Biography

Bush formed in 1992 shortly after vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale and lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford met in a London club. Realizing they shared a love for such diverse artists as The Pixies, Bob Marley, Jesus Lizard, MC5, Husker Du, and Big Black, they decided to form a band together. It wasn’t long before they recruited drummer Robin Goodridge and bassist Dave Parsons and started writing. Dave Parsons joined Bush shortly after leaving the band Transvision Vamp. Sasha Gervasi, Amir and Spencer Cobrin all had a short stint as Bush’s drummer before Robin Goodridge was made the permanent fit and thus completing the Bush lineup.

Bush played some of their earlier demos around London at the local bar scene, but none of the gigs were big enough to make them any money. During one earlier gig, Robin Goodridge was watching in the audience liked the music, but not the drummer. Robin made his way backstage after the show sharing his thoughts with Gavin. Robin’s recollection of the event:

“I got drunk Saturday night and I nearly didn’t go. But he (Gavin) phoned me again earlier that day to say, ‘Please come tomorrow’, and that second phone call made it. I thought they were great. I didn’t really like the drummer, which made me feel good. I knew I could have just sat down there and taken them up two levels in the rhythm department immediately. Got a bit drunk and told them that.”

Bush’s success didn’t come immediately. Gavin, Nigel and Robin worked as painters in the daytime and played their music at night. They also sent out their demo tapes to some radio stations. KROQ, based out of Los Angeles, added Bush’s first single Everything Zen into rotation. In 1994, a new record label Trauma Records picked up a few Bush demos and made a two album deal. Bush made the name change from Future Primitive. It is speculated that the label asked them to change their name over cost purposes. The name Bush would cost less to print on a CD rather than Future Primitive.Bush has told many stories about the origin of the band’s name, most being afterthoughts to the situation, all being more interesting that saying the record company made us change our name.

Bush’s debut album, Sixteen Stone, was recorded between January and February 1994, but wasn’t released immediately due to some internal problems within Trauma Records. In addition to that, Gavin had been playing soccer in the same time frame the album was being recorded and injured his mouth.This delayed the recording sessions. After Trauma Records formed a partnership with Interscope, Sixteen Stone was finally released on December 6, 1994. In January 1995, the Black Dog Tour began in the U.S. Bush stayed on tour over a year mainly to sold out venues. Although Bush were big in the U.S. their UK status had remained unchanged, no screaming fans just a few half full clubs.

By spring of 1995, Sixteen Stone went gold despite a stack of bad reviews. By that time Bush was successful enough in the U.S. to land a British record deal, although they were unable to match their American success in the U.K. Over the course of 1995, Sixteen Stone became a major hit in the U.S., with songs like Little Things reaching number 4 on the modern rock charts in the spring; later that year Comedown and Glycerine both reached number 1 on the modern rock charts, as well as crossing over into the pop Top 40. Despite their success, Bush received scathing reviews from the press and many alternative-rock critics, who believed the group was a bit too pretty for grunge. To counter such charges, the band asked producer Steve Albini — notorious for his abrasive productions for not only The Pixies, Nirvana and PJ Harvey, but also countless indie bands — to helm Bush’s second album.

Weeks later, Bush emerged from Abbey Road’s Studio Two with Razorblade Suitcase, 13 raw, real cuts recorded in mostly one or two takes with few overdubs. The album balanced storming rocker tracks like Personal Holloway and Greedy Fly and with more introspective fare such as Swallowed and Bonedriven. The album was released in time for the Christmas season of 1996. Razorblade Suitcase was critically bashed as well, but not as much as Sixteen Stone had been. The album entered the U.S. charts at number 1, as well as making some headway in the UK. However, by the the spring of 1997, the album had stalled somewhat, producing only 1 major hit, iSwallowed. The other singles that had been released did well enough for Razorblade Suitcase to achieve a status just under triple-platinum.

