:For the computer virus, see SevenDust (computer virus)

Name	Sevendust
Landscape	Yes
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genre	Alternative metal, hard rock, heavy metal, nu metal
Years active	1994–present
Label	TVT, Roadrunner, Asylum, Winedark
Associated acts	Amen, Dark New Day, Snot
Url
Current members	Lajon WitherspoonJohn ConnollyClint LoweryVince HornsbyMorgan Rose
Past members	Sonny Mayo

Sevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. The band was formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group. Following a few name changes, the members settled on the name Sevendust and released their self-titled debut on April 15, 1997.

The self-titled debut sold 311 copies its first week. However, through touring and TVT support, the album gained charting success through Billboard and earned gold certification. Since formation, Sevendust has released eight studio albums, earned additional charting success and gold sales certifications. Their eighth studio album, titled Cold Day Memory, was released on April 20, 2010. They have also re-released their self-titled debut album as Sevendust: Definitive Edition which contains five new tracks and a DVD.

History

Early years & Sevendust (1994–1998)

Bassist Vince Hornsby joined drummer Morgan Rose in 1994, in a band called Snake Nation. John Connolly, a drummer, left his current band and joined Snake Nation as a guitarist. They recorded their first demo. Not happy with vocals, however, Snake Nation spent a year searching for a new singer before finding Lajon Witherspoon. Six months passed, Clint Lowery joined the band and they renamed themselves Rumblefish. 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. Sevendust appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for sixteen weeks and peaked at 165 on April 4, 1998. The album went gold on May 19, 1999.

In 1998, Sevendust performed at Dynamo Open Air (May 29–31) and Ozzfest 1998 (July through August). In the same year they released a compilation called Live and Loud which featured live footage of the bands September 16, 1998 performance at Chicago's Metro.

Home & Animosity (1999–2001)

On August 24, 1999, they released their second album, Home. The album peaked at 19 on the Billboard 200 and featured Skin from Skunk Anansie and Chino Moreno from Deftones as guest vocalists. The two singles from the album, "Denial" and "Waffle," gave the band moderate chart success, and the latter of which was played on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show. They appeared in Woodstock 1999 and have toured with many bands such as Korn, Staind, Nonpoint, Reveille, Godsmack, Mudvayne, Mushroomhead, Powerman 5000, Creed, Kid Rock, Machine Head, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, and Metallica. In 1999, they gained European exposure by opening for Skunk Anansie at various shows in Germany. They also opened with Kid Rock and Ted Nugent for Metallica on New Years Eve in 1999 at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan. They also joined Slipknot, Coal Chamber and other bands on the Tattoo the Earth Tour in June 2000.

In November 2001, the band released their third album, Animosity. This album went gold and gained the band commercial success thanks to the success of singles "Praise" and "Angel's Son," which peaked at 15 and 11, respectively, on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. "Angel's Son" was a tribute to Lynn Strait, the lead singer of the band Snot, who the members of Sevendust were friends with. Strait had died in a car accident in 1998. In addition to being included on Animosity, the song was included on the compilation album Strait Up. The band made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman playing an acoustic version of "Angel's Son" featuring Paul Shaffer on keyboards.

In the same year Sevendust was seen in the Chris Rock movie Down to Earth as a partial clip of "Waffle" is played.

Another friend of the band, Dave Williams the lead singer of Drowning Pool, died in 2002. Tragedy would strike again when Lajon Witherspoon's younger brother was shot and killed later that year. Due to his death, Sevendust went on hiatus in 2002.

Seasons and the departure of Clint Lowery (2003–2005)

In 2003, Sevendust returned with their fourth album, Seasons. The album debuted at #14 in the US, selling around 68,000 copies in its first week. This was one of the band's best received albums and to date features their highest charting single (tied with "Driven"), "Enemy," which peaked at #10 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. "Enemy" was made the official theme song for WWE Unforgiven 2003. Other singles released from the album, "Broken Down" and "Face to Face," met with more moderate success charting at 20 and 22, respectively.

