Bad Religion is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1980, the group originally included vocalist Greg Graffin, guitarist Brett Gurewitz, bassist Jay Bentley and drummer Jay Ziskrout.[1] Ziskrout left the band halfway through the recording of their debut full-length album How Could Hell Be Any Worse? and was replaced for the rest of the sessions by Pete Finestone.[2] 1983's Into the Unknown featured bassist Paul Dedona and Davy Goldman, both of whom left after the album was released.[1] Bad Religion briefly broke up in 1984, as Gurewitz left the band to focus on his record label Epitaph Records and recording studio Westbeach Recorders, before returning with guitarist Greg Hetson, bassist Tim Gallegos and drummer Finestone for the 1985 EP Back to the Known.[2]
Bentley and later Gurewitz returned to Bad Religion in 1986, with the five-piece lineup releasing three albums in three years before Finestone left again in 1991.[2] He was replaced by Bobby Schayer, whose first album with the band was Generator in 1992.[2] After Bad Religion signed to Atlantic Records and released Stranger than Fiction in 1994, Gurewitz left the band again.[3] Shortly after the album's release, Brian Baker took Gurewitz's place in the group.[4] After three more albums, Schayer departed the band in 2001 due to a shoulder injury, and was replaced by Brooks Wackerman.[5] Around the same time, Gurewitz returned to the band for a third time.[6] Longtime guitarist Hetson left in 2013 and was replaced by Mike Dimkich,[7] and in 2016 Jamie Miller replaced Wackerman after he joined Avenged Sevenfold.[8]
Members
Current
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Greg Graffin | 1980–present |
|
all Bad Religion releases | |
Brett Gurewitz |
|
|
all Bad Religion releases from Bad Religion (1981) to Into the Unknown (1983), from Suffer (1988) to Stranger than Fiction (1994), and from The Process of Belief (2002) to present | |
Jay Bentley |
|
|
all Bad Religion releases except Into the Unknown (1983) and Back to the Known (1985) | |
Brian Baker | 1994–present |
|
all Bad Religion releases from The Gray Race (1996) to present | |
Mike Dimkich | 2013–present | guitar | all Bad Religion releases from Age of Unreason (2019) to present | |
Jamie Miller | 2016–present |
|
Former
Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jay Ziskrout | 1980 | drums |
| |
Pete Finestone |
|
| ||
Paul Dedona | 1982–1984 | bass | Into the Unknown (1983) | |
Davy Goldman | drums | |||
Greg Hetson | 1984–2013 |
|
all Bad Religion releases from Back to the Known (1985) to True North (2013) | |
Tim Gallegos | 1984–1985 | bass | Back to the Known (1985) | |
John Albert | 1984–1985 | drums | none | |
Lucky Lehrer | 1987 | |||
Bobby Schayer | 1991–2001 |
|
all Bad Religion releases from Generator (1992) to The New America (2000) | |
Brooks Wackerman | 2001–2015 | all Bad Religion releases from The Process of Belief (2002) to Christmas Songs (2013) |
Timeline
Lineups
Period | Members | Releases |
---|---|---|
Mid – late 1980 |
|
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January 1981 – late 1982 |
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|
Late 1982 – early 1984 |
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|
Band inactive early – late 1984 | ||
Late 1984 – mid-1985 |
|
|
Band inactive mid-1985 – early 1986 | ||
Early 1986 – September 1987 |
|
none |
September 1987 – early 1988[9] |
| |
Early 1988 – April 1991 |
|
|
April 1991 – summer 1994 |
|
|
Summer 1994 – May 2001 |
|
|
May – June 2001 |
|
none |
June 2001 – April 2013 |
|
|
April 2013 – October 2015 |
|
none |
February 2016 – present |
|
|
References
- 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Bad Religion: Biography & History". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 Gormely, Ian (March 4, 2013). "Bad Religion: Empire State of Mind". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ "A fitting Epitaph: Brett Gurewitz on punk rock, independence and making it big". PIAS Recordings. November 30, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ "Brian Baker: 'I Never Tried Out For Guns N' Roses'". Ultimate Guitar Archive. March 1, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ D'Angelo, Joe (June 22, 2001). "Bad Religion Drummer Forced Into Retirement". MTV. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ Schumacher-Rasmussen, Eric (May 10, 2001). "Bad Religion Reunited With Brett Gurewitz, Epitaph Records". MTV. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ Hartmann, Graham (May 7, 2014). "Longtime Bad Religion Guitarist Greg Hetson Confirms Departure From Band". Loudwire. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ Frankel, Ricky (February 17, 2016). "Drummer Jamie Miller joins Bad Religion". Punknews.org. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ "Black Market #7 | Media | The Bad Religion Page - Since 1995". www.thebrpage.net. Retrieved 2020-02-25.