In November 1997, Bush released the remix album Deconstructed containing new versions of existing Bush songs. Some of the world’s top remixers, like Goldie (Swallowed) and Tricky (In A Lonely Place), put a new spin on Bush’s music. The first and only single was Mouth was remixed by Bush but under a different name The Stingray. Album sales were meager, but their single Mouth managed to make it’s mark after landing on the soundtrack for the movie An American Werewolf in Paris.

In 2000, Bush released The Science of Things, their third studio album. Rossdale wrote the bulk of the album during the band’s six month hiatus after the band’s Razorblade Suitcase tour in 1998. While he had previously written many Bush songs in the heart of the city, he decided he wanted to get away from the distractions of London this time. He journeyed to an old mansion on the Irish Coast near the City of Cork. Rossdale found the tranquility inspirational and within six months he had recorded demos for 25 new songs. Gavin recalls, ‘I didn’t want to be content just being a rock guitar band anymore… I found that a bit stifling and frustrating, and wanted to create something that came from a different angle and expressed a different side of us. I wanted to demonstrate that we’ve grown.’

The Chemicals Between Us and Letting the Cables Sleep moved Bush towards more of an electronic sound. During that spring, Pulsford pumped out a solo album of his own entitled Heavenly Toast On The Paradise Road.

After having problems with Trauma Records, the band felt that the executives weren’t promoting the band that had practically made the label enough, the departed to search out a new label. Bush went on to sign a huge contract with Atlantic Records. The fifth album for the band and the first for this label was released in October 2001. Golden State, was produced by Dave Sardy who has worked with Marilyn Manson, among others. Support for the album was lukewarm at best. Music lovers seemed more interested in bands like Linkin Park, Nickelback, and Creed to give much of a glance to Bush. Their first single The People that We Love changed it’s title from Speed Kills in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The bright spot was that Golden State was loved by the critics who had trashed Bush so much in their early years.

The Golden State Tour was the beginning of the end for Bush. They began touring in 2001 and by mid-March in 2002 Nigel Pulsford quietly bowed out to stay at home and await the birth of his newborn son. That had been the official announcement, which was true, but also there has been speculation of extreme turmoil within the band. Bush decided to continue on with promoting their new album and recruited Chris Traynor (former Helmet & Orange 9mm guitarist) to fill in and finish out the tour. The fans were unsure if this was the end of Bush.

By mid-2003 the band would be giving hints to its fizzling relationship. After the split, some members branched into their own new ventures while other members moved on to try and lead a more normal life. Gavin Rossdale formed a new band called Institute in 2005 and later moved onto his solo career in 2008.

On June 24th, 2010, it was officially announced on KROQ radio in LA that Bush was reuniting. Though it will not be a full reunion with all the original members the band was moving forward. Gavin Rossdale would still front the band and Robin Goodridge would return on drums. Chris Traynor (lead guitar and vocals), who finished out the final Bush tour following Nigel Pulsford’s departure, would be officially joining the band. Corey Britz (bass) , who had been touring as bassist for Gavin Rossdale solo efforts, would end up replacing Dave Parsons, who had declined to return. The band’s first show took place in Fontana, CA at KROQ’s Epicenter Twenty Ten Festival. Their first single is entitled Afterlife was released on July 13th, 2010 and was slated to be on the upcoming album Everything Always Now. The new album was to be released in October 2010, but due to conflicts with Interscope Records Bush postponed the release until 2011.

Announced June 15th, 2011, almost 1 year following the original announcement that Bush had rejoined, news of the ‘postponed’ record emerged with a September 2011 release and a new album title, ‘The Sea of Memories. In addition, Bush dropped Interscope Records and released the album on their own record label Mad Dog Winston Music, Ltd.. Their first single The Sound of Winter would go on to become the first rock/alternative song released on an independent label to hit number 1. Bush performed a handful of summer festival shows in the interim to appease the patiently waiting fans then launched a full tour in 2011. They continued on into 2012 as the supporting act for Nickelback’s arena tour.

