released two full-lengths and one EP during their career. Some criticized their first album for being merely the Misfits slowed down, though Samhain demonstrated notacably superior musicianship. The fact that Samhain re-recorded a few Misfits songs cemented the idea in some people’s minds that Danzig couldn’t move past his work with the Misfits. However, as their career progressed, they evolved into their own unique style of lo-fi goth metal and gained a cult following that surpassed that of The Misfits.

A common misconception with Samhain is that the band members constantly performed while covered in blood; this actually occured on only a few occasions. This misconception probably stems from the cover art of the band’s initial release, which features the band members doused in pig blood. However, during the band’s reunion tour in 2000 they performed the second half of their set with the bloodied torsos they had become known for.

In 1987, Samhain was signed by American Recordings and the name of the band was changed to Danzig. American Recordings at first wished only to sign Glenn with the promise of helping him assemble an all star line-up. However, Glenn refused to agree to the deal unless Samhain bassist Eerie Von could remain in the group.

Final Descent, a CD of previously unreleased recordings, was released after the band’s demise to help expose fans of Danzig to Samhain and to help bridge the musical gap between the two bands.

Samhain briefly reunited in 1999 to celebrate the release of the Box Set. They went on one national tour with the band Danzig headlining.