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Breaking Benjamin

Breaking Benjamin

Overview
Breaking Benjamin is an American rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...

, currently consisting of Benjamin Burnley
Benjamin Burnley
Benjamin Jackson Burnley IV is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the band Breaking Benjamin.-Early days as a musician:...

 and Chad Szeliga
Chad Szeliga
Chad Szeliga is an American professional drummer born in Elyria, Ohio and now from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is best known for being the drummer for the bands Breaking Benjamin, OurAfter, and Black Label Society.-Switched:...

. The band has released four studio albums to date and a greatest hits album that was released on August 16, 2011. The group initially went on indefinite hiatus due to frontman Benjamin Burnley's recurring illnesses and inability to tour in mid-2010. Further complications arose in August 2011, when it was revealed that members Mark Klepaski and Aaron Fink had been fired from the band.
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Encyclopedia
Breaking Benjamin is an American rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...

, currently consisting of Benjamin Burnley
Benjamin Burnley
Benjamin Jackson Burnley IV is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the band Breaking Benjamin.-Early days as a musician:...

 and Chad Szeliga
Chad Szeliga
Chad Szeliga is an American professional drummer born in Elyria, Ohio and now from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is best known for being the drummer for the bands Breaking Benjamin, OurAfter, and Black Label Society.-Switched:...

. The band has released four studio albums to date and a greatest hits album that was released on August 16, 2011. The group initially went on indefinite hiatus due to frontman Benjamin Burnley's recurring illnesses and inability to tour in mid-2010. Further complications arose in August 2011, when it was revealed that members Mark Klepaski and Aaron Fink had been fired from the band.

Breaking Benjamin has sold over 5 million albums in the US alone.

Formation (1998–2001)


Before Breaking Benjamin, Ben Burnley was a solo performer. He later came up with the band's name, "Breaking Benjamin," after doing a performance of a Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

 cover. At the end of the performance, Ben knocked over and cracked a microphone he had borrowed. The owner of the microphone walked onto the stage and said, "I'd like to thank Benjamin for breaking my fucking microphone."

In 1998, Burnley and former lead guitarist Aaron Fink, got together (along with Nick Hoover and Chris Lightcap) and started the band Breaking Benjamin. Eventually Burnley wanted to try something different and went out to California to try some new material. Ben Burnley soon moved back to Pennsylvania and started a band called Plan 9 with drummer Jeremy Hummel. Originally the band was a 3-piece. The lineup consisted of Burnley on vocals and guitar, Hummel on drums, and Jason Davoli on bass. Plan 9 would occasionally open for Lifer
Lifer
Lifer is a five-piece nu metal band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The group went under various names and only released one studio album in 2001.-Career:...

 at home shows. During one show, Burnley said “Thank you, we’re Breaking Benjamin”, and thus reclaiming the name from 1998.

Saturate (2002–2003)


Breaking Benjamin signed to Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...

 in early 2002 after the success of an independently-released, self-titled EP
Breaking Benjamin EP
-Personal:Information retrieved from Shallowbay.com *Benjamin Burnley - Vocals, Rhythm guitar, Lead guitar*John "Bug" Price - Bass*Jeremy Hummel - Drums...

, which sold all 2,000 copies that were manufactured. The band then released their full-length, major-label debut, Saturate, on August 27, 2002. The album peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Chart and at 136 on the Billboard Top 200.

The album's first single, "Polyamorous
Polyamorous (Breaking Benjamin song)
-Music videos:Two music videos were produced for "Polyamorous." The original version deals with a voyeuristic couple whom, with the use of a joystick and various monitors for hidden cameras, are spying on other couples. The band is seen performing in the same chambers as these couples are as well...

", received a fair amount of radio play, although it failed to reach mainstream audiences. A video was released in three different versions for "Polyamorous": one that had all live-action footage, and one that had footage of the video game Run Like Hell. The third was a variation of the non-live action video, but instead of scenes from Run Like Hell, it has scenes of people in flirtatious acts. This song was featured on the game Smackdown vs. Raw and also featured on WWE Day of Reckoning.

