Sevendust is an American alternative metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group. Following a few name changes, the members settled on the name Sevendust and released their self-titled debut album on April 15, 1997. They have attained success with three consecutive RIAA gold certified albums, a Grammy nomination, and have sold millions of albums worldwide.

In 1994, bassist Vince Hornsby joined drummer Morgan Rose in a band called Snake Nation. John Connolly, a drummer, left his then band and joined Snake Nation as a guitarist. They recorded their first demo. Not happy with vocals, however, Snake Nation spent a year searching for a new singer before finding Lajon Witherspoon. Six months passed, Clint Lowery joined the band, and they renamed themselves Rumblefish. Rumblefish was short-lived, however, because they found another band with the same name. They renamed themselves Crawlspace, and released "My Ruin" on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack album entitled More Kombat through TVT Records in 1996. Shortly after, another band named Crawlspac' sent notice that they wanted $2,500 for the rights to their name. Rather than purchase the rights, the band members chose to rename themselves Sevendust, a name inspired by the commercial insecticide brand "Sevin Dust". The song Rumble Fish was included on the band's second album, Home. Sevendust released their self-titled debut, in-part produced by former Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French, on April 15, 1997, known for its heavy riffs, angry vocals and thrash-like drumming, as in the songs "Black" and "Bitch". "Black" became the opening song for nearly every Sevendust concert until 2004. The debut album also contains the song "My Ruin", from the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. Sevendust appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for sixteen weeks and peaked at 165 on April 4, 1998. The album went gold on May 19, 1999. In 1998, Sevendust performed at Dynamo Open Air (May 29-31) and Ozzfest 1998 (July through August). In the same year they released a compilation called Live and Loud which featured live footage of the band's performance of September 16, 1998 at Chicago's Metro.

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