Breaking benjamin

Early History (1998-2001)

Breaking Benjamin was formed in late 1998 in the city of Wilkes-Barre , Pennsylvania . Initially, these were two school friends: guitarist and vocalist Benjamin Burnley and drummer Jeremy Hummel, who often played at various parties, in clubs and cafes in their hometown, performing covers for the bands Nirvana , Godsmack , Deftones , Nine Inch Nails ”and“ Depeche Mode ”. It was uncomfortable to play together, so the company was always made up of one of the friends by the guys.

The group got its name in connection with the incident when Burnley dropped the song of the band “Nirvana” and broke the microphone. The man who picked it up said: “Thanks to Benjamin for breaking my fucking mic” (“Thanks to Benjamin for breaking my fucking mic.”) ^[8] But soon the name “Breaking Benjamin” was replaced by a simpler and more memorable “Plan 9” (since nine names were sorted out, but not one took root).

At the same time, two friends of Ben and Jeremy - Aaron Fink and Mark Klepaski (future guitarist and bassist Breaking Benjamin ) became famous with their team Strangers With Candy , thanks to a victory on cover shows, where they performed the song of the group “ A-ha ” Take on Me The group signed a contract with the Universal Music Group to release an album and began touring the country. The name of the team also changed, first to Driver , and then to Lifer (“Life Prisoner”). After the tour, the group rested in their hometown and, to dispel boredom, Aaron and Mark began playing in the group of their friends. But soon they were absorbed in work at Lifer , and temporary members again came to their place.

In 2001, Lifer recorded their debut album and went on tour, but after a short amount of time they realized that their album was a failure. Their debut has been criticized by everyone. During a concert in Phoenix , Arizona , Mark called Ben and said that he and Aaron had decided to play in his group, since Lifer was a futile undertaking. Plan 9 was again renamed Breaking Benjamin , and two temporary members were fired. Lifer finished the tour and broke up right there.

Aaron and Mark finally reunited with Ben and Jeremy. It was decided to perform their own songs, of which Burnley had a lot. While still at school, he began to write his songs under the influence of Tool and Deftones . Around the same time, the song Polyamorous was born. The group began to perform frequently in the hometown of Wilkes-Barre and its environs. One of the performances was attended by DJ of the respected rockers station WBSX-FM Freddy Fabbri. He recorded a Polyamorous concert and included it in his playlist. Soon, he began to receive positive reviews about this song, and he decided to help the group record their debut album.

The Breaking Benjamin EP was recorded in the fall of 2001 and released in a print run of 2,000 copies in Northern Pennsylvania , where it was quickly sold out.

Saturate (2001-2003)

The Hollywood Records label drew attention to the young team. With the assistance of the label , a Polyamorous video clip was made, which became a regular guest on MTV and VH1 . Breaking Benjamin EP has been reissued and sold well. The group thought about a full-fledged album and in early 2002, settled in the studio - the result was the debut album Saturate . In addition to the new songs, Saturate also included all the re-recorded tracks from the Breaking Benjamin EP .

We Are Not Alone (2004-2006)

The second album We Are Not Alone, the musicians released two years later. Billy Corgan , frontman for Smashing Pumpkins , took part in his recording. Soon, Breaking Benjamin went on tour with Evanescence .

The song So Cold played a significant role in the album We Are Not Alone , fans liked this track so much that the group could not help but release an EP / single on the theme So Cold . In the same year, So Cold EP was released , which only raised the group's rating. The EP includes the acoustic version of So Cold recorded at the concert, the soundtrack to the computer game Halo 2 Blow me away , as well as the early work of Lady Bug .

In addition, amateur clips were made for the songs So Cold and Follow (for Half-Life 2 for the first and Torque for the second), which brought the group unprecedented popularity and increased the number of its fans.

In September 2004, drummer Jeremy Hummel left the band, soon replaced by Chad Zelig.

Later, on September 28, 2005 , Jeremy Hummel filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against Breaking Benjamin because he did not receive money for the songs he wrote. For this, he wanted to get $ 8 million, but on October 25, 2006, the court dismissed his lawsuit. ^[9]

Phobia (2006-2008)

In 2006, the band released their third album, entitled " Phobia " and began to make their way to the top of the charts .

In the summer of the same year, the group released the first single from the new album - “ The Diary of Jane ”. The single entered the top 10 best songs in the modern rock category according to Billboard for 2007 .

