Mark Lanegan
Encyclopedia
Mark Lanegan is an American rock
musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge
group Screaming Trees
with Gary Lee Conner
, Van Conner
and Mark Pickerel
. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career. Besides Screaming Trees, Lanegan also found moderate success and good recognition from his solo projects (which included collaborations with Kurt Cobain
) and also joining, for a time, hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age
giving contributions on the critically and commercially successful albums Rated R
, Songs for the Deaf
, Lullabies to Paralyze
and Era Vulgaris.
The Screaming Trees eventually disbanded in 2000 and although Lanegan became a permanent member of Queens of the Stone Age
for a period he continued to collaborate on tracks with other artists such as Melissa Auf der Maur
, Martina Topley Bird, Creature with the Atom Brain and recently on Black River by the electronic outfit, Bomb the Bass
. Since leaving the Queens of the Stone Age in 2005, Lanegan has worked with fellow Gutter Twin Greg Dulli
's Twilight Singers as well as collaborating with Soulsavers
and former Belle and Sebastian singer and cellist Isobel Campbell
(on three albums). His latest solo studio release was Bubblegum released in 2004. He served as co-lead singer of the alternative rock band The Gutter Twins
along with Greg Dulli
, a collaboration which began in 2003 and released their debut Saturnalia
on Sub Pop in March 2008.
. It is known that he came from a 'dysfunctional' family that he tried to avoid, and was heavily into drugs by the age of 18, having already been arrested and sentenced to one year's imprisonment for drug-related crimes. He managed to get out of jail by taking a year-long rehab course. Around this time he met and befriended Van Conner
with whom he would eventually form the Screaming Trees
. At this point his relationship with the Conner brothers was restricted to talking about music and working for their parents' electronics hardware store.
, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden
, and Nirvana
, Screaming Trees
were part of Seattle's emerging grunge
scene in the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1985 by Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner
, bassist Van Conner
and Mark Pickerel
. Mark Pickerel
would later be replaced with Barrett Martin
. Lanegan said "I was such a shitty drummer that they made me sing." The band signed to Sub Pop
, releasing the Other Worlds EP
in 1985 (Originally available only in a cassette format
, the album was re-released on CD and LP by SST Records
in 1987). Though the band was being courted by major labels, in 1985 they signed to Velvetone records to release their debut album, Clairvoyance. Musically the album is a combination of psychedelic music
and hard rock
, while it bears many similarities to early grunge.
In 1987, the band released their second effort, and their first for SST Records, Even If and Especially When. After the release of the album in 1987 the band began working on the American indie circuit, playing shows across the US. Their follow up album was Invisible Lantern
released in 1988. Buzz Factory
was the fourth full-length album by Screaming Trees and their final record released through SST released in 1989.
In 1991, the band released their fifth effort, and their first for a major label. Uncle Anesthesia
was released in 1991 and was produced by Soundgarden
vocalist Chris Cornell
. Uncle Anesthesia included the single "Bed of Roses", which gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations. The song peaked at number 23 on the modern rock tracks
and was the first Screaming Trees release to chart. Barrett Martin
replaced previous drummer Pickerel and the new line up recorded Sweet Oblivion
in 1992.
Sweet Oblivion
was the band's breakout album and included the singles "Nearly Lost You
", "Dollar Bill", "Butterfly", and "Shadow of the Season". The two first singles gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations, while the video for "Nearly Lost You" became an MTV and alternative radio hit in the fall of 1992, thanks to the momentum of the Singles soundtrack. "Nearly Lost You" peaked at number 5 on the Modern Rock Tracks and number 50 in the United Kingdom and was the first single to chart outside the United States. Sweet Oblivion sold a total of 300,000 copies in the United States. Although the Screaming Trees were viewed as one of the finest bands on the Seattle scene, they never drew the commercial attention that Alice in Chains
, Nirvana
, Pearl Jam
and Soundgarden
had garnered.
The band's final album (recorded after in-fighting and uncertainty over the quality of the music the band was recording had brought about a hiatus), Dust
was released in 1996. The album spawned several singles, including "All I Know", and "Dying Days" and peaked at number 134 on the Billboard 200
and number 39 on the Canadian album chart
which was the first Screaming Trees album to chart outside the United States. Despite consistently favorable reviews, the album did not match the commercial success of Sweet Oblivion. Following the Dust tour in the United States, Screaming Trees took another hiatus for Lanegan to begin his work on his third solo album, Scraps at Midnight
. The band headed back into the studio in 1999 and recorded several demos and shopped them around to labels, but no label was willing to take them on. The band played a few surprise shows in early 2000 and following a concert to celebrate the opening of Seattle's Experience Music Project
, the band surprisingly announced their official breakup.
via label
Sub Pop
(which at the time was home to friends Nirvana as well as Soundgarden and The Afghan Whigs
). Lanegan had intimated that the album came around following a Leadbelly project he was working on with Mark Pickerel, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The project was short lived and eventually other musicians became involved in the evolution to the debut solo record. From the Leadbelly
sessions a version of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" appeared on The Winding Sheet ("Ain't It a Shame," is available on the Nirvana box set With the Lights Out
.) Cobain also supplied backing vocals on "Down in the Dark" on Lanegan's debut. The majority of the album was recorded with Pickerel on drums, Mike Johnson
(who would later go on to play bass with Dinosaur Jr
) on guitar, Steve Fisk
on piano and organ, and Jack Endino
on bass.
The second record, 1994's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
, was a far more cohesive recording, with such ethereal songs as "The River Rise," "Kingdoms of Rain," "Riding the Nightingale" and "Beggar's Blues." Taking nearly three years to make, the album came close to not seeing the light of day as Lanegan was set to throw the master tapes in a pond outside of the recording studio, only to be stopped by Producer Jack Endino
at the last moment. ("Kingdoms of Rain" was re-recorded on the collaboration album with "Soulsavers
" in 2007 and released as a single).
