Hollywood Undead

Emerging from Hollywood, California, Hollywood Undead fuse brash hip-hop, rock, and subtle metalcore accents behind cocky attitudes. Their vivid stage names and distinctive hockey-goalie masks marked a 2008 debut on Swan Songs, yet commercial momentum arrived with the 2011 sophomore set American Tragedy, which entered the Billboard 200 Top Ten. Later projects—Notes from the Underground (2013), Five (2017), the two-volume New Empire (2020), and Hotel Kalifornia—matched or surpassed that placement, confirming the group’s standing among rapcore’s foremost acts.

Much of their early visibility stemmed from MySpace, where J-Dog and Tha Producer launched the project in June 2005. Fresh tracks posted to their profile quickly drew streams and connections through themes of drinking, sex, and emo kids. “The gang,” their self-chosen label, expanded to six members: J-Dog and Tha Producer plus Charlie Scene, Johnny 3 Tears (earlier billed as the Server), Funny Man, and Da Kurlzz. Rising profile on the platform caught the attention of MySpace chief Tom Anderson, who placed the song “No. 5” on the site’s inaugural compilation and signed Hollywood Undead as the first act to its new Interscope-distributed imprint in 2005.

Swan Songs reached stores in 2008 via A&M/Octone Records. The same label issued Desperate Measures, a 2009 collection of B-sides, live cuts, and covers. Vocalist Aron “Deuce” Erlichman departed in 2010; Daniel “Danny” Murillo, a former American Idol contestant and Lorene Drive frontman, took his place. Following dates with Avenged Sevenfold on The Nightmare After Christmas Tour, Hollywood Undead delivered American Tragedy in April 2011, entering the Billboard Top 200 at No. 5. November brought American Tragedy Redux, a remix edition featuring reworkings by Andrew W.K., Borgore, and KMFDM.

After The Underground Tour, the band issued its third studio album, Notes from the Underground, in January 2013; the set climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 and topped the Canadian albums chart. Day of the Dead, the anxiously awaited fourth album, arrived in March 2015 behind the singles “Usual Suspects,” “Gravity,” “How We Roll,” and its explosive title track. Late 2016 sessions produced the fifth album, Five. With the Interscope contract concluded, Hollywood Undead formed Dove & Grenade Media in partnership with BMG for its release. Lead single “California Dreaming,” a pointed critique of Los Angeles cultural divides, surfaced in mid-2017, followed by the full album that October. The standalone track “Gotta Let Go,” a buoyant nostalgic burst about shedding pain, appeared in 2018 alongside the Psalms EP. Two years later came the sixth album, New Empire, Vol. 1, an intentional sonic shift that emphasized heavier textures and expanded electronic components; its companion, New Empire, Vol. 2, followed later in 2020. Hotel Kalifornia, the confident and hook-driven eighth studio effort, arrived in 2022. In 2024 the band signed with Sumerian Records and unveiled “Hollywood Forever,” an anthem crafted to salute their devoted fans.