American rock outfit 311 merges reggae, hip-hop, funk, and metal into one pulsating rhythmic alloy that propelled the group from the rap-rock surge of the 1990s straight through the 2020s, where they remain established fixtures supported by an intensely loyal audience. After their breakthrough releases 311 (1995) and Transistor (1997), which spawned the hit singles “Down,” “All Mixed Up,” and “Beautiful Disaster,” the five-piece delivered a succession of Top 10 albums across subsequent decades, among them the 2009 chart high point Uplifter, while securing radio airplay via the crossover successes “Amber” and their rendition of the Cure’s “Love Song.” Throughout the 2010s the band maintained its signature approach, supplying dedicated listeners with consistent material highlighted by the 2014 U.S. Alternative chart-topper Stereolithic along with the Top 20 entries Mosaic (2017) and Voyager (2019). Their fourteenth studio album, Full Bloom, appeared in 2024.
The group coalesced in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1990 when singer/guitarist Nick Hexum, DJ/singer Doug “S.A.” Martinez, guitarist Tim Mahoney, drummer Chad Sexton, and bassist Aaron “P-Nut” Wills came together. Deriving their moniker from the Omaha Police Department’s designation for indecent exposure, the quintet performed locally before relocating to Los Angeles and securing a deal with Capricorn Records in 1991. They converted early regional momentum into wider acclaim through pivotal recordings such as Music (1992), Grassroots (1993), and the self-titled 311 (1995), also known as The Blue Album, which climbed to number twelve on the Billboard 200, moved three million copies domestically, and featured the singles “All Mixed Up” and “Down.”
After a year of relentless touring behind 311, the band issued Enlarged to Show Detail in 1996, a concert video compiled from amphitheater performances in Kansas City and Denver. One year later came Transistor, a double album compressed onto a single disc that launched their most expansive tour to date. The set quickly earned platinum certification, and those concerts supplied the foundation for Live, released in 1998 to document their onstage power. Returning in 1999 with Soundsystem, 311 then moved to the Volcano imprint for From Chaos, which surfaced in summer 2001 and included the hit “Amber.” Evolver followed in 2003, yet unlike earlier works it failed to attain gold or platinum status.
Marking more than a decade together, the musicians commemorated their longevity with the July 2004 Greatest Hits collection, which gathered prior singles, several new songs, and their reggae-inflected cover of the Cure’s “Love Song,” originally recorded for the soundtrack to the Adam Sandler film 50 First Dates. August 2005 brought their eighth studio album, Don’t Tread on Me, which reached number five on the Billboard 200 before another extensive touring cycle. Once the road dates concluded, the exhausted members took their first extended break in nearly ten years. They soon reentered the studio with producer Bob Rock, and the resulting Uplifter arrived in 2009, promoted by frontman Nick Hexum as “the heaviest 311 has ever been.” The album advanced to number three on the Billboard charts, their strongest placement at the time. Rock again helmed the tenth studio effort, Universal Pulse, issued in 2011 as the band’s first independent release.
On March 11, 2014, 311 independently released their eleventh studio album, Stereolithic, produced by Scott “Scotch” Ralston. A live recording and four-disc Archive box set bridged the gap until their twelfth album, the seventeen-track Mosaic, arrived in summer 2017. Crafted by Ralston and John Feldmann (Goldfinger, blink-182), the set featured the singles “Too Late” and “Too Much to Think.” While touring in support alongside the Offspring, the band cut a version of their companions’ “Self-Esteem” (as the Offspring tackled 311’s “Down”), their sole 2018 release. Summer 2019 saw the arrival of their thirteenth album, Voyager, again produced by Ralston and Feldmann with supplementary work by British electronic producer Matan Zohar on the single “Don’t You Worry.” Activity paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the group resurfaced in 2024 with the single “You’re Gonna Get It,” which anchored their fourteenth studio album, Full Bloom.