In 1995, Lanegan appeared on the album Above by Mad Season
. The project was fronted by friend Layne Staley
(Alice in Chains
) and was formed in late 1994 by Staley, Mike McCready
of Pearl Jam
, Barrett Martin
of Screaming Trees
and John Baker Saunders
of The Walkabouts
. Lanegan appeared on "Long Gone Day" and "I'm Above". In 1998, Scraps at Midnight
was released. The album was recorded the previous winter at Joshua Tree
, California and produced by long-time friend and collaborator Mike Johnson
.
The fourth studio album was released in 1999. The album began life as B-Sides for singles from Scraps at Midnight (two tracks from the sessions appear on the single Hotel). Liking the way the sessions were shaping up, a few more were added and the recording was entitled I'll Take Care of You
. The album features covers of songs by prominent folk
, R&B and punk
artists such as Tim Hardin
, Booker T. and the MGs and friend Jeffrey Lee Pierce
, as well as country
icon Buck Owens
. Also in 1999, Lanegan participated in the tribute album
for Moby Grape
co-founder, Skip Spence
, who was terminally ill.
In 2001, he released his fifth studio album, Field Songs
. The album featured friend Duff McKagan
, as well as major contributions from former Soundgarden
bassist, Ben Shepherd
. 2003 saw him appear on Greg Dulli
's The Twilight Singers
record Blackberry Belle
, sharing lead vocal duties on the epic closing track, "Number Nine". This would be the first in many collaborations with Dulli and The Twilight Singers.
On his latest solo album, Bubblegum (2004), Lanegan was joined by a cadre of prominent artists, including P. J. Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri
of Queens of the Stone Age
, Greg Dulli
of The Afghan Whigs
and Twilight Singers, Dean Ween
of Ween
, and Duff McKagan
and Izzy Stradlin
, previously of Guns N' Roses
. Also appearing on Bubblegum is Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler now in We Fell to Earth
. The favorably reviewed album is his most commercially successful to date, reaching number 39 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Some would assume this is due to the appearance of several prominent musical figures, although the album did receive glowing review by critics.
album was on Rated R
. Lanegan sang lead vocals on "In the Fade", background vocals on "Leg of Lamb", "Autopilot" and "I Think I Lost My Headache". Rated R became a commercial success and became the first Queens of the Stone Age album to chart.
Shortly after the release of Field Songs
, Lanegan became a full-time member of Queens of the Stone Age. Lanegan appeared on the 2002 release entitled Songs for the Deaf
, once again singing lead on the tracks "Song for the Dead," "Hangin' Tree," and "God Is in the Radio". The album became the band's big breakthrough and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200
and was certified gold by the RIAA. He also toured in support for the album over the next two years. Mark toured full-time as a third vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age for support of Songs for the Deaf. Joining his friend Joshua Homme
, who supported the Screaming Trees as their touring guitarist in 1996. The album received two Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy
nominations for singles "No One Knows
" (2003), and "Go with the Flow
" (2004).
In 2005, Lanegan released his last album with Queens of the Stone Age entitled Lullabies to Paralyze
where he sang lead vocals on "This Lullaby
". The album was delayed during 2004 because of some changes to the line-up: bassist Nick Oliveri
was fired and on-off vocalist Mark Lanegan went on tour to support Bubblegum. Lanegan would later appear for the support of the album. Lanegan left the tour for a while, citing exhaustion, but would return to finish the tour with the band.
Lanegan told Christina Fuoco of Live Daily "My relationship with these guys is one of the most satisfying that I've had". "It's great to play with, essentially, my best friends." When he was asked about the difference between Screaming Trees
and Queens of the Stone Age he said "It's all rock 'n' roll to me. A band is a band. They're really not that radically different. It's all rock music." Lanegan has continued to work with Queens of the Stone Age even after leaving the band. In 2007, he appeared on their album, Era Vulgaris
, contributing background vocals to the track "River in the Road".
with former Belle & Sebastian
vocalist Isobel Campbell
, titled Time Is Just the Same
. They would later release a single entitled "Ramblin' Man
" for their collaboration album Ballad of the Broken Seas
. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in Glasgow
, with Lanegan adding vocals in Los Angeles. The record was well-received by critics who likened the duo to Nick Cave
and Kylie Minogue
.
In addition to providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the track "Revolver" with Campbell. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize. Lanegan and Campbell played four UK concerts in January 2007, with the London date being moved to a larger venue as a result of high demand for tickets. When making the decision to make a follow-up to Ballad of the Broken Seas, Campbell stated:
After a concert with Lanegan in January 2007, Campbell asked Lanegan if he would consider making a new album, Lanegan replied: "in a heartbeat". This time Lanegan flew to Glasgow
to record the new album at the end of March for nine days to record the songs Campbell had written. After working with Lanegan Campbell stated: "It is his classic, effortless American voice that I love". Campbell also stated that "I think I was playing about with that a lot so there’s a few of what Mark would call raunchy songs and a few ballads too". The album, Sunday at Devil Dirt
, was released on May 5, 2008 with the track "Who Built the Road" being the only single released from it.
A third collaborative album with Campbell was released on August 16, 2010 entitled Hawk
. The pair will tour to promote the album, including a set at All Tomorrow's Parties
, 10–12 December 2010 (Bowlie 2) curated by Belle & Sebastian
.
The Gutter Twins
is the long awaited collaboration between Mark Lanegan and former Afghan Whigs/current Twilight Singers vocalist Greg Dulli
. Working on a collaborative album since at least 2003, the pair first played as The Gutter Twins in Rome in September, 2005.
Saturnalia
was released on March 4, 2008 on Sub Pop
, a label both Dulli and Lanegan have worked with before. The duo's first tour commenced on February 14, 2008 in New York City and continued in March and April throughout Europe and the United States.
The album was a big hit and Blast Magazine's Liz Raftery ended up praising the album calling it "an audial descent into the dark emotions that often lurk beneath the surface." The albums highest position was at number 7 in Belgium. The album also peaked at number 117 on the Billboard 200
. That means that Saturnalia is the first album since Screaming Trees
' Dust
that has charted at the Billboard 200 with Mark as a permanent band member. On September 2, 2008, The Gutter Twins released an EP called "Adorata" exclusively on iTunes. Adorata contains 8 tracks, most of them are covers, but also two Gutter Twins-songs that never made it to the album.