In 2004, for the first time in the band's career, they released a live album on a CD/DVD double disk package titled . Both the CD and the DVD include a cover of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails which is dedicated to Johnny Cash.

On December 11, 2004, after playing a show in Columbus, Ohio, it was announced that Clint Lowery had left the band mid-tour, because he wanted to play with his brother Corey Lowery in his new band Dark New Day, who had reportedly just signed with Warner Bros. Records. A replacement was found for the rest of the dates and was eventually replaced by Sonny Mayo (from Snot and Amen). Next debuted at #20 in the US, selling around 37,000 copies in its first week. 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. Also, an unofficial video for Hero was released showing footage of Bruce Lee in many of his famous film roles.

A few months after the October 2005 release date of Next, though, it became clear that WineDark would not live up to the band’s expectations. "I had people come up to me and say, 'When is the record coming out?' And it had already been out for five months," Rose grumbles. "Basically, the main person that was in charge of the whole thing fell off the face of the earth. There were no more cheques coming in, and the money had not been paid in full." Retrospective 2, a CD/DVD combo including two 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, was released on December 11, 2007. The song The Rim was released on the Alpha CD but only sold in Target retails stores as exclusive 13th track on the Alpha CD. Their songs Feed and Driven were used in the soundtrack to WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008.

Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow & Clint Lowery's return (2008)

after a show in 2008]]

Sevendust joined Shawn Grove again, and returned to the studio at the end of November 2007 to finish their 7th studio album, titled . The record was originally slated for a release of March 4, 2008, but was later pushed back to April 1. The album debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200 and has appearances from Chris Daughtry and Alter Bridge members Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti. The first single released was "Prodigal Son," which peaked at #19 on the mainstream rock chart. The second single was "The Past" and the third "Inside."

On March 26, 2008, Sevendust announced that Lowery had quit his duties as guitarist for Dark New Day and would be returning to the Sevendust lineup in place of Mayo. On Lowery's return, Rose stated "This was extremely tough considering Sonny is our brother and has been amazing to work with. [Sonny] didn't do anything wrong at all; we just owe it to ourselves and all the folks that grew up with us to put our original band back together."

In December 2008 Sevendust toured with Black Stone Cherry for a while and then in January 2009, Sevendust geared up to hit the road with Disturbed, as well as multiple shows for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in the spring. Sevendust released a very limited-edition box set in November 2008 entitled Packaged Goods. Each five-disc set is personally autographed by the entire band. The box set includes Sevendust's 2005 release Next, 2007's Alpha, 2007's Retrospective 2 (CD + DVD), and 2008's Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow. Before heading into the studio to record their 8th studio album, the band headlined the End of Summer Scorcher held & sponsored by 98KUPD in Phoenix, Arizona on September 26, 2009. Along with Sevendust, other notable acts such as Corey Taylor, Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall & Otep performed as well.

Cold Day Memory (2009 onward)

October 2009, Sevendust started recording Cold Day Memory in Chicago with producer Johnny K, who has produced other successful rock acts such as Disturbed, Staind, Finger Eleven, and 3 Doors Down. The band launched a newly designed website, promoting the new album. During the recording process the band posted daily videos on their official site and their YouTube channel; with updates on the new album, recording sessions in the studio and recording sessions from their new house. Stepping out of the box from regular recording sessions, they are showing the fans how the album process is done, and every step in the intricate process.

Each of the band members provided their own recording sessions to be shown on the official website. On December 22, 2009, the band announced that the tracking for the album was complete, and it is currently in the mixing process for an April 2010 release. They are taking a break and doing a few concerts in late December and early to late January. The first single of the album will come in early February.

On February 6, 2010, the band leaked the song "Forever Dead" on their website. The first single "Unraveling" was released through iTunes on March 2. On March 17, the band streamed "Last Breath" on the radio. The following day, "Confessions (Without Faith)" received play time on the radio, as did "The End is Coming."

