Buckcherry

Buckcherry emerged toward the close of the 1990s, when post-grunge was fading and nu-metal was ascendant, yet the group deliberately sustained the raw, hedonistic spirit of hard rock. They positioned themselves as conscious echoes of the 1980s Sunset Strip heyday, regarding Mötley Crüe rather than Limp Bizkit as their true contemporaries. Their self-titled debut arrived in 1999 and spawned the number one mainstream rock single “Lit Up,” a track that sustained momentum until the unexpected breakthrough of their third album, 15, in 2006. That platinum-certified release contained the notorious rocker “Crazy Bitch” alongside “Sorry,” a power ballad that reached the Top Ten, and its crossover traction carried the band through repeated personnel shifts while singer Josh Todd remained the constant. In 2023 they delivered their tenth studio effort, the straightforwardly titled Vol. 10.

The story began in mid-1995 when Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson met via a shared tattoo artist. After recording early demos, the pair added bassist Jonathan “J.B.” Brightman and drummer Devon Glenn, then started playing live shows that quickly built a regional following for their swaggering, grunge-tinged sound. With the later arrival of second guitarist Yogi Lonich, Buckcherry secured a deal with DreamWorks Records and released their self-titled debut LP in 1999. Tracks such as “Check Your Head” and “For the Movies” became modern rock successes, lifting the band’s visibility through the summer of 2000.

Their sophomore album, Time Bomb, surfaced the following year. Although reviewers largely overlooked it, AC/DC selected the group as an opener for several concerts, which in turn expanded their audience. Founding member Joshua Todd abruptly departed in July 2002, prompting a multi-year hiatus. The band reassembled in 2005 with Todd and Nelson joined by newcomers Xavier Muriel on drums, bassist Jimmy Ashhurst, and guitarist Stevie D. This configuration recorded 15, issued in early 2006; the set produced the band’s first Top Ten pop single, “Sorry,” and ultimately earned platinum status. Buckcherry followed quickly with a fourth album, Black Butterfly, in 2008. The concert document Live & Loud 2009 appeared the next year while they prepared to support Kiss on tour.

All Night Long, their fifth studio album, came out in August 2010. Despite debuting at number ten on the Billboard Top 200, it yielded no substantial hit single. The band then exited Atlantic and moved to Century Media, which issued the heavy yet melodic Confessions in February 2013. To promote that record, Buckcherry created a series of accompanying short films. A year afterward they released the six-track Fuck EP, every song of which included the F-word in its title. That EP preceded the full-length Rock N Roll, which arrived in August 2015 and entered the Billboard Top 200 at number 93.

In May 2017 founding guitarist Keith Nelson and drummer Xavier Muriel exited over musical differences. Todd recruited guitarist Kevin Roentgen and drummer Sean Winchester, though he first focused on Year of the Tiger, the debut album from Josh Todd & the Conflict, which also featured Buckcherry guitarist Stevie D. The refreshed Buckcherry lineup surfaced on the 2019 album Warpaint, whose lead single was a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole.” That configuration proved short-lived: Winchester departed soon after the release, and Roentgen followed a year later; they were succeeded by Francis Ruiz and Billy Rowe, respectively. The new members played on the ninth album, Hellbound, released in 2021. Written and tracked during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, the record was produced by Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Def Leppard), with whom Buckcherry had previously collaborated on Black Butterfly. Two years later the band returned with Vol. 10, an 11-song collection comprising ten party-oriented originals and a cover of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of 69.”