The second single from Saturate was "Skin", which fared even worse than "Polyamorous". Burnley has been known to state his disdain for the song during live performances and has the crowd sing the words as the band plays. This is due to Hollywood Records choosing it as the main single instead of the band's choice, "Medicate".

They had planned on releasing a studio version of their cover of "Enjoy the Silence
Enjoy the Silence
"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's twenty-fourth UK single, released on 16 January 1990, and the second single from the then upcoming album Violator....

" along with "Lady Bug" on the European version of Saturate. However, the European version was never released. "Lady Bug" was eventually released on the So Cold EP, and on the Japanese version of We Are Not Alone.

"Wish I May" is a song played during the closing credits of the 2003 movie Wrong Turn
Wrong Turn
Wrong Turn is a 2003 American slasher horror film, directed by Rob Schmidt, and written by Alan B. McElroy. The film was shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and stars Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku...

.

We Are Not Alone (2004–2005)


Breaking Benjamin released their second album, We Are Not Alone, on June 29, 2004. The album featured the lead off single "So Cold
So Cold (song)
-Chart position:-So Cold EP:So Cold EP is an EP which was released on November 23, 2004. It was originally going to be titled the So Cold EP. The EP contains 5 songs, three were recorded live, "So Cold ", "Away" and "Breakdown" and two were studio recorded material, "Blow Me Away" and "Lady Bug"...

", which reached number two on the United States Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The band had two music videos made for "So Cold" one of which was a promotional video for the movie Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...

.
"So Cold" spent 37 weeks in the top 20 of the Billboard charts (as of February 3, 2005).

Also released as singles from the album were "Sooner or Later
Sooner or Later (Breaking Benjamin song)
-Music video:A music video was made for "Sooner or Later". The music video featured the band playing in a small enclosed area surrounded by screens, showing clips of a woman going from place to place. As she enters the room, the band is gone showing on the screens as they walk away.-Chart...

" and a re-recorded, full band version of "Rain
Rain (Breaking Benjamin song)
-Reception:On sputnikmusic the song was looked down upon, stating "The entire time this song was on, I couldn't shake that image of Christina Aguilera standing in front of that mirror in Beautiful, an image more than likely created by the incessant whining the singer was doing"...

", which was featured on later pressings of the album. A music video was made for "Sooner or Later" as it got a fair amount of radio play reaching number two on the Mainstream Rock Charts. The track was also performed live on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno".

The tracks "Rain", "Forget It" and "Follow" were all co-written by the guitarist and vocalist of The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...

, Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...

. Ben Burnley and Billy Corgan's collaboration took place for six days in December. Burnley admitted he was, at first, nervous to work with Corgan, but later felt comfortable and called the experience one of the highlights of his career.

Jeremy Hummel was unable to play with the band from August until September 2004 due to the birth of his child, and was granted leave of absence for that amount of time, and the band selected Kevin Soffera to fill in for Hummel during his absence. Soffera appears on the recordings of The Conan O’Brien show and The Carson Daly Show as well as on the So Cold EP performing the songs Away and Breakdown. Upon returning to Breaking Benjamin in September 2004, drummer and founding member Jeremy Hummel
Jeremy Hummel
Jeremy Hummel is the former drummer and co-founder of the rock band Breaking Benjamin. He co-wrote and recorded their debut album, Saturate, as well as the follow-up platinum album, We Are Not Alone...

 was fired. Subsequently, on September 28, 2005, Hummel filed a federal lawsuit against the remaining members of Breaking Benjamin, as well as its management, claiming he was not paid for songs he helped write. Hummel's lawsuit asked for more than $8 million in damages. An article was released October 25, 2006, stating that Hummel does not receive any payments from the making of We Are Not Alone in which he co-authored. After Kevin was finished with his duties as a fill-in for Jeremy, the band brought Ben "B.C." Vaught into the band to fill in as their drummer. B.C. was with the band until the band hired Chad Szeliga in early 2005.
The track "Firefly" was featured in the "WWE Day of Reckoning
WWE Day of Reckoning
WWE Day of Reckoning is a professional wrestling video game released for the Nintendo GameCube console in 2004. The game is based on World Wrestling Entertainment and many of the wrestlers who were on the WWE roster at the time of release were included as player characters...