Sevendust will be touring with Chevelle, Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, and 10 Years on the Carnival of Madness Tour during the summer of 2010. The band also re-released their self-titled debut album called Sevendust: Definitive Edition. The re-release contains five new songs.

On September 16, Sevendust filmed a video for "Falcons On Top", the official theme song of the Atlanta Falcons football team. The video shoot took place at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and included an appearance by the Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders.

In November 2010, it was announced that Sevendust would play alongside Disturbed, Korn and In This Moment in the "Music As A Weapon 5" tour.

Style and lyrical themes

Influenced by Metallica, Living Colour, Twisted Sister and Faith No More, Sevendust has been labeled as heavy metal, alternative metal, industrial metal and nu metal. John Connolly, guitarist for the group was asked what the band defined their genre as;

I don't know. I've been trying to figure that out. It was back in the day. People, for five minutes called us progressive, and then it was nu-metal. Then, all of a sudden, we were playing alternative metal. We are some kind of heavy and some kind of rock and some kind of metal.

Band members

;Current members

Lajon Witherspoon – lead vocals (1994–present)

Clint Lowery – lead guitar, backing vocals (1994–2004, 2008–present)

John Connolly – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1994–present)

Vince Hornsby – bass (1994–present)

Morgan Rose – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1994–present)

;Former members

Sonny Mayo – lead guitar (2005–2008)

Discography

Sevendust (1997)

Home (1999)

Animosity (2001)

Seasons (2003)

Next (2005)

Alpha (2007)

(2008)

Cold Day Memory (2010)

References

External links

Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:2010s music groups Category:American alternative metal musical groups Category:American hard rock musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1994 Category:Heavy metal musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Warner Music Group artists Category:Music of Atlanta, Georgia Category:Musical quintets

Name	Yu Dafu
Birthdate	December 07, 1896
Birthplace	Fuyang, Zhejiang, China
Deathdate	September 17, 1945
Occupation	Short Story writer and Poet

Yu Dafu () (December 7, 1896—September 17, 1945). Born in Fuyang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet.

Early years

Yu Dafu's father died at when he was only three, leaving the family poverty-stricken and destitute. He received a number of scholarships through the Chinese government and went on to receive a traditional Chinese education in Hangzhou. Chronologically he studied in Jiangxing-Fu Middle School (before he came to Hangzhou), Hangzhou-Fu Middle School, Yuying Academy (育英学堂, formerly of Zhejiang University).

In 1912, he entered Hangchow University (later its major part merged into Zhejiang University) preparatory through examination. He was there only for a sort period before he was expelled for participation in a student strike.

He then moved to Japan, where he studied economics at the Tokyo Imperial University between 1913 and 1922, where he met other Chinese intellectuals (namely, Guo Moruo, Zhang Ziping and Tian Han). Together, in 1921 they founded the Chuangzao she 創造社 ("Creation Society"), which promoted vernacular and modern literature. One of his earlier works Chenlun 沉淪, also his most famous, published in Japan in 1921. The work had gained immense popularity in China, shocking the world of Chinese literature with its frank dealing with sex, as well as grievances directed at the incompetence of Chinese government at the time.

In 1922, he returned to China as a literary celebrity and worked as the editor of Creation Quarterly, editing journals and writing short stories. In 1923, after an attack of tuberculosis, Yu Dafu directed his attention to the welfare of the masses.

In 1927, he worked as an editor of the Hongshui literary magazine. He later came in conflict with the Communist Party of China and fled back to Japan.

Second Sino-Japanese war

After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war, he returned to China and worked as a writer of anti-Japanese propaganda in Hangzhou, and later in Zhejiang. From 1938 to 1942, he worked as a literary editor for the newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore.

In 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Singapore, he was forced to flee to Sumatra. Known under a different identity, he settled there among other overseas Chinese and began a brewery business with the help of the locals. Later he was forced to help the Japanese military police as an interpreter when it was discovered that he was one of the few "locals" in the area who could speak Japanese.

