Skillet, Bad Wolves, and Escape the Fate

The band, consisting of the married couple John and Korey Cooper, lead vocals, bass, and rhythm guitar, keys, and backing vocals respectively, have sold well over 2million albums in the US. Their other band members, Seth Morrison and Jen Ledger fill in the sound with drums, vocals, and lead guitar. With eight studio albums under their belt, the band have been nominated for several awards, including Grammy nominations, and their album Awake placed at number 2 on the Billboard 200 as it entered the chart, and their album Comatose was certified Gold.

Although the band have been through several line up changes, they have remained consistent and haven’t slowed their intense touring schedule. Band members Cooper and Sterots who formed the original line up met through tours with their own bands and began collaborating before forming the first generation of Skillet. Over the years, throughout the changes, the bands sound has developed and evolved, but maintains their original undertones, never straying from their Christian rock vibe and message.

The crossover of Christian music and rock makes the sound accessible to the masses, and has gained the band much credibility and critical acclaim over the years. As well as headlining their own tours, the band have toured alongside other artists such as Three Days Grace and Seether.

The Band formed in 2004/5 when Max Green and Ronnie Radke invited Bryan Money to the band using the music networking site MySpace, who subsequently invited guitarist Omar Espinosa, followed slightly later by drummer Robert Ortiz. Later on in 2005 Escape The Fate won a radio competition judged by the infamous My Chemical Romance, which projected them into supporting them on a headline tour with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect. The competition also made the record label Epitaph records aware of the band and along with a successful demo, Escape The Fate were signed by Epitaph and released their debut EP “There’s No Sympathy For The Dead” in May 2006. The band put on a live performance soon afterwards and quickly acquired a loyal following with regular local radio airplay.

Escape The Fate’s line-up has been an ever-changing feature of the band, Carson Allen the keyboardist departed early, Omar Espinosa parted ways soon after that and lead singer Ronnie Radke was reluctantly dropped from the band after an altercation in a desert in Nevada, U.S. that resulted in the death of an 18 year old, which led to him being sentenced to two years in prison on battery charges. But out with the old, in with the new and new lead singer Craig Mabbitt was able to maintain the same energetic and visceral live shows and immediately recorded the sophomore album “The War Is Ours,” which debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200, selling 13,000 in the first week. "The War Is Ours" tour saw the band travel and play alongside Attack Attack!, Burn Halo and William Control.

The third album for Escape The Fate which was self-titled, represented a shift for the band, moving to the major label Interscope and having the album produced by Don Gilmore, famous for his work with Linkin Park and Bullet For My Valentine. The band’s most recent full-length “Ungrateful” released in 2013 revisited some of the sounds heard on “The War Is Ours” and was produced by the same producer, to promote the album Escape The Fate headlined a free show in Hollywood, California, U.S.