Shinedown

Despite not quite fitting in with either the nu-metal scene of the early 2000s, Shinedown established itself as a major rock act with hit albums like The Sound of Madness and Amaryllis.

Frontman Brent Smith formed Shinedown in 2001 in Jacksonville, Florida, with drummer Barry Kerch, guitarist Jason Todd, and bassist Brad Stewart all completing the initial lineup. Together, their mix of distorted growl, post-grunge grit, and metal theatrics proved successful on the group's 2003 debut, Leave a Whisper, which went platinum in the US. The use of the band's music in WWE wrestling marketing campaigns further built Shinedown's profile, and the group broke through into the mainstream in 2008 when the single "Second Chance" and the album The Sound of Madness both charted in the US Top 10 and went multi-platinum. Following a handful of lineup changes, Shinedown reached Number 4 on the Billboard 200 with 2012's Amaryllis and remained in the Top 10 with 2015's Threat of Survival and 2018's Attention Attention. All three of those albums went gold, with songs like "State of My Head" and "Monsters" becoming Number 1 hits on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. Another chart-topping hit, "Planet Zero," was released in 2022, with an album of the same name following later that year.