Collective Soul

Collective Soul is the musical brainchild of Stockbridge, Georgia-based singer, songwriter, and musician Ed Roland. Originally an engineer and producer at Real 2 Real Studios in Stockbridge, he released an album in 1991 under the name Ed-E Roland. In 1992, he formed Collective Soul and recorded demos of songs for the purpose of selling them to a publishing company. A copy of the recordings ended up being played by radio station WRAS in Atlanta, with the song “Shine” making an impression on listeners. The band officially released those demos as their debut album Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid. The album proved to be so popular, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and the album was re-released in 1994. “Shine” climbed to Number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went double platinum in the U.S., reaching Number 15 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart. Their self-titled sophomore album was released in 1995, going triple platinum and hitting Number 23 on the Billboard chart. Five singles were released from Collective Soul, two of them landing inside the Top 20. The band continued to release a series of albums throughout the rest of the 1990s, leaving Atlantic Records after the release of their collection, Greatest Hits 1994-2001. After releasing their eighth studio album, Collective Soul (AKA Rabbit), in 2009, the band took a six year break before returning in 2015 with See What You Started by Continuing, followed by Blood (2019). Originally conceived as the second half of a double album project that started with Blood, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the release of the album Vibrating, which didn’t come out until 2022. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut album, Collective Soul released the album Here to Eternity in May 2024 alongside news of a career-spanning documentary.