Later, in the spring of 2007, the second single , Breath, was released .

In the fall of the same year, the third, final single of the album - Until the End . The single , unlike the previous two, was released without a video, and, like Breath , could not beat the success of The Diary of Jane .

In February 2007, the band's performance at the Stabler Arena ( Bethlehem , PA ) was recorded and went on sale on DVD under the name Live - The Homecoming , for a total duration of 1 hour . This is the first Breaking Benjamin concert to be officially released on DVD .

Dear Agony (2009—2010)

July 14 , members of the group confirmed that the upcoming album will contain 11 songs, the name of one of which is “What Lies Beneath”.

On July 28 , David Bendet , ^[10] who produced the band’s previous two albums and became the producer of the upcoming record, confirmed that the first single, “ I Will Not Bow ”, would be broadcast live on August 17 , and will be available on the iTunes store on September 1 . On August 4, on the MySpace page, the band announced the name of their fourth album, “ Dear Agony, ” and that it will go on sale on September 29 . ^[eleven]

On August 11, the song “I Will Not Bow” was presented at the home of the band's WBSX (97.9X) radio station in Wilkes-Barre. ^[12] The song was launched on radio on August 17 and released on iTunes on September 1. She quickly became one of iTunes's top ten hotspots. The clip for it was posted on MySpace on August 21 . ^[13]

On September 28, 2009, Dear Agony went on sale in Australia and the next day in the United States . He, like the single “I Will Not Bow,” also became a bestseller on iTunes. Some versions of the album contained a DVD with six band clips, including an alternative clip, “I Will Not Bow,” which does not contain scenes from the movie “ Surrogates, ” unlike the original version. Red's guitarist, Jasen Rauch, has co-written some of the songs for Dear Agony ( I Will Not Bow , Hopeless, Lights Out and Without You). ^[14]

In January-February 2010, the group played a USA tour with Three Days Grace and Flyleaf as a co-headliner. ^[15]

On January 5, 2010, the single “Give Me a Sign” was released. The clip was released on MySpace Group on March 10, at Burnley's 32nd birthday.

In February 2010, Dear Agony was certified Gold Status.

On June 15, 2010, the single “Lights Out” was released.

In the summer of 2010, Ben played two acoustic concerts with his friend Aaron Bruch (Aaron Bruch, bass player from OurAfter), during which Forget It and Follow followed for the first time. ^[16] The duo also played cover versions of the songs Tool , Queen , Deftones , Alice in Chains , Michael Jackson and Cindy Lower . ^[17]

Business interruption, Shallow Bay: The Best of and litigation (2010–2013)

In the summer of 2010, the group takes a creative holiday in connection with a relapse of Burnley's disease. Guitarist Fink and bassist Klepaski played the show with the previous band, Lifer, and drummer Zeliga went on tour with his previous band, OurAfter.

On May 14, 2011, Burnley dismissed members of the Fink and Klepaski group, notifying them by e-mail. Burnley declined to comment on the situation. Soon after, it became publicly known about the trial: Burnley filed a lawsuit against Fink and Klepaska on June 6, 2011 because the latter two had committed unilateral and unauthorized actions on behalf of the entire group. Ben claims that the song “Blow Me Away” was written by him in 2004 without any participation from Aaron and Mark, therefore, all the rights to the song belong to him. According to him, on March 10, 2010, Fink and Klepaski took part in the recording of the new version of “Blow Me Away”, and in May they agreed to the Hollywood Records label to reissue it. ^[18] This reissued track, according to Burnley, would have given Mark and Aron $ 100,000 out of the $ 150,000 possible for selling a future album. In this regard, Burnley demanded $ 250,000 and the exclusive right to dispose of the name "Breaking Benjamin". ^{[19] [20]} Burnley planned the return of the group to vigorous activity at the end of litigation. ^[21]

On June 7, 2011, a remix version of the song “Blow Me Away” was released, in which the vocalist of the band Valora participated. ^[22] An animated lyric video for the song was released on August 24th. ^[23]

On August 16, 2011, in two versions, the collection of the best songs “Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin” was released - a single-disc “standard edition”, containing mostly singles of the group (including a re-recorded version of “Blow Me Away”), and a two-disc “deluxe” edition , the second disc of which contained various rare, including previously unreleased, recordings of Breaking Benjamin. ^[24] Burnley himself publicly opposed the release of this album, as its contents were modified and released without his consent. ^[25]

In 2012, the group was practically inactive, with the exception of the only interview with Chad Zeliga in February 2012, in which he assured fans that the group had not split up and that he could not wait to record a new album in the future. ^[26]

On April 19, 2013, Benjamin Burnley on the group’s official website announced the completion of legal proceedings against former members of the Klepaska and Fink group. Burnley won the trial, retaining the right to use the name of the group. ^[27] Despite this, the group's drummer, Chad Zeliga, announced his resignation on April 22, 2013 due to creative differences and participation in other projects, wishing the new Breaking Benjamin musicians good luck, “whoever they are.” ^[28]

In October 2013, Burnley performed live for the first time in 3 years, playing with Aaron Brook a number of acoustic concerts in local bars in several cities in Pennsylvania. ^{[29] [30]}

The Return and Dark Before Dawn (2014–2016)

On August 20, 2014, the new line-up of the group was officially presented, including, in addition to Burnley, guitarist Keith Wallen (ex-Adelitas Way, Copper), guitarist Jacen Rau (ex-RED), bass player Aaron Brook (ex-OurAfter, Forever Oeuvre), drummer Sean Foista (ex-Picture Me Broken). ^[31]

On September 13, 2014, the group began to upload new photos from the studio, indicating the beginning of recording new material. ^{[32] [33]}

On September 19 and 20, 2014 the group played the first two concerts in the new line-up, the tickets for which were completely sold out. ^{[34] [35]}

On March 18, 2015, it was announced that a new album called Dark Before Dawn would be released on June 23, 2015. ^[36]

On March 23, 2015, the first single “Failure” was released and pre-ordered the album on iTunes. ^[37] On April 11, 2015, the song “Angels Fall” was released for those who pre-ordered the album on iTunes.

Ember (after 2017)

Burnley announced at the end of August 2017 that the recording of Breaking Benjamin's sixth studio album was completed. ^[38]

On October 21 of the same year, in an interview with KFMA, the group announced that the new album would be called Ember ^[39]

On December 19, Rock Revolt Magazine published on the website of its publication that the release of the new single Breaking Benjamin called "Red Cold River" will be held on January 5, 2018.

On January 1, 2018, a teaser for the upcoming video appeared on the group’s official Instagram.

On January 5, 2018, the band released the single “Red Cold River”.

January 26, 2018, along with pre-ordering the new album “Ember”, the single “Feed the Wolf” became available.

On February 23, 2018, the single “Blood” became available.

On March 23, 2018, the single “Psycho” became available.

On April 6, 2018, the single “Save Yourself” became available.

On April 13, 2018, the entire Ember album became available.

Current

• Benjamin Burnley (Benjamin Burnley) - vocals , rhythm guitar
• Keith Wallen - rhythm guitar , backing vocals
• Jasen Rauch - solo guitar
• Aaron Bruch (Aaron Bruch) - bass , backing vocals
• Sean Foist (Shaun Foist) - drums , percussion

Former

• Nick Hoover - bass (1998)
• Chris Lightcap - Drums (1998)
• Jason Davoli (Jason Davoli) - bass (1998)
• Jonathan Price (Johnatan "Bug" Price) - bass (1998-2001)
• Jeremy Hummel (Jeremy Hummel) - drums (1998-2004)
• Aaron Fink (Aaron Fink) - guitar (1998—2011)
• Mark James Klepaski (Mark James Klepaski) - bass (2001—2011)
• Chad Szeliga (Chad Szeliga) - drums (2004—2013)

Timeline

Studio Albums

Mini Albums

• Breaking Benjamin EP ( 2001 )
• Live EP ( 2004 )
• So Cold EP ( 2004 )

Live Albums

• Phobia Collector's Edition ( 2007 )

DVD

• Live - The Homecoming ( 2007 Phobia Collector's Edition Bonus )

• Polyamorous (2 versions)
• So cold
• Soner or later
• The diary of jane
• Breath (official concert video)
• I Will Not Bow (2 versions)
• Give Me A Sign
• Failure (2015) (official concert video)
• Angels Fall (2015)
• Ashes of Eden (2016)
• Never Again (2017)
• Red Cold River (2018)
• Torn in Two (2018)
• Tourniquet (2018)

• Official site
• Breaking Benjamin on Nefelin Music