" video game, released November 2004.

The single "Blow Me Away
Blow Me Away
"Blow Me Away" is a song by American rock band Breaking Benjamin originally recorded specifically for the soundtrack to Halo 2. Since then the song has been re-released several times, including being released as a single in 2010...

" was originally written for and featured in the hit game: Halo 2
Halo 2
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved...

 which was released in November 2004, and would later be on the game's soundtrack Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
The Halo 2 Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack for Bungie's 2004 video game Halo 2. The soundtrack was released as two separate volumes, released almost two years apart...

 Volume 1. The song also apprears on the So Cold EP, released on November 23, 2004.

We Are Not Alone achieved platinum status in mid-2005 which led to the platinum edition of We Are Not Alone being released featuring the full band version of "Rain".

Phobia (2006–2009)


Breaking Benjamin released Phobia on August 8, 2006, leading off the album with the single "The Diary of Jane
The Diary of Jane
-Personnel:Breaking Benjamin* Benjamin Burnley - lead vocals, rhythm guitar* Aaron Fink - lead guitar* Mark James Klepaski - bass* Chad Szeliga - drumsProduction*Produced by David Bendeth*Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge*Music video directed by Ryan Smith-Charts:...

", which made it to #4 on the U.S. Modern Rock Charts.

On February 11, 2007, HDNet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...

 premiered a one-hour show of the Breaking Benjamin concert in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...

 at Stabler Arena
Stabler Arena
Stabler Arena is Lehigh University's 6,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, located on its Goodman Campus in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States...

. This is also the concert that was included on the Phobia re-release DVD in April 2007, advertised as "The Homecoming". The band obtained their first number 1 single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks with "Breath
Breath (Breaking Benjamin song)
-Charts:-External links:*....

". Footage of the band's live Stabler Arena performance of "Breath" comprises the song's music video. On April 17, 2007, Breaking Benjamin re-released the album Phobia. The album featured a DVD with about an hour of their Stabler Arena concert footage. They completed a co-headlining tour in the United States with Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...

 and had Red
Red (band)
Red is an American rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band's lineup consists of singer Michael Barnes, guitarist Anthony Armstrong, bassist Randy Armstrong and drummer Joe Rickard. They are known for their Christian rock music which incorporates other sounds such as...

 and Puddle of Mudd
Puddle of Mudd
Puddle Of Mudd is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies...

 as openers. The album re-entered the Billboard 100 at number 38 on May 5, 2007 with its reissue.

On June 29, 2007, the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...

and performed "Breath". On July 6, 2007, the band performed "Breath" again on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...

. The band announced a 36-date fall 2007 tour with Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...

, Seether
Seether
Seether is a post-grunge/alternative metal band from Pretoria, South Africa, formed in 1999. The band is currently signed to Wind-up Records...

, Skillet
Skillet (band)
Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John and Korey Cooper , along with Jen Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison. The band has released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: Collide and Comatose...

 (first half) and Red
Red (band)
Red is an American rock band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band's lineup consists of singer Michael Barnes, guitarist Anthony Armstrong, bassist Randy Armstrong and drummer Joe Rickard. They are known for their Christian rock music which incorporates other sounds such as...

 (second half).

On October 23, 2007, Breaking Benjamin released all of their music videos to date on iTunes. The set was titled, "Nightmares".

On May 21, 2009 Phobia reached RIAA Platinum status, selling over one million units in the U.S.

Dear Agony (2009–2010)



David Bendeth
David Bendeth
David Bendeth is a multi-platinum award-winning record producer. Born in London, England and then moved to Toronto as a teenager, He has worked with acts such as Paramore, Papa Roach, Killswitch Engage, In Flames, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Underoath, Breaking Benjamin, Cavo, Taking Back Sunday,...

 who produced the band's last two studio efforts, We Are Not Alone and Phobia, produced Breaking Benjamin's 4th studio album, Dear Agony
Dear Agony
-Personnel:Production list acquired from AllMusicBreaking Benjamin*Benjamin Burnley - Lead vocals, rhythm guitar*Aaron Fink - Lead guitar*Mark Klepaski - bass*Chad Szeliga - drums, percussionsAdditional musicians...

