Living Colour

Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City. It was founded in 1984. Their music is a fusion of heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop and alternative rock. The band's current members are guitarist Vernon Reid, lead singer Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish. 

Living Colour has made six studio albums. In 1988, the band became popular when they released their first album, Vivid. A song from the album, "Cult of Personality", won a Grammy Award in 1990. They won another Grammy Award for their second album, Time's Up and were nominated for a Grammy for “Leave It Alone” from their third album, Stain. The band broke up in 1995, but came back together in 2000. Since then, they have released three albums. The band is working on making new music for another album.

 History 

 Early years of the band (1984–1986) 
Guitarist Vernon Reid made Living Colour in New York in 1984. Because he was born in England, he used the word 'colour' instead of 'color'. Reid was well known in New York's jazz music community because he played music with Ronald Shannon Jackson. From 1984 to 1986, Living Colour had many different members. These members were musicians such as Jerome Harris, Geri Allen and Pheeroan akLaff.

The band had many different singers. Sometimes, Reid would sing as well. During this time, the band made music that sounded very different than its studio albums. The band made a song named "Funny Vibe". This song would be put on Vivid in 1988.

 The band gets popular (1986–1991) 
In 1986, the band had four members: singer Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Muzz Skillings, and drummer Will Calhoun. These members stayed in the band. The band got good at playing at concerts.Panebianco, Julie. "Living Colour Rock The Ritz." East Village Eye, December 1986, p 6. They played many times at CBGB, a club in New York City. Mick Jagger, the singer for the Rolling Stones, noticed the band. After he watched the band play at CBGB, he helped the band make demos of their music. He also helped the band join Epic Records, a record label. The band made their first album with Epic.

Vivid was released on May 3, 1988. It started selling many copies later that year. This was because MTV started showing the music video for "Cult of Personality", a song from the album. It reached number 6 on the Billboard 200, an American music chart. In 1989, the band played on Saturday Night Live. "Cult of Personality" later won a Grammy Award.

Living Colour started going on concert tours with other bands, such as Guns N' Roses and the Rolling Stones. In 1990, the band released Time's Up, their second album. It had music of many different genres, such as jazz, punk rock, hip hop, and funk. It won a Grammy Award. In 1991, Living Colour played at Lollapalooza.

 Breakup and reunion (1992–present) 
In 1992, Skillings left the band. He was replaced by Doug Wimbish. The band made Stain, their third album. In 1995, the band disbanded. This was because they did not want to make the same music on their fourth album. Four of the songs they made while making their fourth album were put on Pride. After the band broke up, the members started making music alone.

On December 21, 2000, the band got back together to play at CBGB. After the band played at the club, they released Collideøscope. They played on many concert tours in the 2000s, and released The Chair in the Doorway in 2009. It went onto the Billboard 200 music chart. It was the band's first album to do this since Stain.Living Colour Back With Fifth Studio Album  Billboard.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2009.

 Studio albums 
 Vivid (1988)
 Time's Up (1990)
 Stain (1993)
 Collideøscope (2003)
 The Chair in the Doorway (2009)
 Shade (2017)

 References 

Category:American rock bands
Category:African-American musical groups