Bush

Bush England Grunger

Bush was a Post-Grunge band from England, formed in 1992. Their debut album was the self-released Sixteen Stone in 1994. They have sold well over 10 million records in the United States.

The name Bush came about because they used to live in Shepherd's Bush, London. In Canada, they were once known as Bushx, because the 1970s band Bush, led by Domenic Troiano, owned the Canadian rights to the name. In April 1997, it was announced that Troiano had agreed to let them use the name Bush in Canada without the exponent x, in exchange for donating $20,000 each to the Starlight Children's Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.



History

Success with Sixteen Stone: 1994-1995

Bush's debut album, "Sixteen Stone", featured some catchy singles. Initial singles "Everything Zen," and "Little Things" did not sell well at first. With the release of singer Gavin Rossdale's first song, "Comedown" as the third single, the band quickly saw great success overseas in the US. The song reached number 1 for two weeks Modern Rock Tracks, and the top 40 in the US.


The following single "Glycerine" received just as much airplay and sold more singles in America. The band followed with "Machinehead" which reached the top 5 of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, it narrowly missed the top 40. As a result of the success of "Comedown," "Glycerine," and "Machinehead," the first two singles from the album began to see airplay and reached the top 40, bring the albums total to four top 40 hits. With the many hits from Sixteen Stone including regular airplay on radio and MTV along with a performance on Saturday Night Live the album quickly went Gold and has now sold 6 million copies in America, poising Bush's follow up for massive commercial popularity.

Razorblade Suitcase: 1996-1998

In late 1996 Bush released the first single "Swallowed" from their second album entitled Razorblade Suitcase, The song spent seven weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album hit number 1 in America and placed high in many European countries. Although a success, at two hit singles compared to four the album did not sell as well as Sixteen Stone.

Following the success of "Swallowed," the album had one more hit, "Greedy Fly," but then failed to produce any more sizeable hits.

Possibly to boost the sales of Razorblade Suitcase or move into new ground, Bush released the remix album Deconstructed. The album saw Bush re-arranging their songs into dance and techno stylings. The album was a moderate success going platinum less than a year after release.

The Science of Things: 1999

Released October 26, 1999, the band's third album was a major departure in several forms from Bush's first two albums. Unlike the multiple platinum successes of Bush's first two albums, The Science of Things barely leaped to platinum. Also, while the band's previous albums were strongly influenced by grunge, The Science of Things formed a unique grunge/techno collision. Although the album had several hit songs, most notably "The Chemicals Between Us", the album failed to chart within the top 10. The band's performance at Woodstock '99, however, helped the album achieve platinum status despite its slow start.

Golden State and break-up: 2001-2002

In 2001, Bush released its final album, Golden State. While the album attempted to return to the simple, catchy sound of the band's debut, it failed to achieve commercial success due to a lack of support from the band's new record label, Atlantic Records. Several singles were released, most notably the minor hit "The People That We Love", but none were mainstream successes. The album was the band's least successful, selling only 380,000 copies in the US.

Due to declining sales and a lack of support from Atlantic Records, Bush disbanded in 2002. In 2005, the band released a greatest hits album called The Best of: 1994-1999, and a few months later, a live album called Zen X Four.

Gavin Rossdale later became the lead singer of Institute and then embarked on a solo career. Robin Goodridge went on to play drums for UK rock band Elyss.


Members
Gavin Rossdale – lead vocals, guitar
Dave Parsons – bass (formerly in the second generation punk band The Partisans, as well as Transvision Vamp)
Robin Goodridge – drums, percussion
Sacha Putnam – keyboards
Chris Traynor – lead guitar during Golden State tour
Nigel Pulsford – lead guitar, string arrangements (left the band to spend more time with his family in 2002)