(Blackberry Belle
, She Loves You
and A Stitch in Time
). In 2006, Lanegan toured with the band in Europe and Israel
, which later expanded to include the United States. In 2008, Lanegan collaborated with Tim Simenon
on a track entitled "Black River" which appeared on Simenon's fourth album under his Bomb the Bass
moniker, Future Chaos.
In 2007, English electronica
duo Soulsavers
' album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
featured Lanegan on 8 out of 10 album tracks. As well as appearing as vocalist, the tracks "Revival", "Ghosts of You and Me", "Paper Money" and "Jesus of Nothing" are credited as written by Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers. The album also features a re-working of "Kingdoms of Rain", which was initially released on Lanegan's second solo album, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
. "Revival" and "Kingdoms of Rain" were released as singles from the album. Soulsavers recorded the tracks in England in 2005 and 2006, with Lanegan recording the vocal parts at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.
In 2009, Soulsavers again enlisted Lanegan with him contributing vocals for several tracks on their third studio album Broken
. This led to a significant run of touring in support of the album, beginning on September 6, in Portland
, Oregon
. Following the tour of the United States, Lanegan continued to perform with them throughout their extensive run of European shows. These varied between headline gigs and slots in support of Depeche Mode
. Having completed touring duties for Soulsavers, Lanegan announced a solo European tour. Shows focused specifically on his solo back catalogue, having not done so since touring finished in support of Bubblegum.
Also in 2009, Lanegan followed in Josh Homme's footsteps in collaborating with UNKLE
, the British electronic cct masterminded by James Lavelle
. He contributed his vocals to "Another Night Out", the final track of the album Where Did the Night Fall
(released in May 2010). The album was UNKLE's fifth regular studio album.
On August 12, 2010, Mark Lanegan re-joined Queens of The Stone Age on stage at the Nokia Club in Los Angeles, where he sang four encore songs with the band. The concert was put together to raise funds for Eagles of Death Metal
bassist Brian O'Connor
, who was diagnosed with cancer a few months prior to the event.
In 2011, Lanegan's music was featured in a trailer for the video game Rage
and the soundtrack for the film The Hangover Part II. Lanegan has started work on his next solo album, Blues Funeral. due in February 2012. Josh Homme, Alain Johannes
, and Martyn LeNoble
have been reported as contributors to Lanegan's upcoming album.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
musician and songwriter. Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s, forming the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
group Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
with Gary Lee Conner
Gary Lee Conner
Gary Lee Conner was the lead guitarist for rock act Screaming Trees, along with his brother Van, who was the band's bassist. Conner began his career with Screaming Trees in 1985 which lasted until their disbanding in 2000...
, Van Conner
Van Conner
Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984 he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. On the 25 June 2000 Screaming Trees announced their official breakup...
and Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel is best known as the original drummer for the Screaming Trees, a rock group from Ellensburg, WA, that formed in 1985. Other members of the band included the versatile singer Mark Lanegan and the Conner brothers...
. During his time in the band Lanegan would start a low-key solo career. Besides Screaming Trees, Lanegan also found moderate success and good recognition from his solo projects (which included collaborations with Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
) and also joining, for a time, hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
giving contributions on the critically and commercially successful albums Rated R
Rated R (Queens of the Stone Age album)
Rated R is the second studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. It was released on June 6, 2000 through Interscope Records. Rated R was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It peaked at number 16 on the Top Heatseekers and reached high...
, Songs for the Deaf
Songs for the Deaf
-Production and release:In September 2002, Josh Homme explained the band's goals with the release of the album:In the same month, Nick Oliveri explained the band's aims in an interview with retail company HMV:...
, Lullabies to Paralyze
Lullabies to Paralyze
Lullabies to Paralyze is the fourth studio album by hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 21, 2005. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 97,000 copies in America during its first week of release, eventually topping over 342,000 copies as of March, 2007...
and Era Vulgaris.
The Screaming Trees eventually disbanded in 2000 and although Lanegan became a permanent member of Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
for a period he continued to collaborate on tracks with other artists such as Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
, Martina Topley Bird, Creature with the Atom Brain and recently on Black River by the electronic outfit, Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as electronic or dance....
. Since leaving the Queens of the Stone Age in 2005, Lanegan has worked with fellow Gutter Twin Greg Dulli
Greg Dulli
-Biography:Greg Dulli was born and brought up in the working-class city of Hamilton, Ohio. Although he was raised a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to public attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D.C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky,...
's Twilight Singers as well as collaborating with Soulsavers
Soulsavers
Soulsavers are an English production and remix team composed of Rich Machin and Ian Glover. The Soulsavers' downtempo electronica sound incorporates influences of rock, gospel, soul, and country...
and former Belle and Sebastian singer and cellist Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer, cellist and composer in the indie and rock genres.-History:Campbell was a member of Belle & Sebastian from their formation in Glasgow in 1996 until 2002, when she departed the band for personal reasons. She played cello and keyboards with the band, and sang...
(on three albums). His latest solo studio release was Bubblegum released in 2004. He served as co-lead singer of the alternative rock band The Gutter Twins
The Gutter Twins
The Gutter Twins is a musical collaboration between rock musicians Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. Dulli and Lanegan have regularly contributed to each other's projects since 2000, most notably in Dulli's Twilight Singers; of the duo's origins, Dulli said "I think Mark told a journalist we were doing...
along with Greg Dulli
Greg Dulli
-Biography:Greg Dulli was born and brought up in the working-class city of Hamilton, Ohio. Although he was raised a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to public attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D.C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky,...
, a collaboration which began in 2003 and released their debut Saturnalia
Saturnalia (album)
Saturnalia is the first studio album by The Gutter Twins, a collaboration between Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. The album, which was started as far back as 2003, was released on March 4, 2008. Prior to the album's release, the duo began posting songs on their official MySpace page...
on Sub Pop in March 2008.
Early life
In 1996, during an interview for Pacific Northwest periodical "The Rocket", he said that he drove a combineCombine harvester
The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...