. On their MySpace blog, Breaking Benjamin stated, "We are busy crafting the new material and have several songs ready for the Bendeth production treatment." Jasen Rauch, guitarist for Red, co-wrote four of the new tracks including "I Will Not Bow
I Will Not Bow
-Music video:The music video for "I Will Not Bow" was released to the band's Myspace on August 21, 2009. It featured clips from the movie Surrogates. The video was shot at the World Trade Center building 7, but has no connection or significant meaning having to do with the 9/11 events as stated by...

", "Hopeless", "Lights Out" and "Without You". He stated that he was getting no deadlines or pressure from the label on this album so he was taking his time.

On August 11, 2009, Breaking Benjamin's hometown radio station WBSX
WBSX
WBSX is a FM radio station licensed to the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, broadcasting to the Scranton/Wilkes Barre/Hazleton radio market on 97.9 MHz. WBSX airs an active rock music format branded as "97-9 X" .-History:...

 (97.9X) in Wilkes-Barre, PA debuted the album's first single, "I Will Not Bow". Due to the single being leaked, "I Will Not Bow" began streaming on their MySpace at 8PM eastern time on August 11. "I Will Not Bow" was released onto radio stations on August 17, and was released on iTunes on September 1. After a few days it became one of the top ten selling songs on iTunes, along with the album Dear Agony. A music video for "I Will Not Bow" premiered on their MySpace on Friday, August 21.

On September 28, the album was officially released in Australia. On September 29, the album was officially released in the United States. Dear Agony purchased from Best Buy includes a bonus DVD of the band's six music videos, one of them being a previously-unreleased version of the video for "I Will Not Bow". The version on the DVD is of the band only and does not contain any footage from the film Surrogates, unlike the version released online.

The band co-headlined a January–February 2010 tour of the US with Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...

 and Flyleaf
Flyleaf
Flyleaf is an American alternative metal band, formed in the Belton and Temple, Texas regions in 2000. The band has charted on mainstream rock, Christian pop and Christian metal genres. They performed around the United States in 2003 until releasing their eponymous debut album, Flyleaf, in 2005....

.

On January 5, 2010, "Give Me a Sign
Give Me a Sign
-Music video:On February 17, a music video was put into the planning process. The band shot the video for "Give Me a Sign" with acclaimed director Nigel Dick...

" was released as the second single off of Dear Agony. Subsequently, the music video for "Give Me a Sign" was released on the band's MySpace page on March 10, 2010, which happened to be Ben Burnley's 32nd birthday.

As of February 16, 2010, Dear Agony has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

On June 15, 2010, the third single of Dear Agony, "Lights Out
Lights Out (Breaking Benjamin song)
-Chart performance:"Lights Out" debuted at #40 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Since then, it has climbed the Mainstream, Rock and Alternative charts. AOL has rated this song as the number 1 alternative song of 2010, so far.-Charts:...

", was released.

During the summer Burnley played two solo acoustic shows with friend Aaron Bruch who is the bass player of Chad Szeliga's side project OurAfter
OurAfter (band)
OurAfter is an American Rock band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. OurAfter is also the side project of Breaking Benjamin's Chad Szeliga. They have done shows with such acts as Papa Roach, Flyleaf, Panic At the Disco, Red, 10 Years, 12 Stones, Smile Empty Soul, Plain White T's...

. This was the first time "Forget It" and "Follow" were actually performed live. In addition, Burnley covered Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...

, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

, Deftones
Deftones
Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno , Stephen Carpenter , Chi Cheng , Frank Delgado , and Abe Cunningham . Currently Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident...

, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...

, and Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...

.

Hiatus (2010–present)


In the summer of 2010, the band went on an indefinite hiatus due to Burnley's recurring illnesses. Guitarist, Fink and bassist, Klepaski rejoined their previous band Lifer
Lifer
Lifer is a five-piece nu metal band from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The group went under various names and only released one studio album in 2001.-Career:...

 and Szeliga started touring with his side project band OurAfter
OurAfter (band)
OurAfter is an American Rock band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. OurAfter is also the side project of Breaking Benjamin's Chad Szeliga. They have done shows with such acts as Papa Roach, Flyleaf, Panic At the Disco, Red, 10 Years, 12 Stones, Smile Empty Soul, Plain White T's...

.

On June 7, 2011, a remixed version of "Blow Me Away" featuring Valora was released. On June 30, 2011, Rock Access posted the tracklist for the greatest hits album, to be called Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin
Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin
-Personnel:*Benjamin Burnley - lead vocals, rhythm guitar*Aaron Fink - lead guitar*Mark Klepaski - bass*Chad Szeliga - drums, percussionsAdditional musicians*David Bendeth, Wayne C...

, along with the tracklist for the standard and deluxe editions. It was released on August 16, 2011 and was made available as a standard edition single disc and a deluxe edition two disc set featuring b-sides and rarities. The standard edition included the remix of "Blow Me Away".

On August 2, 2011, an article was released regarding a dispute over the new version of "Blow Me Away". The dispute erupted during the time in May when Burnley fired bandmates Fink and Klepaski. Burnley detailed his side of the dispute in a June court filing, saying Fink and Klepaski made unilateral and unauthorized decisions on behalf of the band, including giving permission in May for the new recording and remix of "Blow Me Away" without his consent. Burnley seeks at least $250,000 and the exclusive right to the "Breaking Benjamin" name. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 reports that Burnley plans on continuing the band's work as soon as his lawsuit is over.

An official animated music video for the single "Blow Me Away" was released August 24, 2011.

Musical style


Breaking Benjamin's musical style has been labeled as alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

, post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...

, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, alternative metal
Alternative metal
Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...

, and nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...

.

Members


Current
  • Benjamin Burnley
    Benjamin Burnley
    Benjamin Jackson Burnley IV is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the band Breaking Benjamin.-Early days as a musician:...

     - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar (1998–present)
  • Chad Szeliga
    Chad Szeliga
    Chad Szeliga is an American professional drummer born in Elyria, Ohio and now from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He is best known for being the drummer for the bands Breaking Benjamin, OurAfter, and Black Label Society.-Switched:...

     - Drums, Percussion (2005–present)

Former
  • Aaron Fink
    Aaron Fink
    Aaron Fincke is an American guitarist, best known as the former lead guitarist for the alternative metal band Breaking Benjamin.-Biography:...

     - Lead guitar (1998, 2001–2011)
  • Mark Klepaski
    Mark Klepaski
    Markus James Klepaski is an American bass guitarist, best known as the former bass player for the American rock band, Breaking Benjamin.-Biography:...

     - Bass guitar (2001–2011)
  • Chris Lightcap - Drums, Percussion (1998–1999)
  • Nick Hoover - Bass guitar (1998–1999)
  • Jonathan "Bug" Price - Bass guitar, Backing vocals (1999–2001)
  • Jeremy Hummel
    Jeremy Hummel
    Jeremy Hummel is the former drummer and co-founder of the rock band Breaking Benjamin. He co-wrote and recorded their debut album, Saturate, as well as the follow-up platinum album, We Are Not Alone...

     - Drums, Percussion (2001–2004)


Touring
  • Kevin Soffera - Drums, Percussion (2004)
  • Ben "BC" Vaught - Drums, Percussion (2004–2005)

Discography


  • Saturate (2002)
  • We Are Not Alone (2004)
  • Phobia (2006)
  • Dear Agony
    Dear Agony
    -Personnel:Production list acquired from AllMusicBreaking Benjamin*Benjamin Burnley - Lead vocals, rhythm guitar*Aaron Fink - Lead guitar*Mark Klepaski - bass*Chad Szeliga - drums, percussionsAdditional musicians...

    (2009)