Bush released their 7th album ‘Man on the Run’ in October 2014 followed by a series of holiday festivals at the end of 2014. They launch a full tour in 2015 which wrapped in March. Their second single ‘This House is on Fire’ was played live on The Today show but never seemed to make it to the radio as an official single. Within weeks of ending their tour Bush cancelled the remaining upcoming festival shows they have planned for the summer. The fans we’re very disappointed and are still awaiting an official comment on the situation.

They have since released Man on the Run in 2014, Black and White Rainbows in 2017 and The Kingdom in 2020.

The band had to cancel both the spring and summer tour for 2020 due to the pandemic. They are still slated for a fall tour, opening up for Breaking Benjamin. They’ve rescheduled their Australian tour for spring 2021.

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Facts

HIGHEST RANKING SINGLE: Glycerine (1996) & The Sound of Winter (2011)
HIGHEST RANKING LP: Sixteen Stone (1994)
GRAMMY AWARDS WON: 0
RIAA GOLD AND PLATINUM: View Official Statistics

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Timeline

1992
Bush begins to form, starting with Nigel Pulsford & Gavin Rossdale

1994
“Future Primitive” releases their first single “Bomb”. By the end of the year they are known as Bush.

1994, December
Bush released “Sixteen Stone” on December 6 in the US

1995
#59 Singles Artist of the Year (Arc Top 40)

1995, April
Sixteen Stone was certified gold. (500,000 albums sold)

1995, July
Sixteen Stone was certified platinum. (1,000,000 albums sold)

1995, September
Bush hit the ARC Top 40 with “Comedown” on the week of the 23rd entering in at # 35
Bush topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 2 weeks with “Comedown”

1995, December
“Sixteen Stone” was certified 2x platinum. (2,000,000 albums sold)
Bush hit the ARC Top 40 with “Glycerine” on the week of the 23rd entering in at # 39
Bush topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 2 weeks with “Glycerine”

1996
#46 Singles Artist of the Year (ARC Top 40)
#90 Top 100 Songs of 1996 “Glycerine” (ARC Top 40)
Kerrang! Magazine- Best International Live Act

1996, January
“Sixteen Stone” was certified 3x platinum. (3,000,000 albums sold)

1996, April
Bush hit the ARC Top 40 with “Machinehead” on the week of the 27th entering in at # 38

1996, June
“Sixteen Stone” was certified 5x platinum. (5,000,000 albums sold)

1996, September
Bush won a MTV Video Music Award for Viewer’s Choice (“Glycerine”) and was nominated for Best Alternative Video (“Glycerine”)(was beaten by: Smashing Pumpkins: “1979”) and Best Video from a Film (“Machinehead”) (was beaten by: Coolio: “Gangsta’s Paradise”). Bush beat out the following for the Viewer’s Choice Award:
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: “Tha Crossroads”
Metallica: “Until It Sleeps”
Alanis Morissette: “Ironic”
Smashing Pumpkins: “Tonight, Tonight”

1996, November
Bush released “Razorblade Suitcase”
Bush topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 7 weeks with “Swallowed”
Bush hit the ARC Top 40 with “Swallowed” on the week of the 30th entering in at # 38

1996, December
Razorblade Suitcase topped the Billboard 200 LP chart for 2 weeks

1997
#179 Singles Artist of the Year (ARC Top 40)
#179 Top 100 of 1997 (Bush) (ARC Top 40)
Much Music Awards- Best International Band
Nominated for: Billboard Music Awards- Best Modern Rock Artist
Nominated for: Much Music’s People’s Choice- Favorite International Group (up against: The Fugees, No Doubt, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls)

1997, January
Bush were nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist (was beaten out by: Smashing Pumpkins)
Mtv Movie Awards- Best Song in a Movie (“Machinehead”)

1997, February
“Razorblade Suitcase” was certified 2x platinum. (2,000,000 albums sold)

1997, April
“Sixteen Stone” was certified 6x platinum. (6,000,000 albums sold)

1997, July
“Razorblade Suitcase” was certified 3x platinum. (3,000,000 albums sold)

