Buckcherry

Buckcherry
Background information
Origin	Anaheim, California, United States
Genres	Hard rock
Years active	1995–2002, 2005–present
Labels	Eleven Seven, Atlantic, DreamWorks
Associated acts	Sparrow, Shots Fired, Black Robot, Mötley Crüe
Website	buckcherry.com
Members	Josh Todd Keith Nelson Stevie D. Xavier Muriel
Past members	Jimmy Ashhurst Yogi Lonich Jonathan Brightman Devon Glenn Dave Markasky Josh Fleeger Matt Lawrence

Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry (1999) and Time Bomb (2001), before dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album on April 16, 2006, 15. It contained Buckcherry's biggest crossover hits to date, "Crazy Bitch", and their first Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit, "Sorry". Their fourth album, Black Butterfly, was released in September 2008, and their fifth album, All Night Long, was released on August 3, 2010. Buckcherry released their sixth album, Confessions, on February 19, 2013.^[1]

History

Formation: 1995–1999

Josh Todd grew up in Anaheim Hills, California and later moved to Lake Forest, California. Early on, Todd fronted the Hollywood glam rock band Slamhound. He eventually met lead guitarist Keith Nelson through their tattoo artist (Kevin Quinn)^[2] after discovering a common love of AC/DC. The duo made a few demos before being joined by bassist Jonathan Brightman and drummer Devon Glenn, calling themselves Sparrow. Sparrow began performing around the Hollywood club scene, receiving a strong, local following due to their old school rock and roll vibe, and were signed to DreamWorks Records shortly after. The group changed its name to Buckcherry after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from a record label called Sparrow (owned by EMI). Although Buckcherry is a spoonerism of Chuck Berry, the group said it was inspired by a drag queen acquaintance of theirs named Buck Cherry (Buck Cherry was also the moniker of John Armstrong, guitarist for 1980s new-wave group The Modernettes).

Commercial success: 1999–2002

The band released its self-titled debut in 1999 to critical praise and certified gold sales. The album, produced by Terry Date (Soundgarden/Mother Love Bone/Pantera/Steve Jones), included the hit singles "Lit Up", "For the Movies", "Dead Again", and "Check Your Head".

After adding rhythm guitarist Yogi Lonich to the lineup in 1999, Buckcherry toured nonstop in support of the debut album, including opening for Lenny Kravitz on his Freedom Tour (1999) and participating at the infamous Woodstock 99, before going back into the studio in 2000 to work on a follow-up, Time Bomb (2001). The second album was considered a disappointment by many critics,^[3] and it did not fare as well on the charts. Allmusic noted that "For a second record, it's surprising how jaded and nihilistic they are already.^[3] Buckcherry performed opening dates for AC/DC in the spring 2000.^[4] From August 2001 through January 2002, as tension over the musical direction set in, Jonathan Brightman, Yogi Lonich, and Devon Glenn each successively left Buckcherry, and were replaced by Dave Markasky, Josh Fleeger, and Matt Lawrence, respectively. Josh Todd and Keith Nelson still planned to continue the band, and began the writing process for a third album. The album was never completed, however, and the band was put on hiatus in July 2002.^[5]

Other projects: 2002–2005

Josh Todd and Keith Nelson performed together along with ex-Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum (also of The Cult) at the Randy Castillo tribute concert. Speculation ensued that Josh Todd would become the lead vocalist of the Project headed up by Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum. Josh Todd spent a month in the studio, reportedly completing 10 songs, but was abruptly dropped from the project by Slash. Todd was quoted as saying, "It was amazing, the band was slamming, and then Slash just came in one day and just shit-canned the whole thing". In his autobiography, Slash says the reason was because he was displeased with how Todd's voice sounded when they played the material back. Scott Weiland of the Stone Temple Pilots was eventually chosen to helm the band that would become known as Velvet Revolver. Keith Nelson was given a songwriting credit on Velvet Revolver's track "Dirty Little Thing". Nelson then went on to write and produce on various records. Josh Todd went on to form TODD Entertainment, LLC a partnership with Todd Meagher and released the record You Made Me.

Reunion and Crüe Fest: 2005–2009

In 2005, Josh Todd reformed Buckcherry with Keith Nelson and new members Stevie D., Jimmy Ashurst, and Xavier Muriel. In 2006, the band released the album 15 to commercial and critical success. It resurrected the band with hits "Crazy Bitch", "Sorry", "Everything" and "Next 2 You".