. It is known that he came from a 'dysfunctional' family that he tried to avoid, and was heavily into drugs by the age of 18, having already been arrested and sentenced to one year's imprisonment for drug-related crimes. He managed to get out of jail by taking a year-long rehab course. Around this time he met and befriended Van Conner
Van Conner
Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984 he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. On the 25 June 2000 Screaming Trees announced their official breakup...
with whom he would eventually form the Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
. At this point his relationship with the Conner brothers was restricted to talking about music and working for their parents' electronics hardware store.
Screaming Trees (1985–2000)
Along with Alice in ChainsAlice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, and Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
were part of Seattle's emerging grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
scene in the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1985 by Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner
Gary Lee Conner
Gary Lee Conner was the lead guitarist for rock act Screaming Trees, along with his brother Van, who was the band's bassist. Conner began his career with Screaming Trees in 1985 which lasted until their disbanding in 2000...
, bassist Van Conner
Van Conner
Van Conner is an American rock musician. In 1984 he co-founded the band Screaming Trees with his brother Gary Lee Conner and close friends Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. On the 25 June 2000 Screaming Trees announced their official breakup...
and Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel is best known as the original drummer for the Screaming Trees, a rock group from Ellensburg, WA, that formed in 1985. Other members of the band included the versatile singer Mark Lanegan and the Conner brothers...
. Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel
Mark Pickerel is best known as the original drummer for the Screaming Trees, a rock group from Ellensburg, WA, that formed in 1985. Other members of the band included the versatile singer Mark Lanegan and the Conner brothers...
would later be replaced with Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
. Lanegan said "I was such a shitty drummer that they made me sing." The band signed to Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
, releasing the Other Worlds EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1985 (Originally available only in a cassette format
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, the album was re-released on CD and LP by SST Records
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
in 1987). Though the band was being courted by major labels, in 1985 they signed to Velvetone records to release their debut album, Clairvoyance. Musically the album is a combination of psychedelic music
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
and hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, while it bears many similarities to early grunge.
In 1987, the band released their second effort, and their first for SST Records, Even If and Especially When. After the release of the album in 1987 the band began working on the American indie circuit, playing shows across the US. Their follow up album was Invisible Lantern
Invisible Lantern
Invisible Lantern is the third full-length album by Seattle grunge band Screaming Trees, released in 1988.-Track listing:# "Ivy" – 3:16# "Walk Through to This Side" – 2:32# "Lines & Circles" – 3:45# "She Knows" – 2:15# "Shadow Song" – 4:15...
released in 1988. Buzz Factory
Buzz Factory
Buzz Factory was the 4th full length album by Seattle band Screaming Trees and their final record released through SST Records released in 1989. The LP was also available on translucent purple vinyl...
was the fourth full-length album by Screaming Trees and their final record released through SST released in 1989.
In 1991, the band released their fifth effort, and their first for a major label. Uncle Anesthesia
Uncle Anesthesia
Uncle Anesthesia is the Screaming Trees' fifth album and first full-length album release on Epic Records, released on January 29, 1991. It includes two of the four tracks from the band's previous Epic release, 1990's Something About Today EP, including the song that would give the LP its title...
was released in 1991 and was produced by Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
vocalist Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
. Uncle Anesthesia included the single "Bed of Roses", which gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations. The song peaked at number 23 on the modern rock tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
and was the first Screaming Trees release to chart. Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
replaced previous drummer Pickerel and the new line up recorded Sweet Oblivion
Sweet Oblivion
Sweet Oblivion is Screaming Trees' 6th full length album that was released on September 8, 1992. The recording was the band's highest landmark in terms of album sales, and was the closest they would come to ever achieving mainstream success...
in 1992.
Sweet Oblivion
Sweet Oblivion
Sweet Oblivion is Screaming Trees' 6th full length album that was released on September 8, 1992. The recording was the band's highest landmark in terms of album sales, and was the closest they would come to ever achieving mainstream success...
was the band's breakout album and included the singles "Nearly Lost You
Nearly Lost You
Nearly Lost You is the second greatest hits compilation of the Screaming Trees, released in 2001.-Track listing:# "Halo of Ashes" - 4:05# "Nearly Lost You" - 4:07# "Butterfly" - 3:22# "Alice Said" - 4:13...
", "Dollar Bill", "Butterfly", and "Shadow of the Season". The two first singles gained considerable airtime on alternative rock radio stations, while the video for "Nearly Lost You" became an MTV and alternative radio hit in the fall of 1992, thanks to the momentum of the Singles soundtrack. "Nearly Lost You" peaked at number 5 on the Modern Rock Tracks and number 50 in the United Kingdom and was the first single to chart outside the United States. Sweet Oblivion sold a total of 300,000 copies in the United States. Although the Screaming Trees were viewed as one of the finest bands on the Seattle scene, they never drew the commercial attention that Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
and Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
had garnered.
The band's final album (recorded after in-fighting and uncertainty over the quality of the music the band was recording had brought about a hiatus), Dust
Dust (Screaming Trees album)
Dust is the seventh and final album by the Screaming Trees, released on June 25, 1996.After an aborted attempt at recording a followup to Sweet Oblivion with producer Don Fleming, the band hired producer George Drakoulias to man the controls for what eventually turned out to be their last album...
was released in 1996. The album spawned several singles, including "All I Know", and "Dying Days" and peaked at number 134 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and number 39 on the Canadian album chart
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
which was the first Screaming Trees album to chart outside the United States. Despite consistently favorable reviews, the album did not match the commercial success of Sweet Oblivion. Following the Dust tour in the United States, Screaming Trees took another hiatus for Lanegan to begin his work on his third solo album, Scraps at Midnight
Scraps at Midnight
Scraps at Midnight is the third solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. It was produced by Mark Lanegan and longtime collaborator Mike Johnson....
. The band headed back into the studio in 1999 and recorded several demos and shopped them around to labels, but no label was willing to take them on. The band played a few surprise shows in early 2000 and following a concert to celebrate the opening of Seattle's Experience Music Project
Experience Music Project
The EMP Museum is a museum dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction located in Seattle, Washington...
, the band surprisingly announced their official breakup.
