Bad Religion

Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitar), Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Hetson (guitar), Brian Baker (guitar) and Brooks Wackerman (drums). Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the band's albums. They are often credited for being involved in the revival of punk rock and inspiring several subsequent punk bands during the late 1980s, as well as influencing a large number of other punk and rock musicians throughout their career. Bad Religion is also particularly known for their use of soaring 3-part vocal harmonies (which they refer to in their album liner notes as the "oozin' aahs"), sophisticated and intellectual lyrics, and political or religious commentary. Their lyrics often relate to matters of social responsibility.

The band's original line-up featured Bentley on bass, Graffin on vocals, Gurewitz on guitar, and Jay Ziskrout on drums. Ziskrout left in 1981, while Bad Religion was in the middle of writing and recording their debut album How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, and was replaced by Pete Finestone. Between the releases of their next two albums Into the Unknown (1983) and Suffer (1988), more lineup changes occurred, leaving Graffin the only remaining original member. After recruiting Greg Hetson as their second guitarist in 1984, Gurewitz, Bentley and Finestone rejoined the band in 1986. The reunited quintet returned to the studio two years later to record Suffer, which is described by critics as one of the most "influential" punk rock albums of all time. Suffer was followed up by two more albums - No Control (1989) and Against the Grain (1990) - before Finestone left Bad Religion once again in 1991 and was replaced by Bobby Schayer. With Schayer in the band, they recorded Generator (1992), Recipe for Hate (1993) and Stranger Than Fiction (1994), the latter two of which were released on the major label Atlantic Records (though Epitaph actually released Recipe for Hate before Atlantic re-issued it). Stranger Than Fiction, the band's first commercial success, managed to sell over half a million copies and earned Bad Religion their only gold record in the United States. Gurewitz grew uncomfortable with the success of the band and left once again in 1994 to continue running Epitaph. Bad Religion recruited former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker to complete the tour and record the band's next three albums. After Gurewitz reconciled with Graffin in 1999 to co-write "Believe It" (from 2000's The New America), he officially rejoined in 2001, making Bad Religion a six-piece band, and contributed to their four most recent albums (the last being 2010's The Dissent of Man). , Bad Religion is already planning a sixteenth studio album, which, according to Graffin, may be their last before a possible split or hiatus.

Bad Religion is considered one of the most successful independent punk acts, selling over 5 million albums worldwide, and charting two singles on the Mainstream Rock charts and seven singles in the Top 40 of the Alternative Songs charts. The band has also enjoyed success outside of the United States; they had three charting singles in the U.K., while "21st Century (Digital Boy)" and "Punk Rock Song" charted in Sweden in 1995 and 1996, respectively. "Punk Rock Song" also charted in Finland and Germany.

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