Living Colour is a 2-time Grammy-award winning rock band from New York City formed in 1984. Led by guitarist Vernon Reid, the bands lineup solidified in the mid-80's w/ Corey Glover (vocals), Will Calhoun (drums) and Muzz Skillings (bass). Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by free jazz, funk, hard rock and heavy metal. Their lyrics range from the personal to the political, in some of the latter cases attacking Eurocentrism and racism in America.
The band’s debut album, “Vivid,” was released in 1988 on Epic Records. The album reached #6 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and was later certified double platinum by the RIAA. It featured “Cult of Personality,” a #13 hit on the Billboard 200 Singles chart as well as the Top 40 hit, “Glamour Boys.” “Cult of Personality” went on to earn the band their first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.
In 1990 the band's second full-length album, “Time's Up,” was released and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 while certifying gold. It won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance and featured guest appearances by Queen Latifah, Little Richard, Doug E. Fresh, and Maceo Parker.
Due to creative differences, Skillings left the band in the summer of 1992, only to be replaced by session veteran and Sugar Hill Gang bass player Doug Wimbish.
“Stain,” their third studio album, was released in 1993 by Epic. Reaching #26 on the Billboard 200, the album had a much heavier and aggressive sound, containing elements of thrash metal and industrial music while receiving a Grammy nomination for 'Leave It Alone'.
After a split in 1995, Living Colour returned in Dec 2000 and began recording “Collideøscope”. Released in 2003, the album featured aggressive lyrics, with many of the songs written about the September 11attacks, like ‘Flying’, inspired by an actual news photograph of two WTC workers escaping the chaos.
Their first release on Megaforce Records, “The Chair in the Doorway,” was issued in 2009 and reached #159 on the Billboard 200 charged by the single 'Behind The Sun'
In 2013, the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of 'Vivid' w/ a world tour crossing North and South Americas, Europe, and Japan, including the Soundwave festival in Australia.
The impetus of Living Colour's next album came from a performance of Robert Johnson's "Preachin' Blues" at the 100th Anniversary Birthday celebration at the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York City. ‘Shade’, their forthcoming record to be released in the fall of 2016 is "the sound of a band coming to terms with its shadows and light,” as described by Vernon Reid. “From the blue pulpit of Robert Johnson to the mean red streets of Brooklyn... ‘Shade’ is the next chapter of a unique American journey.” Corey Glover views ‘Shade’ as an “homage to the blues” that links the band to their disparate roots and also includes a cover by Biggie Smalls’ “Who Shot Ya?” which links to current social issues important to the Living Colour ethos.
