Dead by Sunrise (formerly known as Snow White Tan) was an American rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles, California in 2005 by vocalist Chester Bennington who was best known as the lead vocalist of Linkin Park. The band also consisted of Amir Derakh, Ryan Shuck, Brandon Belsky, Elias Andra, and Anthony "Fu" Valcic from Julien-K and Orgy. Dead by Sunrise's debut studio album, Out of Ashes, was released worldwide on October 13, 2009.

Dead by Sunrise
Dead by Sunrise performing at Sonisphere Festival UK as part of the Linkin Park encore in 2009
Dead by Sunrise performing at Sonisphere Festival UK as part of the Linkin Park encore in 2009
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 2005–2012
  • 2017
LabelsWarner Bros.
Spinoff of
Past members

History

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Out of Ashes (2005–2009)

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Dead by Sunrise started to form in 2005 while Chester Bennington was writing songs for Linkin Park's album Minutes to Midnight.[1] According to Bennington, "I came up with a few songs that felt and sounded really good, but I knew they weren't right stylistically for Linkin Park. They were darker and moodier than anything I'd come up with for the band. So I decided to work on them on my own rather than turn them over and have them transformed into Linkin Park tracks."[2] However, the foundation for Dead by Sunrise was laid much earlier, when future bandmate Shuck met Bennington during the recording of Linkin Park's first album Hybrid Theory. In an interview, Shuck states that "I always used to go to his house and hear him play acoustic guitar. And I always thought to myself, 'Oh my God, these are such good songs.'"

The band's name, which was previously "Snow White Tan", reflects the time during the album's recording. In an interview, Bennington stated that:

I came up with the band name because in the beginnings of making this album, I was partying ... we'll call it partying. It wasn't much fun, but we partied a lot. And there was a lot of times where I was kind of in a really self-destructive place, and sometimes it felt like you weren't sure if you were going to make it to the next day. The name kind of evolved from that lifestyle, and the title of the record, Out of Ashes, is kind of coming out of that self-destructive path I was on, and rising from the ashes, so to speak.[3]

 
Dead by Sunrise performing in 2007

On May 10, 2008, Dead by Sunrise performed three songs ("Walking in Circles", "Morning After", and "My Suffering") at the 13th anniversary party for Club Tattoo in Tempe, Arizona. The song titled "Morning After" was written by Chester Bennington and originally performed on September 12, 2001, at the Live in Berlin concert.[4][5] Bennington also performed Morning After with his cover band entitled Bucket Of Weenies in many shows throughout 2005 and 2006. This was the first time that Bennington had "officially" performed the song under a new name—Dead by Sunrise. In addition, this band toured with Linkin Park in Europe, Japan, and America. In an interview with MTV, Bennington stated that "we're actually going to be jumping in the middle of Linkin Park's set, playing a few songs, then jumping out and letting LP finish out the set."[3] During their debut European tour the band took time out to send a message to the German Armed Forces.[6][7]

Recording of the band's debut album began in July 2008 after touring for Linkin Park had finished.[8][9] Working simultaneously on his solo album and Linkin Park's next record, Bennington recorded Out of Ashes with producer Howard Benson and bandmates from Julien-K.[3] Bennington wrote most of the songs on an acoustic guitar before working with his band to reshape the track into hard rock, a ballad, or even removing all rock influence and creating a synth-driven track.[3] Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda confirmed that Out of Ashes is "much more of a rock album [than Linkin Park's albums]."[10] Also of note, Bennington participated in all aspects of creating the record, including programming and production.[11] Out of Ashes was described as grunge,[12] pop rock,[12] and punk rock[13] by critics.

Videos were filmed for "Crawl Back In" (September 8, 2009)[14] and "Let Down" with the songs serving as the album's first two singles. "Crawl Back In" reached the 11th spot on the Mainstream Rock chart.[15]

Later career, hiatus, and death of Chester Bennington (2010–2018)

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In a 2009 interview with Billboard, Bennington said that "This isn't a one-time thing for us. Every five years or so I could imagine there'd be a Dead By Sunrise record."[16] Despite this, in 2010, he stated there was a small chance a new album may be created. The frontman also noted that because of Linkin Park's new direction "it becomes very difficult to choose where the songs that he writes will go."[17]

On November 4, 2011, Bennington's wife, Talinda, revealed that Dead by Sunrise will perform at the 2011 Stars of the Season Gala event, which focused on raising donations for pediatric rehabilitation.[18][19]

On April 20, 2012, during a Love and Death concert played at an event by The Whosoevers, Elias Andra announced that in December 2011 he had left the band.[20] Later that year the band replaced Andra with Frank Zummo from Street Drum Corps.[21] The band had been inactive since this time.[citation needed]

On July 20, 2017, lead vocalist Chester Bennington died by suicide in his home in California. The band made an official statement on their Facebook page on July 29.[22] Band members Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh along with Grey Daze member Mace Beyers were united to perform a tribute for Bennington in an acoustic concert on September 2 in Las Vegas.[23]

They later took part in Linkin Park's memorial concert for Chester Bennington on October 27, 2017. They performed "One Step Closer" alongside Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis.[24]

In September 2018, Julien-K performed the One More Light 2 memorial in Milan Italy to honor Chester Bennington with a massive number of Italian fans. They performed as Julien-K and ended the set as Dead By Sunrise along with Italian guest singers.

