While most of the alternative rock bands of the early 1990s borrowed their musical style from Nirvana, Sound Garden and Nine Inch Nails, Blind Melon was the exception. The songs of the creative team are based on the ideas of classic rock, like the bands Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and others.
And although the musicians were waiting for a promising career, the tragedy that happened to one of the band members put an end to the whole bright future.
The beginning of the history of the band Blind Melon
Blind Melon formed in 1989 in Los Angeles. All future members of the team changed their place of residence at the same time. They chose one of the largest and most interesting cities in the United States as their permanent residence. The original lineup of the Bling Melon quintet was as follows:
- Singer Shannon Hong.
- Guitarist Christopher Thorne.
- Guitarist Roger Stevens.
- Bassist Brad Smith.
- Drummer Glenn Gramm.
In stark contrast to the glossy glam metal that was popular in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Blind Melon promoted a fresh, individual and unique approach to the music they played.
The team told their own story, "crushing" the "generally accepted" norms not only regarding melody, rhythm and text, but also the accompanying visualization. From the very beginning of its existence, the band's music has immersed listeners in a heavy and fascinating retro atmosphere.
Career start
After the final line-up and name was confirmed, the young, promising band was signed to Capitol Records. This event took place in 1991. Starting work on the first EP-album The Sipp in Time Sessions, the musicians could not establish a creative process. Recording of tracks has stopped a bit.
Despite the problems in the "promotion" of the first project, the band's lead singer Shannon Hong met with a friend from the group Gun's and Rose's. Then he performed with musicians at several concert festivals. Hoon also showed his talent in several tracks of the famous band, and even appeared with GNR in an epic video clip for one of the songs recorded with his participation.
In the spring of 1992, Blind Melon, thanks to Khun's connections, performed on the MTV tour. Within its framework, the team performed with Live, Big Audio Dynamite and Public Image Ltd. At that time, almost all the States began to talk about the Los Angeles guys. The only problem was that the band didn't have a studio album until now.
Blind Melon, who understood the need for a debut album, started the album in early 1992. The album, released in September of the same year, was released under the direction of the well-known producer of Temple the Dog and Pearl Jam. From the end of 1992 to the middle of 1993. the band toured the clubs and stages in the United States continuously.
The team released several not very popular singles. Each of them went on sale without much fanfare on the MTV music platform. The "explosion" of the popularity of the Blind Melon group occurred after the release of the song No Rain - the track made a splash, reaching the top of many national American charts. Ultimately, the song No Rain was certified platinum 4 times.
The period of popularity of the band Blind Melon
In 1993 Blind Melon performed with Neil Young and Lenny Kravitz. The team went on their own tour of the theater scenes in America in 1994. During this time, the group was nominated several times for various Grammy awards, including the titles of "Best New Artist" and "Best Rock Performance".
However, significant success was "the beginning of the end". One of the leaders of the group project, Shannon Hong, was unable to cope with his problems with the use of hard drugs. In mid-1994, the young artist was placed in a drug treatment clinic. The band was unable to finish the last part of the ongoing tour.
Drug addiction Shannon Hoon
Recording for Soup's second studio album began in the fall of 1994. Namely, after the end of the world tour and Hong's release from the drug treatment clinic. Within the creative workshop was the New Orleans studio. Producer Andy Wales became the main manager of the work.
During the recording of the final tracks for the new record, Hoon continued to use drugs. At one point, he was arrested for a drunken brawl with a local police officer. After the incident, the artist, at the insistence of his comrades, moved to a rehabilitation center, and the guys postponed the release date of the album.
Extremely dark, arousing considerable interest and genuine listening pleasure, Soup's album, unfortunately, was rejected by many critics. This state of affairs led to a decrease in the number of sales of the record.
As a result, she ended up only on the 28th position of the Billboard chart. The end of the tragic story was that on October 21, 1995, Hong was found dead. The cause of his death was a drug overdose.
Life and work without a "legend"
After Hun's death, the guys looked for a replacement for him for a long time, they even released an album with old developments a year later. Since there was no replacement for the "legend", the guys announced the suspension of their musical activities.
After 10 years, the band reunited and invited Travis Warren as vocalist. Together the guys released their third album For My Friends in 2008. Blind Melon then went on a European tour. But soon the members announced the departure of the new vocalist.
The guys worked in their own and other projects, suspending activities in this project. In 2010, the guys got back together and brought back Warren. From time to time, the Blind Melon group traveled to festivals and performed with concerts, but did not record new works. In 2019, the song Way Down and Far Below was released, which was written for the first time in 11 years. The musicians are also preparing their fourth full-length album in 2020.