Solo work and other projects
In 1990, Lanegan released his first solo album, The Winding SheetThe Winding Sheet
The Winding Sheet is an album by American musician Mark Lanegan that was released in 1990. It was Lanegan's first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000...
via label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
(which at the time was home to friends Nirvana as well as Soundgarden and The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. PopMatters described the band as "beyond simple genre categorization, and though lauded by the music press, never got their just due."-Band history:...
). Lanegan had intimated that the album came around following a Leadbelly project he was working on with Mark Pickerel, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The project was short lived and eventually other musicians became involved in the evolution to the debut solo record. From the Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....
sessions a version of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" appeared on The Winding Sheet ("Ain't It a Shame," is available on the Nirvana box set With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out
With the Lights Out is a box set, containing three CDs and one DVD, of previously rare or unreleased material, including b-sides, demos, rough rehearsal recordings and live recordings, from the American rock band Nirvana. It was released in November 2004...
.) Cobain also supplied backing vocals on "Down in the Dark" on Lanegan's debut. The majority of the album was recorded with Pickerel on drums, Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson (bassist)
Mike Johnson is an American songwriter and bass guitarist. He was born in Grants Pass, Oregon and played in Eugene, Oregon punk band Snakepit from 1984-1989. He replaced Lou Barlow in Dinosaur Jr in 1991 and played with the band live and on its recordings from 1991 to 1998. Concurrently he...
(who would later go on to play bass with Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr
Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005...
) on guitar, Steve Fisk
Steve Fisk
Steve Fisk is a Washington-based audio engineer, record producer and musician.Fisk joined the instrumental rock band Pell Mell in 1982. With vocalist Shawn Smith, he formed Pigeonhed, which released its first album in 1993....
on piano and organ, and Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
on bass.
The second record, 1994's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost is the second solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. The album builds upon the roots music foundation that Lanegan had established with his debut The Winding Sheet...
, was a far more cohesive recording, with such ethereal songs as "The River Rise," "Kingdoms of Rain," "Riding the Nightingale" and "Beggar's Blues." Taking nearly three years to make, the album came close to not seeing the light of day as Lanegan was set to throw the master tapes in a pond outside of the recording studio, only to be stopped by Producer Jack Endino
Jack Endino
Jack Endino is a producer and musician based in Seattle. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands such as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana...
at the last moment. ("Kingdoms of Rain" was re-recorded on the collaboration album with "Soulsavers
Soulsavers
Soulsavers are an English production and remix team composed of Rich Machin and Ian Glover. The Soulsavers' downtempo electronica sound incorporates influences of rock, gospel, soul, and country...
" in 2007 and released as a single).
In 1995, Lanegan appeared on the album Above by Mad Season
Mad Season
Mad Season was an American rock supergroup formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1994 by members of three popular Seattle-based bands: Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees. Mad Season only released one album, Above, and is best known for the single "River of Deceit"...
. The project was fronted by friend Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...
(Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
) and was formed in late 1994 by Staley, Mike McCready
Mike McCready
Michael David McCready is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the American rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Dave Krusen, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of Pearl Jam...
of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin
Barrett Martin , is an American drummer, upright bassist, composer, producer, writer, and Zen artist. He was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington groups Skin Yard and Screaming Trees, as well as the supergroups Mad Season and Tuatara...
of Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
and John Baker Saunders
John Baker Saunders
John Baker Saunders was a founding member and bassist for the American grunge rock supergroup Mad Season, as well as a member of The Walkabouts. He was born in Montgomery, Alabama and later attended Providence College...
of The Walkabouts
The Walkabouts
The Walkabouts is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1984. The core members are vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman...
. Lanegan appeared on "Long Gone Day" and "I'm Above". In 1998, Scraps at Midnight
Scraps at Midnight
Scraps at Midnight is the third solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. It was produced by Mark Lanegan and longtime collaborator Mike Johnson....
was released. The album was recorded the previous winter at Joshua Tree
Joshua Tree, California
Joshua Tree is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 7,414 at the 2010 census, up from 4,207 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Joshua Tree is located in the Mojave Desert at ....
, California and produced by long-time friend and collaborator Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson (bassist)
Mike Johnson is an American songwriter and bass guitarist. He was born in Grants Pass, Oregon and played in Eugene, Oregon punk band Snakepit from 1984-1989. He replaced Lou Barlow in Dinosaur Jr in 1991 and played with the band live and on its recordings from 1991 to 1998. Concurrently he...
.
The fourth studio album was released in 1999. The album began life as B-Sides for singles from Scraps at Midnight (two tracks from the sessions appear on the single Hotel). Liking the way the sessions were shaping up, a few more were added and the recording was entitled I'll Take Care of You
I'll Take Care of You
I'll Take Care of You is the fourth solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. This album consists of cover songs.It features Lanegan's interpretation of songs from a wide variety of songwriters, including Tim Rose, Tim Hardin, Booker T. Jones, and Buck Owens...
. The album features covers of songs by prominent folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, R&B and punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
artists such as Tim Hardin
Tim Hardin
James Timothy "Tim" Hardin was an American folk musician and composer. He wrote the Top 40 hits "If I Were a Carpenter", covered by, among others, Joan Baez, Bobby Darin, Johnny Cash, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Robert Plant, and "Reason to Believe", covered by many, including Rod Stewart, as well...
, Booker T. and the MGs and friend Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the 1980s punk band The Gun Club...
, as well as country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
icon Buck Owens
Buck Owens
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
. Also in 1999, Lanegan participated in the tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
for Moby Grape
Moby Grape
Moby Grape is an American rock group from the 1960s, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting and that collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz together with rock and psychedelic music...
co-founder, Skip Spence
Skip Spence
Alexander Lee "Skip" Spence was a Canadian-born musician and singer-songwriter. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. He released one solo album, 1969's Oar, and then largely withdrew from the music industry...
, who was terminally ill.
In 2001, he released his fifth studio album, Field Songs
Field Songs
Field Songs is an album by Mark Lanegan, released in 2001 on the Beggars Banquet label.The two largest instrumental contributors are Mike Johnson and Ben Shepherd. The album also features Duff McKagan of Velvet Revolver as well as Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler.The album represents a...
. The album featured friend Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, as well as major contributions from former Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
bassist, Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd
Ben Shepherd is an American musician, two-time Grammy Award Winner best known for playing bass in the grunge band Soundgarden from 1990 until the band's 1997 break-up...