Back on September 11, 2006, another lawsuit had been filed against the band, their current record label, and other related companies on behalf of a sixteen-year-old girl who claimed she was coerced into appearing topless and in various sexual scenarios at a concert while the band was playing a sexually-related song. According to sources, however, all participants in the video had to show proof that they were over eighteen years old and sign a release form further reaffirming their age. Band attorney Skip Miller is quoted in several news stories as stating, "This woman filled out a release form with false information. And once it was determined this woman was underage, the video was removed." ^[6]

On April 15, 2008, Buckcherry announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's Crüe Fest, along with Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M., and Trapt.^[7] The tour began July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida.^[8]

On September 16, 2008, the band released their fourth album, Black Butterfly, which debuted at number 8 on the top 200 charts. It was the number one rock album that week. That year, Josh Todd was featured on the album This War Is Ours by Escape the Fate. He sang co-lead vocals in the song "10 Miles Wide" and backing vocals on "Harder Than You Know". In 2009, he was featured in the music video for "10 Miles Wide".

In May 2009, KISS announced that Buckcherry would be the opening band in their 2009/10 US and Canadian tour. On July 30, Buckcherry was featured in the Kerrang! Week Of Rock Tour with The 69 Eyes and Dear Superstar at the HMV Forum in London. Other bands in the Week Of Rock included Limp Bizkit, Youmeatsix, and Lacuna Coil. DragonForce was also supposed to play during the Week Of Rock, but pulled out.

On September 29, 2009, Buckcherry released their first live album, Live & Loud 2009, which they played some of their biggest songs such as "Sorry", "Lit Up", "Crazy Bitch", and much more. The album was recorded in May 2009 during their Canadian tour in Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat, and Regina.

All Night Long and Confessions: 2010–present

It was announced on February 22, 2010 that Buckcherry would be a part of Rocklahoma 2010 in Pryor, Oklahoma.

Bassist Jimmy Ashhurst is one of the characters in the book Sex Tips from Rock Stars by Paul Miles, published by Omnibus Press in July 2010.^[9]

Buckcherry released their fifth studio album, titled All Night Long, on August 3, 2010.^[10] The album was mixed by Mike Fraser. The first single from the album, "All Night Long", was originally going to be released to rock radio on May 3, but was pushed back to May 24.^[11] It was released as a free download to all fans who posted a pre-defined "tweet" on Twitter or a similar message on Facebook on May 4. The album has debuted at No. 10 on the Top Billboard Top 200 Album chart and was the No. 1 Rock debut. The single has just broken in to the Top 10 of the Mainstream Rock radio chart, landing at No. 9.

The band released the holiday themed single "Christmas is Here" as a digital download on November 30, 2010.

From January 19 to March 18, 2011, Buckcherry toured with Hellyeah and All That Remains on the Jägermeister Music Tour.

As of June 2011, according to Keith Nelson, the band were already writing new material for their next album.^[12]

The band contributed the song, "Wherever I Go," for the Avengers Assemble soundtrack.^{[citation needed]}

Buckcherry's sixth album, Confessions, is set to be released 19 February 2013.^[13][14] The band is also planning on releasing a short film that ties in with the album.^[13] The first single from Confessions, "Gluttony", was made available for streaming on 7 December 2012.^[13]

On October 16 2013, the band announced the departure of bassist Jimmy Ashhurst. Kelly LeMieux will be filling in for the remainder of the band's 2013 live dates.

BitTorrent leak controversy

On July 2, 2008, the first single from the Black Butterfly album Too Drunk... was leaked through BitTorrent. Shortly after the track was leaked, the band issued a press release and blamed pirates for the leak saying "Honestly, we hate it when this shit happens, because we want our FANS to have any new songs first."

However, this claim was investigated by the site TorrentFreak. The IP address that was seeding the track had only uploaded one torrent, the track in question. Using WikiScanner they found out that the IP address matched the address of the party responsible for a recent alteration to the Buckcherry Wikipedia entry which added band manager Josh Klemme's name. After emailing Klemme with their findings, they found that his IP address was the same as the torrent uploader. This led TorrentFreak to the conclusion that the song had been leaked intentionally for publicity purposes.^[15]

Band members

Current members

• Josh Todd – lead vocals, occasional guitar, piano (1995–2002, 2005–present)
• Keith Nelson – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1995–2002, 2005–present)
• Stevie D. – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (2005–present)
• Xavier Muriel – drums, percussion (2005–present)

Touring members

• Kelly LeMieux – bass guitar, backing vocals (2013–present)

Former members

• Jonathan Brightman – bass guitar, backing vocals (1995–2001)
• Devon Glenn – drums, percussion (1995–2002)
• Yogi Lonich – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1999–2001)
• Josh Fleeger – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001–2002)
• Dave Markasky – bass guitar, backing vocals (2001–2002)
• Matt Lawrence – drums, percussion (2002)
• Jimmy "Two Fingers" Ashhurst – bass guitar, backing vocals (2005–2013)

Timeline

Discography

• Buckcherry (1999)
• Time Bomb (2001)
• 15 (2006)
• Black Butterfly (2008)
• All Night Long (2010)
• Confessions (2013)

References

External links

• Official website
• Keith Nelson Pittsburgh Music History Profile