Live Tickets

Live were formed in Pennsylvania in 1991 by Ed Kowalczyk, Chad Taylor, Chad Gracey and Patrick Dahlheimer, after previously playing in other bands together from school age. Their regular gigs at New York's famous CBGB club, under the name Public Affection, earned them a record contract, and they changed their name to Live to record the EP, Four Songs (1991), from which came their first single, “Operation Spirit”. Their debut album, Mental Jewelry (1991), got them noticed, and they became festival regulars, appearing at MTV's 120 Minutes Tour, at WOMAD and at Woodstock '94. Their next album, Throwing Copper (1994) gave the band long-awaited mainstream success, with the singles “I Alone” and “All Over You” preceding their first No.1s on the US Modern Rock Chart, “Selling The Drama” and “Lightning Crashes”. After numerous TV appearances on US chat shows, the album eventually reached No.1 in the Billboard Album Chart in May 1995, a full year after it was released, and they went on to appear in their own MTV: Unplugged session.

Their third album, Secret Samadhi (1997), also went to No.1, but didn't sell as well as the previous one. The Distance To Here (1999) gave them the hit single “The Dolphin's Cry”, before they joined Counting Crows on an American tour. V was released in 2001, around the same time as 9/11, and their track, “Overcome”, quickly gained extensive airplay, unintentionally capturing the mood of the time. Birds Of Pray (2003) yielded the charting single “Heaven”, and the band released their first compilation album a year later. After a break from the studio, Songs From The Black Mountain emerged in 2006, and Live also found themselves in the news when American Idol contestant, Chris Daughtrey, performed their version of Johnny Cash's “I Walk The Line”, but claimed the arrangement as his own. Despite (or because of) this, Live found themselves exposed to a whole new legion of fans, after Daughtrey admitted his deception, saying that Live were actually one of his favourite bands.

After a few live albums and a DVD of their concert at Amsterdam's famous Paradiso club, the band announced a hiatus in 2009, although a split was imminent, due to Kowalczyk's increasing diva behaviour and demands for more cash, as lead singer. In 2010, Taylor revealed that Kowalczyk was no longer in the band, and that the remaining members would continue under the Live name as a trio.

A new album and tour is expected in 2012.