. 2003 saw him appear on Greg Dulli
Greg Dulli
-Biography:Greg Dulli was born and brought up in the working-class city of Hamilton, Ohio. Although he was raised a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to public attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D.C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky,...
's The Twilight Singers
The Twilight Singers
The Twilight Singers is an American indie rock band. The group was initially formed as a side project of The Afghan Whigs leader Greg Dulli in 1997...
record Blackberry Belle
Blackberry Belle
Blackberry Belle is the second full-length album released by The Twilight Singers. It was released by One Little Indian Records on October 14, 2003 and features guest appearances by Mathias Schneeberger, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Stanton Moore, Petra Haden and Mark Lanegan...
, sharing lead vocal duties on the epic closing track, "Number Nine". This would be the first in many collaborations with Dulli and The Twilight Singers.
On his latest solo album, Bubblegum (2004), Lanegan was joined by a cadre of prominent artists, including P. J. Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri
Nick Oliveri
Nick Steven Oliveri is an American musician from Palm Desert, California. He plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and is a vocalist...
of Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
, Greg Dulli
Greg Dulli
-Biography:Greg Dulli was born and brought up in the working-class city of Hamilton, Ohio. Although he was raised a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to public attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D.C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky,...
of The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs
The Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. PopMatters described the band as "beyond simple genre categorization, and though lauded by the music press, never got their just due."-Band history:...
and Twilight Singers, Dean Ween
Dean Ween
Dean Ween is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.-Biography:...
of Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
, and Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
and Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
, previously of Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
. Also appearing on Bubblegum is Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler now in We Fell to Earth
We Fell to Earth
We Fell to Earth are an experimental rock band from London, England, consisting of Wendy Rae Fowler and Richard File. They performed their debut live show on 21 April 2009, at London's ICA to a sold out audience. They are represented by William Morris Agency.-Biography:Fowler and File met at Rancho...
. The favorably reviewed album is his most commercially successful to date, reaching number 39 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Some would assume this is due to the appearance of several prominent musical figures, although the album did receive glowing review by critics.
Queens of the Stone Age (2000–2005)
Lanegan's first appearance on a Queens of the Stone AgeQueens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
album was on Rated R
Rated R (Queens of the Stone Age album)
Rated R is the second studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age. It was released on June 6, 2000 through Interscope Records. Rated R was a critical and commercial success and became the band's breakthrough album. It peaked at number 16 on the Top Heatseekers and reached high...
. Lanegan sang lead vocals on "In the Fade", background vocals on "Leg of Lamb", "Autopilot" and "I Think I Lost My Headache". Rated R became a commercial success and became the first Queens of the Stone Age album to chart.
Shortly after the release of Field Songs
Field Songs
Field Songs is an album by Mark Lanegan, released in 2001 on the Beggars Banquet label.The two largest instrumental contributors are Mike Johnson and Ben Shepherd. The album also features Duff McKagan of Velvet Revolver as well as Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler.The album represents a...
, Lanegan became a full-time member of Queens of the Stone Age. Lanegan appeared on the 2002 release entitled Songs for the Deaf
Songs for the Deaf
-Production and release:In September 2002, Josh Homme explained the band's goals with the release of the album:In the same month, Nick Oliveri explained the band's aims in an interview with retail company HMV:...
, once again singing lead on the tracks "Song for the Dead," "Hangin' Tree," and "God Is in the Radio". The album became the band's big breakthrough and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and was certified gold by the RIAA. He also toured in support for the album over the next two years. Mark toured full-time as a third vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age for support of Songs for the Deaf. Joining his friend Joshua Homme
Joshua Homme
Joshua Michael Homme is an American rock musician, and record producer. He was the guitarist and a founding member of the stoner metal band Kyuss, as well as the founding and only continuous member of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age , in which he sings, plays guitar, and serves as the...
, who supported the Screaming Trees as their touring guitarist in 1996. The album received two Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations for singles "No One Knows
No One Knows
"No One Knows" is a song by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age written by band members Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan. It was the first single and second track from their third album, Songs for the Deaf, and was released on November 26, 2002. "No One Knows" was a chart success, becoming the...
" (2003), and "Go with the Flow
Go with the Flow
"Go with the Flow" is a song by Queens of the Stone Age from the album Songs for the Deaf, released as a single in 2003. At the 46th Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance.-Music video:...
" (2004).
In 2005, Lanegan released his last album with Queens of the Stone Age entitled Lullabies to Paralyze
Lullabies to Paralyze
Lullabies to Paralyze is the fourth studio album by hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on March 21, 2005. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, and sold 97,000 copies in America during its first week of release, eventually topping over 342,000 copies as of March, 2007...
where he sang lead vocals on "This Lullaby
This Lullaby
This Lullaby is a young adult novel written by Sarah Dessen.- Plot :Remy is an eighteen year old about to leave for college. Her father, a famous musician, left before she was even born. Her mother is getting married for the fifth time that summer. Consequently, love is something she just doesn't...
". The album was delayed during 2004 because of some changes to the line-up: bassist Nick Oliveri
Nick Oliveri
Nick Steven Oliveri is an American musician from Palm Desert, California. He plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and is a vocalist...
was fired and on-off vocalist Mark Lanegan went on tour to support Bubblegum. Lanegan would later appear for the support of the album. Lanegan left the tour for a while, citing exhaustion, but would return to finish the tour with the band.
Lanegan told Christina Fuoco of Live Daily "My relationship with these guys is one of the most satisfying that I've had". "It's great to play with, essentially, my best friends." When he was asked about the difference between Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
and Queens of the Stone Age he said "It's all rock 'n' roll to me. A band is a band. They're really not that radically different. It's all rock music." Lanegan has continued to work with Queens of the Stone Age even after leaving the band. In 2007, he appeared on their album, Era Vulgaris
Era Vulgaris (album)
Era Vulgaris is the fifth full length studio album by American hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age. The album was completed in early April 2007 and released on June 8, 2007 in some countries, June 11, 2007 in the United Kingdom and June 12, 2007 in the United States...
, contributing background vocals to the track "River in the Road".
Collaboration with Isobel Campbell (2004–2008)
In April 2004, Lanegan released an EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
with former Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...
vocalist Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell
Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer, cellist and composer in the indie and rock genres.-History:Campbell was a member of Belle & Sebastian from their formation in Glasgow in 1996 until 2002, when she departed the band for personal reasons. She played cello and keyboards with the band, and sang...
, titled Time Is Just the Same
Time Is Just the Same
"Time Is Just The Same" is an EP released by former Belle & Sebastian member Isobel Campbell, featuring contributions by Mark Lanegan. The album was released in April 2004.-Track listing:#"Time Is Just The Same"#"Why Does My Head Hurt So?"#"Bordello Queen"...
. They would later release a single entitled "Ramblin' Man
Ramblin' Man (song)
"Ramblin' Man" is a song written in 1951 by Hank Williams. It was released as the B-side to the 1953 #1 hit "Take These Chains from My Heart", as well as to the 1976 re-release of "Why Don't You Love Me"...
" for their collaboration album Ballad of the Broken Seas
Ballad of the Broken Seas
Ballad of the Broken Seas is an album released by Isobel Campbell and the first collaboration between her and Mark Lanegan. It made the shortlist for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize and was one of NME's top one hundred albums of the decade....
. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, with Lanegan adding vocals in Los Angeles. The record was well-received by critics who likened the duo to Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
and Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
.
In addition to providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the track "Revolver" with Campbell. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize. Lanegan and Campbell played four UK concerts in January 2007, with the London date being moved to a larger venue as a result of high demand for tickets. When making the decision to make a follow-up to Ballad of the Broken Seas, Campbell stated:
After a concert with Lanegan in January 2007, Campbell asked Lanegan if he would consider making a new album, Lanegan replied: "in a heartbeat". This time Lanegan flew to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to record the new album at the end of March for nine days to record the songs Campbell had written. After working with Lanegan Campbell stated: "It is his classic, effortless American voice that I love". Campbell also stated that "I think I was playing about with that a lot so there’s a few of what Mark would call raunchy songs and a few ballads too". The album, Sunday at Devil Dirt
Sunday at Devil Dirt
Sunday at Devil Dirt is the second collaborative studio album by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, released May 13, 2008 through V2 Records...
, was released on May 5, 2008 with the track "Who Built the Road" being the only single released from it.
A third collaborative album with Campbell was released on August 16, 2010 entitled Hawk
Hawk (album)
Hawk is the third collaborative studio album by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, released on August 24, 2010. The album also features folk singer Willy Mason, and two songs written by Townes Van Zandt...
. The pair will tour to promote the album, including a set at All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet UndergroundAll Tomorrow's Parties may also refer to:* All Tomorrow's Parties , an annual festival in England...
, 10–12 December 2010 (Bowlie 2) curated by Belle & Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...
.
The Gutter Twins (2003–2009)
The Gutter Twins
The Gutter Twins is a musical collaboration between rock musicians Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. Dulli and Lanegan have regularly contributed to each other's projects since 2000, most notably in Dulli's Twilight Singers; of the duo's origins, Dulli said "I think Mark told a journalist we were doing...
is the long awaited collaboration between Mark Lanegan and former Afghan Whigs/current Twilight Singers vocalist Greg Dulli
Greg Dulli
-Biography:Greg Dulli was born and brought up in the working-class city of Hamilton, Ohio. Although he was raised a Catholic, he is now agnostic. Dulli first came to public attention in the late 1980s with The Afghan Whigs when he joined D.C. transplant bassist John Curley and Louisville, Kentucky,...
. Working on a collaborative album since at least 2003, the pair first played as The Gutter Twins in Rome in September, 2005.
Saturnalia
Saturnalia (album)
Saturnalia is the first studio album by The Gutter Twins, a collaboration between Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan. The album, which was started as far back as 2003, was released on March 4, 2008. Prior to the album's release, the duo began posting songs on their official MySpace page...
was released on March 4, 2008 on Sub Pop
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
, a label both Dulli and Lanegan have worked with before. The duo's first tour commenced on February 14, 2008 in New York City and continued in March and April throughout Europe and the United States.
The album was a big hit and Blast Magazine's Liz Raftery ended up praising the album calling it "an audial descent into the dark emotions that often lurk beneath the surface." The albums highest position was at number 7 in Belgium. The album also peaked at number 117 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. That means that Saturnalia is the first album since Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees
Screaming Trees was an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel had been replaced by Barrett Martin by the time the band reached its most successful period...
' Dust
Dust (Screaming Trees album)
Dust is the seventh and final album by the Screaming Trees, released on June 25, 1996.After an aborted attempt at recording a followup to Sweet Oblivion with producer Don Fleming, the band hired producer George Drakoulias to man the controls for what eventually turned out to be their last album...
that has charted at the Billboard 200 with Mark as a permanent band member. On September 2, 2008, The Gutter Twins released an EP called "Adorata" exclusively on iTunes. Adorata contains 8 tracks, most of them are covers, but also two Gutter Twins-songs that never made it to the album.
Collaborations (2006–present)
Lanegan has appeared on three releases with The Twilight SingersThe Twilight Singers
The Twilight Singers is an American indie rock band. The group was initially formed as a side project of The Afghan Whigs leader Greg Dulli in 1997...
(Blackberry Belle
Blackberry Belle
Blackberry Belle is the second full-length album released by The Twilight Singers. It was released by One Little Indian Records on October 14, 2003 and features guest appearances by Mathias Schneeberger, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Stanton Moore, Petra Haden and Mark Lanegan...
, She Loves You
She Loves You (Twilight Singers album)
She Loves You is the third full length album by The Twilight Singers and their first cover album. It contains covers from various kinds of music, ranging from Jazz and Blues to Soul and R&B to Rock and Trip hop, and by artists John Coltrane, Skip James, Marvin Gaye, Mary J...
and A Stitch in Time
A Stitch in Time (EP)
A Stitch in Time is the second EP released by The Twilight Singers. The five song EP was first released on iTunes on October 10, 2006. Hard copies were then released in the UK on December 4, 2006 and in the US on January 23, 2007. A Stitch in Time features guest appearances by Mark Lanegan and...