1997, November
Bush released “Deconstructed” – a collection of remixes

1998
BMI Pop Awards- Best Songwriter (“Swallowed”) & Best Song (“Swallowed”)
Kerrang! Magazine- Best British Band
Circus Magazine Awards:
Band Of the Year
Best Concert Tour- 2nd place
Best Male Vocalist- Gavin Rossdale
Best Guitarist- Nigel Pulsford
Best Bassist- Dave Parsons
Best Drummer- Robin Goodridge
Best Single- “Mouth” remix
Best Music Video- 3rd place- “Greedy Fly”
Best Album- “Razorblade Suitcase”

1998, January
Bush won an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist. (Bush beat out: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sublime)
Bush were nominated for an Mtv Movie Awards- Best Song from a Soundtrack (“Mouth”)

1998, February
Bush were nominated for a Grammy Award Best Hard Rock Performance (“Swallowed”) (was beaten out by: Smashing Pumpkins – “The End Is The Beginning Is The End”)

1998, March
“Deconstructed” was certified gold. (500,000 albums sold)

1999
#191 Singles Artist of the Year (ARC Top 40)

1999, March
Bush’s record label, Trauma Records, filed a $40 million lawsuit against the band for breach-of-contract

1999, June
Bush could be heard on the benefit LP No Boundaries: A Benefit For The Kosovar Refugees with “Comedown”

1999, July
Bush performed at Woodstock ’99

1999, October
Bush released “The Science of Things”
Bush topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 5 weeks with “The Chemicals Between Us”

1999, November
Bush hit the ARC Top 40 with “The Chemicals Between Us” on the week of the 13th entering in at # 37

1999, December
“The Science of Things” was certified gold. (500,000 albums)

2000
Nominated for: Kerrang! magazine- Best British Band

2000, April
Rossdale passed out and collapsed after performing with the group in Michigan

2000, June
“The Science of Things” was certified platinum.(1,000,000 albums sold)

2001, October
Bush released “Golden State”. The track “The People That We Love” was originally titled “Speed Kills” but was renamed after the 9/11 attacks

2002, May
Nigel Pulsford departed from Bush during the middle of touring and was replaced with Chris Traynor (formerly of Helmet)

2010, June
Bush announces it’s reunion in KROQ radio in Los Angeles

2010, July
Bush releases their first new single in almost a decade “Afterlife”

2011, September
Bush releases their new album “The Sea of Memories” after almost a year delay

2011, October
Bush single “The Sound of Winter” hits number on the Billboard charts making Bush the first band to have a number 1 rock/alternative song released by an independent label.

2014, October
Bush release their 6th studio album “Man on the Run”

2017, March
Bush release their 7th album “Black and White Rainbows”

2020, July
Bush release their 8th album “The Kingdom”, originally set to be release in March. Delayed due to Cover-19.

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Album Rankings

Sixteen Stone
Released: December 1994
USA: 6x Platinum
Billboard (USA) peak: 4
Billboard (UK) peak: # 42
Billboard (Germany) peak: # 68

Razorblade Suitcase
Released: November, 1996
USA: 3x Platinum
Billboard (USA) peak: # 1 (for 2 weeks)
Billboard (UK) peak: # 4
Billboard (Germany) peak: # 37
Rolling Stone review: 2 out of 5 stars

Deconstructed
Released: November, 1997
USA: Gold
Billboard (USA) peak: # 36
Billboard (UK) peak: #36
Rolling Stone review: 3 out of 5 stars

The Science of Things
Released: October, 1999
USA: Platinum
Billboard (USA) peak: #11
Billboard (Germany) peak: #19 (21 weeks)
Rolling Stone review: 2 out of 5 stars

Golden State
Released: October, 2001
Billboard (USA) peak: #22
Billboard (Germany) peak: #10
Rolling Stone review: 2 out of 5 stars

The Sea of Memories
Released: September, 2011
Billboard 200 (USA) peak: #18
Billboard Top Digital Albums peak: #20
Billboard Top Independent Albums peak: #5
Billboard Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums peak: #5
Billboard Top Rock Albums peak:#8
Rolling Stone review: 3 out of 5 stars

Man on the Run
Released: October, 2014
Billboard Alternative Albums (USA) peak: #4
Billboard Top Independent Albums peak: #46
Billboard Top Rock Albums (USA) peak: #8
Rolling Stone review: 2 out of 5 stars

Black and White Rainbows
Released: March, 2017
Billboard Top Independent Albums peak: #21
Billboard Top Rock Albums (USA) peak: #19

The Kingdom
Released: July, 2020
Billboard Alternative Albums (USA) peak: #4
Rolling Stone review: 1 1/2 out of 5 stars

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SINGLES CHART POSITIONS

 

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Charity Contributions

Bush Singer Has a Big Heart for Animals

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Also supporting Teenage Cancer Trust: Ade, Marc Woods, Unamerican, The Opera Babes and Bush’s Robin Goodridge. They were joined by over 200 guests, all of whom contributed generously to the success of the evening.-Teencancer.com, 24 Sept 01

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Costa Rica 2000 – The Rainforest Concert-Top rock band ‘Bush’ headline this charity event taking place on 15 April 2000 raising money to conserve and reforest 51,000 acres of rainforest in Costa Rica.

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Grudgefest scores with Veruca Salt and Bush
There’s nothing like a free concert to get the kids out and moshing. Grudgefest – which wound up Michael Chugg and Cathy Howard’s highly successful inaugural Pacific Circle Music Convention and Australian Music Week – slayed ’em in Prince Alfred Park where Bush, Veruca Salt led the sonic charge to an audience estimated at somewhere around 20,000. The brainchild of Universal Music Australia and Grudge Records, the festival also achieved its aim or providing a quality, all ages, non alcohol event that raised money for the Sydney City Mission to help the 50,000 homeless people in Australia.

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Thanks to the generosity of the crowd which were encouraged to donate a golden coin more than $35,000 was raised. SCM events manager, Claire McAdam, commented after the show, “Sydney City Mission is absolutely delighted with the result of the day, not only from the point of view of the crowd that came along but also the opportunity to spread the message of the Sydney City Mission. the amount of money raised on the day will go directly to helping the homeless youth of Sydney.” Congratulations to all involved. (splat, 9 oct 97)

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Big-Hearted Stars Speak Out–
Several popular British idols, including Annie Lennox, Twiggy, Dame Judi Dench, Gavin Rossdale of Bush, Jay Kay from Jamiroquai, writer Jilly Cooper and others, are wearing their hearts on their sleeves, or rather, they’ve put their hearts up for auction. Each drew a personally designed Valentine’s Day card urging the BHF to stop funding animal tests.The stars attacked the experiments, including one in which dogs’ chests were cut open and their blood was circulated in and out of their bodies as vivisectors tried to quickly change the blood pressure in the dogs’ neck arteries.-Peta.org

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04/28/00-Bush performed at the seventh annual ‘Race to Erase MS’, an event in Los Angeles’ Century Plaza Hotel to raise funding for the Nancy Davis Foundation for multiple sclerosis. Performances also by Wylef Jean and 98 Degrees. The event also featured an auction of music memorabilia. Aired on VH1.

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**Bush are always sharing, even the tour bus food doesn’t go to waste. “After the tour is over, all the leftover food is picked up by an organization called Rap and Roll, which takes the food to shelters.”- Lauren Spencer, Bush on the Road.

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**Bush appeared on the Rock 4 Choice cd in 1996. This organization helps to stand up for reproductive freedom, encourage voter registration and provide a new platform for pro-choice voices to be heard.

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**Gavin appeared on the 1999 cd as one of the many artist that sang in a remake of ‘It’s only rock ‘n roll’, originally by the Rolling Stones. The cd (which was named after the song) was to benefit the Children’s Promise organization (Children’s Hour).