In 1945, he was arrested by the Kempeitai when his true identity was finally discovered. It is believed that he was executed by the Japanese shortly after the surrender of Japan.

Works

Chenlun 沉淪 "Sinking" (1921)

Riji jiuzhong 日記九種 “Nine Diaries” (1927)

Guoqu 過去 “The Past" (1927)

his first novel?? (1928) (moderately successful)

his second novel?? (1932)

Chuben 出奔 "Flight" (1935)

His most popular work, breaking all Chinese sales records, was Jih-chi chiu-chung "Nine Diaries", which detailed his affair with the writer Wang Ying-hsin. The most critically acclaimed work is Kuo-ch'u or "The Past", written in 1927.

References

Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, article- "Yü Ta-fu"

External links

Category:1896 births Category:1945 deaths Category:Chinese expatriates in Japan Category:Hangzhou High School alumni Category:People from Hangzhou Category:Republic of China poets Category:University of Tokyo alumni Category:Zhejiang University alumni

Name	Lajon Witherspoon
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Lajon Jermaine Witherspoon
Born	October 03, 1972
Instrument	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1988-present
Genre	Alternative metal Heavy metal Nu metal Hard rock
Occupation	Musician, Songwriter
Associated acts	SevendustBody & Soul
Label	Asylum, 7 Bros.

Lajon Witherspoon (born October 3, 1972 in Nashville, Tennessee) is the vocalist for the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. Members from such bands as Staind, Seether, Alter Bridge, and Diecast have listed Lajon and Sevendust as musical influences. In March 2008, Lajon was recognized in Hit Parader magazine as one of the "Top 100 Rock Vocalists of All Time". He was awarded number 35, placing over numerous famous rock vocalists such as Bret Michaels, Scott Weiland, Rod Stewart, and David Bowie. He also has a daughter named Mia Diane Witherspoon born in 1999.

History

Lajon Witherspoon was born in Nashville, but grew up in Atlanta. Prior to getting into music, Witherspoon played football and wrestled for Norcross High School. He also practiced judo for a number of years, but eventually chose music over sports as his primary passion. Before his days in Sevendust, Witherspoon was the frontman of a soul group by the name of Body & Soul. In 1994, his group supported Snake Nation, a local rock group, at a gig. Impressed by his vocal abilities, Vinnie Hornsby and Morgan Rose asked Witherspoon to sing for their band. Guitarist John Connolly, the former drummer of the Piece Dogs, and Lee Banks joined them to form Rumblefish. The name was soon changed to Crawlspace. When the band's schedule proved too much for Banks, Clint Lowery from North Carolina's Still Rain replaced him. The band had to change their name again when a group on the west coast claimed the rights to it. Struggling with a new moniker, the members settled on Sevendust after Hornsby found a can of "Sevin Dust" in his grandmother's garage.

On Sunday, November 9, 2002, Lajon's brother, Reginald Witherspoon, was killed. Lajon heard the news via a phone call from his father five minutes before the band's performance in St. Joseph, Minnesota. The singer was urged to go on with the show by his father, and those who attended the show appreciated the shaken Witherspoon going through with the scheduled performance. Afterwards, Witherspoon immediately left to attend to family matters.

Lajon Witherspoon has recorded a song titled "Ready to Go" for the NHRA's upcoming 10-song compilation released on June 1, 2010.

Discography

;Sevendust

Sevendust

Home

Animosity

Seasons

Next

Alpha

Cold Day Memory

;Other appearances NHRA Compilation 2010 - Various Artists - "Ready to Go" (2010) Moment of Impact - Eye Empire - "Victim" (2010) (Guest vocals)

Truth Rising - Hed PE - "Stand Up" (2010)

References

External links

Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:African American musicians Category:African American singers Category:African American rock musicians Category:African American rock singers Category:American male singers Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American rock singers Category:Nu metal singers Category:Musicians from Tennessee