Bad Religion

This punk rock band was formed in Los Angeles in 1980 by Greg Graffin, Jay Bentley, Jay Ziskrout and Brett Gurewitz, who were high school students back then. Ever since their establishment, the group has experienced multiple member changes, with Graffin being their only permanent member. Yet, Bad Religion’s chords have stayed authentic, covering the spectrum of punk rock, skate punk and melodic hardcore. The group is well-known for their three-part vocal melodies and their lyrics which address issues about religion, politics, society, the media and science.

Breakup and makeup

In 1981, drummer Jay Ziskrout left the group and was replaced by Peter Finestone. Shortly after the release of their album Into the Unknown in 1983, which was very much keyboard-driven, the group disbanded because of an incident: Almost all copies were sold out of a warehouse that stored the albums without the band’s knowledge. On top of that, the members’ personal lives were diverging more and more, which eventually led to their temporary split. However, shortly after their divide, Graffin recruited Greg Hetson, former guitarist for Circle Jerks. He replaced Gurewitz, who was suffering from a drug problem which he was trying to overcome in rehab. As a result of this rearrangement, Bad Religion’s chords had become more mellow. In 1985 the band split up again. One year later, Graffin asked Bentley to come back. After being hesitant at first, he agreed and the band reformed in 1986. Finestone, Hetson and Gurewitz — who had beaten his addiction — returned to Bad Religion as well. The group was complete again.

Mainstream success

In 1988, during their Suffer tour, Bad Religion began to experiment with new chord compositions and eventually, during their break from touring in 1989, produced No Control, their best-selling album of all time with a staggering sale of 80,000 copies. In 1993, the band signed a deal with Atlantic Records when the alternative and grunge genre started to break into the mainstream sphere. Their album Recipe for Hate that was released the same year earned Bad Religion their highest position in the U.S. charts. They scored number 14 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums charts, with their tracks “American Jesus” and “Struck a Nerve” that became major hits on the radio. Bad Religion’s chords gained so much popularity, they are considered one of the best-selling punk rock groups of all time, with over five million sold albums worldwide. In total, the group has recorded seventeen studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three EPs and two live DVDs. Today, the band’s line-up consists of Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitar), Jay Bentley (bass), Brian Baker (guitar), Mike Dimkich (guitar) and Jamie Miller (drums). Find all Bad Religion chords here!