Mourning Widows was a musical project led by former Extreme

Extreme (band)

Extreme is an American rock band, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Among some of Extreme's musical influences are Queen and Van Halen...

 guitarist Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted"...

. The band was formed in 1997, and they released two albums during their career. Despite not being widely released in the US, both albums were successful in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Bettencourt formed the band after the moderate success of his 1996 solo album, Schizophonic

Schizophonic (Nuno Bettencourt album)

Schizophonic is an album from guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, known for being the guitarist in the band Extreme. Bettencourt is credited on the cover simply as "Nuno"...

, and the band's sound was a takeoff of the post-grunge/alternative stylings of his solo debut. The band changed its lineup in 2001 and Bettencourt spearheaded the Population 1 project shortly after.

Discography

• Mourning Widows
  Mourning Widows (album)
  Mourning Widows is an album by Mourning Widows, a project led by former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. The album was first released by Polydor Records in Japan and later in the United States.-Track listing:...
  
  (1998)
• Furnished Souls for Rent
  Furnished Souls for Rent
  Furnished Souls for Rent is the second album released by Mourning Widows, a band led by former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.-Track listing:All songs written by Nuno Bettencourt, except where noted.# "Furnished Souls for Rent" - 5:04...
  
  (2000)

Band members

• Nuno Bettencourt - guitars, vocals, producer, drums on 1st record (credited as "Billy Vegas")
• Donovan Bettencourt - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Jeff Consi - drums from the 1st record tour onwards till the end of the band.
• Mike Mangini
  Mike Mangini
  Mike Mangini is an American drummer, and the current drummer for the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has played for Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai, among others. He lectured at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is also known for his work as a session musician...
  
   - drums, played at least one show in London previously to the 1st record. Mike was supposed to be the full-time drummer but decided to leave before recording to pursue other projects. It may be a controversy whether he should be considered a member of the band, since when he played Nuno still hadn't named the band.