Placebo

Placebo ignited attention in the 1990s with an androgynous look and visceral force, arriving while Brit-pop dominated airwaves and grunge faded. The multinational outfit, once labeled a glam take on Nirvana, fused dark alt-rock with goth and electronic textures, forging a style closer to Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, Muse, and Silversun Pickups. Hitting the British circuit hard, the original trio stirred debate via the 1997 hit “Nancy Boy” from their self-titled debut on Caroline Records, offering pointed contrast to Brit-pop’s lad ethos. Expanding their European foothold, they notched modest U.S. radio traction with “Pure Morning” from 1998’s Without You I’m Nothing, “Special K” from 2000’s Black Market Music, and “Infra-Red” from 2006’s Meds. Though releases slowed through the 2010s, yielding just one studio set that decade—2013’s Loud Like Love—the band retained loyalty from its core listeners through the 2015 MTV Unplugged recording and multiple B-sides anthologies drawn from their full catalog. Nearly ten years after their prior LP, they resurfaced in 2022 with eighth album Never Let Me Go.

Singer-guitarist Brian Molko, of Scottish and American parentage yet raised in England, and Swedish bassist Stefan Olsdal launched an early version of the group after reconnecting in London in 1994, having attended the same school in Luxembourg years earlier. Initially called Ashtray Heart and drawing from Sonic Youth, Pixies, the Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana, they auditioned drummers including Robert Schultzberg and Steve Hewitt—the latter the sole English member. Molko and Olsdal favored Hewitt, whose tenure yielded early demos, yet Hewitt rejoined Breed, leaving Schultzberg to record the self-titled debut issued in 1996. The album became an unexpected U.K. success, with “Nancy Boy” and “Teenage Angst” reaching the Top 40; the musicians earned acclaim in the British weeklies and opened for the reunited Sex Pistols, U2, and Weezer.

Schultzberg parted ways in September 1996 after creative friction, allowing Hewitt’s return; one of his first shows with the reinstated lineup came when David Bowie, both fan and sonic touchstone, invited the trio to his 50th-birthday concert at Madison Square Garden in 1997. The following year Placebo moved to Virgin Records and released Without You I’m Nothing in November. Another strong U.K. seller, the album initially looked set for U.S. breakthrough after MTV and rock radio embraced lead single “Pure Morning.” Later singles underperformed stateside, yet the record eventually earned platinum status in Britain. Around this period the band contributed a cover of T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” to the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack and appeared in the film.

Bowie’s bond with the group deepened when he joined them onstage in New York and collaborated on a re-recording of the title track from Without You I’m Nothing, issued as a 1999 single. Black Market Music, their third album, introduced hip-hop and disco touches to the band’s taut rock foundation. Released in Europe in 2000, a resequenced U.S. edition arrived months later with extra tracks including the Bowie duet and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “I Feel You.” Further U.K. hits emerged: “Taste in Men” and “Slave to the Wage.”

Placebo adopted a harder stance on fourth album Sleeping with Ghosts, issued in spring 2003; it reached the U.K. Top Ten and surpassed a million copies worldwide. The singles compilation Once More with Feeling: Singles 1996-2004 closed the year, adding the new track “Twenty Years.” French producer Dimitri Tikovoi, who had mixed several cuts on the compilation, helmed 2006’s Meds, which topped charts across multiple territories and yielded U.S. charting single “Infra-Red,” the band’s second. Their 2003 Covers rendition of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” unexpectedly charted in Britain, Australia, and America, where it featured on The O.C.; the exposure led to a slot on Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution tour with My Chemical Romance. Virgin issued Extended Play ’07 as an entry point for newcomers.

Hewitt exited in autumn 2007, and Placebo departed EMI/Virgin the next year. With Steve Forrest on drums, they recorded Battle for the Sun, released summer 2009 under David Bottrill’s production; the set contained European hit “For What It’s Worth” and “Ashtray Heart,” nodding to their early name. The same day brought the EMI-era box set The Hut Recordings. An extensive tour followed, documented for those absent by Live at La Cigale, drawn from a 2006 Paris show.

Molko and Olsdal revealed new material in 2010 that surfaced two years later on the B3 EP. Their seventh studio album, the Adam Noble-produced Loud Like Love, arrived in 2013 and included “Too Many Friends” and “A Million Little Pieces.”

Marking their 20th anniversary, Placebo launched a two-year retrospective campaign encompassing vinyl reissues of the first five albums, accompanying B-sides collections, and the MTV Unplugged set recorded before a London audience. The performance presented radically rearranged versions of catalog staples and deep cuts—among them the live debut of “Bosco”—plus appearances by Majke Voss Romme of Broken Twin and Joan as Police Woman. Forrest left in 2015; the following year saw 36-track overview A Place for Us to Dream, fronted by new single “Jesus’ Son.” An extensive 2017 tour reached Mexico, Australia, and Europe, while 2018 brought a slot at the Robert Smith-curated Meltdown Festival in London.

Mid-2019 sessions for what became eighth album Never Let Me Go stretched until the 2022 release, marking the first full-length recorded solely by Molko and Olsdal. Lead singles were “Beautiful James,” “Surrounded by Spies,” and “Try Better Next Time.”