Members

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  • Chester Bennington – lead vocals (2005–2012; died 2017)
  • Amir Derakh – lead guitar (2005–2012; 2017)
  • Ryan Shuck – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2005–2012; 2017)
  • Elias Andra – drums, percussion (2009–2011)
  • Brandon Belsky – bass (2009–2012)
  • Anthony "Fu" Valcic – keyboards, synthesizers (2009–2012)
  • Frank Zummo – drums (2012)

Timeline

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Discography

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Albums

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Studio albums

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List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
[25]
US
Alt.

[26]
US
Rock

[27]
AUT
[28]
FRA
[29]
GER
[30]
JPN
[31]
NLD
[32]
SWI
[33]
UK
[34]
Out of Ashes 29 9 5 11 109 5 16 82 18 74

Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Adult

[35]
US
Alt.

[36]
US
Main. Rock

[37]
US
Rock

[38]
GER
[39]
JPN
[40]
"Crawl Back In" 2009 23 11 22 66 Out of Ashes
"Let Down"[41]
"Fire"[42] 47
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Promotional singles

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List of charted songs, showing year they have charted and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Adult

[35]
US
Main. Rock

[37]
"My Suffering" 2009 Out of Ashes
"Inside of Me" 2010 40
"Too Late" 39

Music videos

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List of music videos, showing year released and director
Title Year Director(s)
"Crawl Back In" 2009 P. R. Brown
"Let Down" (Live) [43]
"Let Down" P. R. Brown
"Fire" 2010

References

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  1. ^ "Bennington unveils 'dark' side project". Contactmusic.comt. July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  2. ^ Linkin Park's Bennington Readies Side Project Dead By Sunrise Archived September 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Rolling Stone. July 9, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Linkin Park's Chester Bennington Gets 'Dark' With New Band, Dead By Sunrise MTV News. July 16, 2009.
  4. ^ "Linkin Park : Live in Berlin 12.09.01 : The Morning After". YouTube. December 15, 2007. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  5. ^ "Linkin Park Live - 2001.09.12". Linkin Park Live. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "Hallo Bundeswehr". Inside the tour bus. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  7. ^ "Dead By Sunrise - Hallo Bundeswehr!". YouTube. August 27, 2009. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  8. ^ Linkin Park still mixing it up Army Times. July 2008. "We're done touring after the summer, we're going back to China for a week and a half. Then we'll go back in the studio to work on the next Linkin Park record and I'm going to finish my solo project, called "Dead By Sunrise." Hopefully, those will both be out next year."
  9. ^ "Page 53". Arizona Republic. August 6, 2008. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  10. ^ New Linkin Park Album Due in 2010 Alternative Addiction. May 22, 2009.
  11. ^ Chester Bennington's Dead by Sunrise to Release 'Out of Ashes' This Fall. Bennington has also recently stated that he plans (or would like to,) release more albums with Dead By Sunrise in the future. Icon vs. Icon. July 9, 2009. Archived July 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ a b Lowther, Mike (September 8, 2017). "Dead By Sunrise: Out Of Ashes, Album Review". Rukus. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  13. ^ Graff, Gary (October 9, 2009). "Dead By Sunrise, "Out of Ashes"". Billboard. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  14. ^ CRAWL BACK IN DEBUTS ON MYSPACEDead By Sunrise Myspace. September 8, 2009
  15. ^ CHESTER BENNINGTON's DEAD BY SUNRISE Films Two New Videos Archived July 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Blabbermouth. July 20, 2009.
  16. ^ Graff, Gary (September 18, 2009). "Linkin Park's Bennington Talks New Band, Debut". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  17. ^ Chester Bennington of Linkin Park Talks Archived October 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Artist Direct. October 5, 2010.
  18. ^ Bennington, Talinda (November 4, 2011). "November 4 Tweet 1". Twitlonger. Twitter. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  19. ^ Bennington, Talinda (November 4, 2011). "November 4 Tweet 2". Twitlonger. Twitter. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  20. ^ "Whosoever Conference Session Day 1". The Whosoevers. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  21. ^ Pettigrew, Jason (July 24, 2017). "Frank Zummo remembers Chester Bennington: "I just really miss him"". Altpress.com.
  22. ^ "Dead By Sunrise - @julienkofficial & #deadbysunrise stand..." Facebook.com. July 29, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  23. ^ Mack, Emmy (September 4, 2017). "Watch Chester Bennington's Former Bandmates Perform An Emotional Acoustic Tribute". Music Feed. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  24. ^ Kroeber, Bryan (October 29, 2017). "Linkin Park's celebration concert for Chester Bennington was truly beautiful". Mashable. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  25. ^ "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  26. ^ "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Alternative Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  27. ^ "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Rock Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  28. ^ "Discographie Dead By Sunrise". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  29. ^ "Discographie Dead By Sunrise". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  30. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Dead By Sunrise / Longplay". musicline.de (in German). PhonoNet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  31. ^ デッド・バイ・サンライズ. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  32. ^ "Discografie Dead By Sunrise". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  33. ^ "Discography Dead By Sunrise". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  34. ^ "Dead By Sunrise – Official Charts Company" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  35. ^ a b "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Adult Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  36. ^ "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  37. ^ a b "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  38. ^ "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Rock Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  39. ^ "Chartverfolgung / Dead By Sunrise / Single". musicline.de (in German). PhonoNet. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  40. ^ "Dead by Sunrise – Chart History: Japan Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  41. ^ "Modern Rock – Available for Airplay Archive". FMQB. Mediaspan Online Services. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  42. ^ "Fire – Single by Dead By Sunrise". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  43. ^ "Let Down (Live) | Dead By Sunrise | Music Video". MTV Music. Viacom Media Networks. October 26, 2009. Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2013.