Skillet

Skillet is a Grammy-nominated Christian hard rock  band from in Memphis, Tennessee. The band consists of John Cooper (lead vocalist, bassist),  Korey Cooper (rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist), Ben Kasica (lead guitarist), and Jen Ledger (drummer, vocalist).They have released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: Collide and Comatose.  As of March 2010 they have sold 1.6 million albums worldwide.

Albums:

* Skillet (1996)
* Hey You, I Love Your Soul (1998)
* Invincible (2000)
* Ardent Worship (2000)
* Alien Youth (2001)
* Collide - (2003)
* Comatose - (2006)
* Awake - (2009)

Skillet formed in 1996 with two members: John Cooper, and Ken Steorts. The two met through touring together, but their bands disbanded soon after, so John and Ken's pastor encouraged them to form their own band as a side-project. Coming from different styles of rock music, they decided to name the experiment Skillet. After Trey McClurkin joined the band as a temporary drummer. Skillet was only together for a month when they received interest from ForeFront Records. In 1996 they released a self-titled debut Skillet. It was well-received, and the trio continued to write new material as they toured the US. The name 'Skillet' actually started as a joke. Since the starting members all came from different bands, each with a different sound and styles, it was referenced to be like putting all of those styles in a big skillet. Hence the band name 'Skillet'. It is rumored the band members, especially Cooper, still do not like the title.

Skillet recorded their follow-up album, titled Hey You, I Love Your Soul, and released it iin April 1998. Their second effort was a change in style from the band's first release. With this release, they abandoned their post-grunge approach for a lighter alternative rock and a style.

Steorts left the band to be with his family, and Kevin Haaland joined the band as their new guitarist. Korey Cooper joined the band to play keyboards for the recording of Invincible.  Soon after the release of Invincible in early 2000, Trey McClurkin parted ways with Skillet, and Lori Peters filled the drummer's position.

The band released the first worship album, and fourth album overall, Ardent Worship in Fall 2000. The band kept much of their sound from Invincible on their next album Alien Youth. With little time between touring and recording, Skillet released Alien Youth on August 28, 2001, which was the first album that John Cooper took on production duties. Before the release of Alien Youth, Haaland left the band, and Ben Kasica took over on guitar. The first single, the title track, was a major hit in the Christian Rock market and drove Skillet into their first headlining shows.

In 2003, Collide was released by Ardent Records. It caught the attention of Andy Karp, the Head of A&R of Lava Records, and in 2004 the rights to Collide were bought by Lava Records, a division of Atlantic Records. On May 25, 2004, Collide was re-released under Lava Records, with an added track, "Open Wounds". Collide was yet another musical shift for the band. Citing Linkin Park and P.O.D. as inspiration for the musical shift on Collide, Cooper said "Well I’m one of these song writers, everything I hear goes through my John Cooper filter of what I like and what I don’t like... all these things... have been an influence on me."

October 3, 2006 Skillet released Comatose. Featuring singles "Rebirthing," "Whispers In the Dark," "Comatose," "The Older I Get," "Those Nights," and "The Last Night". The album debuted at #55 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the US Top Christian Albums chart.

Lori Peters decide to retire from the band in January 2008. Stating an interest in "coming off the road and starting a new chapter in my life" She was replaced by Jen Ledger. Born in the UK Jen joined Skillet when she was 18 years old.  She sings on the tracks 'Hero' and 'Awake and Alive^' on the album Awake.

Awake contains was released on August 25, 2009. It charted at #2 on the Billboard top 200 selling around 68,000 units in its first week. "Monster" was released as a single on July 14, 2009. Contrary to popular belief, John Cooper stated that "Hero" was not the album's lead single. It was however released as a single in March 2010. They also released a deluxe version with two extra songs "Dead Inside" and "Would It Matter", along with the original, radio edit of "Monster" that does not have the distorted growl as in the single and in the CD. The song Hero was used in the publicizing of the first football game of the 2009 NFL season between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, and the song "Monster" was used in the episode "Jason: The Pretty-Boy Bully" on MTV's Bully Beatdown.

On February 18 Skillet was nominated for 6 Dove Awards for the 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards.