Alien Ant Farm

Starting life as a Primus covers band, Alien Ant Farm, formed in Riverside in 1995, built a keen following on the California underground scene in the late 1990s, winning Best Independent Album for their self-released debut Greatest Hits (1999). Signed by Stephen Spielberg's DreamWorks label on the recommendation of fellow nu-metallers Papa Roach, the lads hit the jackpot when their version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" became a huge hit, reaching Number 3 in the UK charts and propelling second album ANThology (2001) to platinum status in the US. After a serious bus crash in Spain in which their driver was killed, the band recorded third effort truANT (2003) and promoted it by gatecrashing and playing unannounced at a Gay Pride parade, a Justin Timberlake concert and the BET Awards. Despite the stunts, album sales were poor and after Up in the Attic (2006), the band dwindled away. They resurfaced in 2009 playing the Sonisphere Festival and Vans Warped Tour and released in 2009 the album Alien Ant Farm: Live in Germany. They followed up with studio albums Always and Forever (2015), and Mantras (2024).