Hollywood Undead

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 Undead

The Undead is an American horror punk band formed in October 1980 in New Milford, New Jersey by Bobby Steele (vocals and guitar), Chris "Jack" Natz (bass) and Patrick Blanck (drums). Steele (then of the Misfits) and Natz had been playing with drummer Richie Matalia as a side-project called The Skabs. When Matalia departed and Steele was fired from his main band the Misfits, the trio of Steele, Natz and Blanck formed The Undead.

History

They released their first EP, 9 Toes Later, in 1982. A few months later, Natz and Blanck left the band, replaced by Brian "Payne" Aliano on bass and Bobby Savage on drums. This lineup released the Verbal Abuse single in 1983. Steve Zing (of Mourning Noise and later Samhain) then took over as drummer. Between 1983 and 1986, Aliano and Zing performed with the band intermittently, while many other musicians played in The Undead for short periods. Aliano and Zing finally quit the band in December 1986. Since then, the band has not had a steady lineup. One-time bassist Inger Lorre went on to front The Nymphs.

Undead

The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. A common example of an undead being is a corpse re-animated by supernatural forces, by the application of the deceased's own life force, or that of another being (such as a demon). The undead may be incorporeal like ghosts, or corporeal like vampires and zombies. The undead are featured in the belief systems of most cultures, and appear in many works of fantasy and horror fiction.

Bram Stoker considered using the title The Un-Dead for his novel Dracula (1897), and use of the term in the novel is mostly responsible for the modern sense of the word. The word does appear in English before Stoker but with the more literal sense of "alive" or "not dead", for which citations can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary. Stoker's use of the term refers only to vampires, and the extension to other types of supernatural beings arose later. Most commonly, it is now taken to refer to supernatural beings which had at one time been alive and continue to display some aspects of life after death, but the usage is highly variable.