Alter Bridge

American hard rock outfit Alter Bridge resurrected the music-making portion of Creed just as that band announced its official split in 2004. While Creed’s singer Scott Stapp embarked on a solo career, the remaining bandmates enlisted vocalist Myles Kennedy and quickly issued a debut, One Day Remains, which peaked at number five on the U.S. charts. With their hard-charging sound and Kennedy’s soaring vocals, Alter Bridge remained a fixture on the Billboard 200′s Top 20; in fact, 2016′s The Last Hero was their highest overall charting effort. They moved confidently into their next decade with 2022′s Pawns & Kings, their seventh album overall.
After Creed’s dissolution was finalized in 2004, plans for Alter Bridge’s debut were already well under way. Guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips tapped ousted bassist Brian Marshall for the new project, recruiting ex-Mayfield Four frontman Myles Kennedy as the band’s vocalist. Alter Bridge made their Wind-Up debut in August 2004 with One Day Remains, which shot to number five on the Billboard 200. Written largely by Tremonti, the record leaned more toward a hard rock/metal sound than the post-grunge grandstanding of his previous group. After touring the world to support the album, the band decided to leave Wind-Up and sign with the Universal imprint Republic. In late 2007, the label released Blackbird, an album that featured more songwriting contributions from Kennedy.
In 2009, the band took a break as Creed re-formed and went on tour. Meanwhile, Kennedy joined Slash’s touring band and got to work on a solo album. However, Alter Bridge were soon back together and their third album, AB III, was released in 2010, followed in 2012 by the concert recording Live at Wembley: European Tour 2011. After touring concluded, the band went back into the studio to record its fourth album, the critically acclaimed Fortress, a more thrash-influenced album that arrived in October 2013. It was their highest-charting effort since their debut and marked the start of an upward trajectory that carried them to the end of the decade.
In 2016, the band released its much anticipated fifth studio long-player, The Last Hero, which included the single “Show Me a Leader.” This time, Alter Bridge peaked within the Top Ten for the first time in over a decade. Embarking on a mammoth worldwide tour the following year to support the release, the group also recorded a handful of its shows and released them in the process. Live at the O2 Arena appeared in September 2017 alongside a selection of rarities, before the band recorded a two-night stint at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The resulting live album was issued exactly a year after the previous album, and this time featured the 52-piece Parallax Orchestra for backing. Shortly thereafter, the band returned to the studio for 2019′s Walk the Sky. Produced once again by their longtime collaborator Michael Baskette, but for the first time not co-written by him, the album included the heavy singles “Wouldn’t You Rather” and “Take the Crown,” as well as the John Carpenter-influenced “Pay No Mind.” 2020 saw the band issue the EP Walk the Sky 2.0, which included the new studio cut “Last Rites,” as well as six live tracks. Alter Bridge’s seventh studio album, Pawn & Kings, appeared in late 2022. A varied mix of styles, it veered into heavy prog territory on the eight-minute “Fable of the Silent Son” and even saw Tremonti taking over vocals on the power ballad “Stay.” ~ Johnny Loftus & Neil Z. Yeung