Hollywood Undead


Hollywood Undead is an American rap rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2005. 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 previously wore their own unique mask, most of which were based on the common hockey goaltender design. The band members currently consist of Charlie Scene, Danny, Funny Man, J-Dog, and Johnny 3 Tears. 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.
Hollywood Undead's fifth record is titled Five, and was released on October 27, 2017. The first single from the album, called "California Dreaming", was made available July 24, 2017. Their recent sixth studio album, New Empire, Vol. 1, was released on February 14, 2020.

History

Formation and ''Swan Songs'' (2005–2009)

The band originated on June 3, 2005, as The Kids from a song titled "Hollywood" that Jorel Decker, Aron Erlichman, and Jeff Phillips 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 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'' (2010–2011)

In early 2010, the band announced that 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 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. The single reached a peak of number nine on the Heatseekers Songs chart on Billboard, twenty-four on the Billboard's Rock Songs chart, and number twenty on the Alternative Songs 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.

''Day of the Dead'' (2014–2015)

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. However, this has yet to happen and the EP has not been mentioned since.

''Five'' and ''Psalms'' (2017–2018)

On July 19, 2017, the song titled "California Dreaming" was leaked. The track was released officially on July 24, as the lead single off their upcoming album Five. On August 25, "Whatever It Takes" was uploaded to the band's official YouTube channel followed by the song "Renegade" on September 29. On October 10, founding member Da Kurlzz "amicably" parted ways with the group to "pursue his own interests". The fourth single, "We Own the Night" was released on October 13. A new video for the song "Black Cadillac" featuring B-Real, was released on December 2.
In an interview with Dead Press! whilst the band were at Reading Festival 2018, J-Dog and Danny confirmed that they intend to release a "heavy" song they've recorded called "Bloody Nose". In the same interview, they also shared their plans to record and release their sixth album in early 2019.
On October 30, 2018, it was announced that Hollywood Undead would release a new EP, Psalms, on November 2, 2018, including two songs previously released in 2018, "Gotta Let Go" and "Another Level", as well as the previously-announced "Bloody Nose".

''New Empire, Vol. 1'' (2019–present)

Hollywood Undead released the lead single, "Already Dead", on October 25, 2019. A music video was released about a week later on October 31, 2019. The second single, "Time Bomb" was released on November 15, as well as the announcement that the album would be titled New Empire, Vol. 1. According to member George "Johnny 3 Tears" Ragan: "This album is our attempt at reimagining Hollywood Undead, not just a new sound for this release, but a new sound for the band altogether. Our goal from the outset was to make music that stands alone from our other albums, yet seamlessly fits with what we've made before. Building upon the old to create a new sound and a New Empire."
In an interview with Silverstein vocalist Shane Told on his Lead Singer Syndrome podcast show, members Danny Murillo and Jorel "J-Dog" Decker confirmed that Benji Madden of Good Charlotte, Kellin Quinn of Sleeping with Sirens, and rapper Killstation would feature on New Empire, Vol. 1.

Band members

Current members
Current touring musicians
Former members
Former touring musicians
Timeline

Discography