). In 2006, Lanegan toured with the band in Europe and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, which later expanded to include the United States. In 2008, Lanegan collaborated with Tim Simenon
Tim Simenon
Tim Simenon is a musician, composer, record producer, and label boss, most famous for his work as Bomb the Bass.-Debut:Tim Simenon's music career began aproper in the mid 1980s, DJing at London's Wag Club...
on a track entitled "Black River" which appeared on Simenon's fourth album under his Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass
Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as electronic or dance....
moniker, Future Chaos.
In 2007, English electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
duo Soulsavers
Soulsavers
Soulsavers are an English production and remix team composed of Rich Machin and Ian Glover. The Soulsavers' downtempo electronica sound incorporates influences of rock, gospel, soul, and country...
' album It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land is the second studio album by English production team Soulsavers, released on April 2, 2007 in the UK and October 16, 2007 in the US. The album features American singer Mark Lanegan as primary vocalist...
featured Lanegan on 8 out of 10 album tracks. As well as appearing as vocalist, the tracks "Revival", "Ghosts of You and Me", "Paper Money" and "Jesus of Nothing" are credited as written by Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers. The album also features a re-working of "Kingdoms of Rain", which was initially released on Lanegan's second solo album, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost is the second solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. The album builds upon the roots music foundation that Lanegan had established with his debut The Winding Sheet...
. "Revival" and "Kingdoms of Rain" were released as singles from the album. Soulsavers recorded the tracks in England in 2005 and 2006, with Lanegan recording the vocal parts at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.
In 2009, Soulsavers again enlisted Lanegan with him contributing vocals for several tracks on their third studio album Broken
Broken (Soulsavers album)
Broken is the third full-length studio album from electronica production duo Soulsavers, released by V2 Records in the UK on August 17, 2009, and released by Columbia Records in the US in September as a digital download...
. This led to a significant run of touring in support of the album, beginning on September 6, in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Following the tour of the United States, Lanegan continued to perform with them throughout their extensive run of European shows. These varied between headline gigs and slots in support of Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
. Having completed touring duties for Soulsavers, Lanegan announced a solo European tour. Shows focused specifically on his solo back catalogue, having not done so since touring finished in support of Bubblegum.
Also in 2009, Lanegan followed in Josh Homme's footsteps in collaborating with UNKLE
UNKLE
Unkle are a British musical outfit founded in 1994 by school friends James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Originally categorized as trip-hop, the group once included producer DJ Shadow and have employed a variety of guest artists and producers.-First incarnation :Lavelle and Goldsworthy were joined...
, the British electronic cct masterminded by James Lavelle
James Lavelle
James Lavelle is a DJ, electronic recording artist and record label boss.-Early years:Born into a family with a strong tradition of music, Lavelle first began by learning the cello with his grandmother in Oxford....
. He contributed his vocals to "Another Night Out", the final track of the album Where Did the Night Fall
Where Did the Night Fall
Where Did the Night Fall is the fifth regular studio album from British electronic music act UNKLE, released on .-Background:As a documentation of the work on the album, on April 13, 2009, James Lavelle, UNKLE's mastermind, started an official "UNKLE Blog"...
(released in May 2010). The album was UNKLE's fifth regular studio album.
On August 12, 2010, Mark Lanegan re-joined Queens of The Stone Age on stage at the Nokia Club in Los Angeles, where he sang four encore songs with the band. The concert was put together to raise funds for Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal
Eagles of Death Metal is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, formed in 1998 by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Despite their band name, Eagles of Death Metal are not a death metal band. Hughes stated that a friend was introducing Josh Homme to the death metal genre...
bassist Brian O'Connor
Brian O'Connor (bassist)
Brian Robert O'Connor is best known for his role as bass guitarist for rock band Eagles of Death Metal...
, who was diagnosed with cancer a few months prior to the event.
In 2011, Lanegan's music was featured in a trailer for the video game Rage
Rage (video game)
Rage is a first-person shooter video game by id Software which was released on October 4, 2011 in North America. It uses the company's new OpenGL based id Tech 5 engine. The game was first shown as a tech demo on June 11, 2007, at Apple's WWDC, and was officially announced on August 2, 2007, at...
and the soundtrack for the film The Hangover Part II. Lanegan has started work on his next solo album, Blues Funeral. due in February 2012. Josh Homme, Alain Johannes
Alain Johannes
Alain Johannes Moschulski is a guitarist and, along with his late partner Natasha Shneider and drummer Jack Irons, a founding member of the band Eleven...
, and Martyn LeNoble
Martyn LeNoble
Martyn LeNoble is a Dutch bassist and founding member of Porno for Pyros.LeNoble started his musical career by playing bass in a Dutch punk rock band when he was 14. In 1989, he moved to Los Angeles and played with the likes of Thelonious Monster and The Too Free Stooges...
have been reported as contributors to Lanegan's upcoming album.
Discography
- The Winding SheetThe Winding SheetThe Winding Sheet is an album by American musician Mark Lanegan that was released in 1990. It was Lanegan's first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000...
(1990) - Whiskey for the Holy GhostWhiskey for the Holy GhostWhiskey for the Holy Ghost is the second solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. The album builds upon the roots music foundation that Lanegan had established with his debut The Winding Sheet...
(1994) - Scraps at MidnightScraps at MidnightScraps at Midnight is the third solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. It was produced by Mark Lanegan and longtime collaborator Mike Johnson....
(1998) - I'll Take Care of YouI'll Take Care of YouI'll Take Care of You is the fourth solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. This album consists of cover songs.It features Lanegan's interpretation of songs from a wide variety of songwriters, including Tim Rose, Tim Hardin, Booker T. Jones, and Buck Owens...
(1999) - Field SongsField SongsField Songs is an album by Mark Lanegan, released in 2001 on the Beggars Banquet label.The two largest instrumental contributors are Mike Johnson and Ben Shepherd. The album also features Duff McKagan of Velvet Revolver as well as Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler.The album represents a...
(2001) - Bubblegum (2004)
- Blues Funeral (2012)