Led by charismatic vocalist/guitarist Lzzy Hale, Pennsylvania-based post-grunge/metal quartet Halestorm are one of the most successful hard rock groups of the early 21st century. With an aggressive yet hook-heavy sound that has become a fixture of American rock radio, Halestorm have toured restlessly, playing hundreds of shows per year and sharing the stage with nearly all of the popular American hard rock acts of their era. In 2013, the band took home a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the single “Love Bites (So Do I),” which appeared on their sophomore studio effort, The Strange Case Of…. Subsequent efforts Into the Wild Life (2015), Vicious (2018), and Back from the Dead (2022) have shown the group to be equally adept at muscular hard rockers and piano-driven power ballads, and their sound has branched out to include elements of dance music and pop-country.
Siblings Elizabeth and Arejay Hale, the core members of Halestorm, formed the group in late 1997 near York, Pennsylvania, with Arejay on drums and Elizabeth on vocals and keyboard. Wanting to expand their sound, the duo invited their father, Roger, to play bass with the band. Shortly after their first professional gig in 1998 at the Blue Mountain Coffee House in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Halestorm added various guitar players and released an EP, 1999’s (Don’t Mess with The) Time Man. More lineup changes occurred, but Halestorm finally solidified with Elizabeth (who was by then going by Lzzy) on vocals and guitar, Josh Smith on bass, Arejay on drums, and Joe Hottinger on guitar. The band caught the attention of producer David Ivory as well as Atlantic Records — both were involved in the group’s major-label debut, 2006’s One and Done, a five-song EP recorded live at a show in Philadelphia. They would finally make their full-length studio debut in 2009 with the eponymous Halestorm, all the while maintaining a rigorous touring schedule that would see them playing upwards of 250 shows a year.
The following year, Halestorm released the concert recording Live in Philly 2010, and Reanimate: The Covers EP appeared in 2011, featuring the band’s takes on songs by Heart, Guns N’ Roses, and Lady Gaga. Their sophomore album, The Strange Case Of…, followed in 2012, and the single “Love Bites (So Do I)” earned the group a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance. Reanimate 2.0 was released in 2013, this time finding the band tackling Fleetwood Mac, Daft Punk, and Marilyn Manson. Halestorm’s eclectic third studio long-player, the Jay Joyce-produced Into the Wild Life, was released in April 2015, and was preceded by the single “Apocalyptic.” The live EP Into the Wild Live: Chicago arrived in 2016, followed in early 2017 by their third covers set, Reanimate 3.0, which featured songs by Whitesnake, Metallica, and Soundgarden. Vicious, the band’s fourth studio long-player, followed in July 2018 and earned the group a Best Rock Performance Grammy nomination for the single “Uncomfortable.” 2020 saw Halestorm issue Reimagined, a six-song EP that featured stripped-down versions of five fan favorites and a cover of “I Will Always Love You.”
Two years later, they unveiled their fifth long-player, Back from the Dead. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz with co-production by Scott Stevens, the 11-song set included “The Steeple” and “Back from the Dead,” the latter of which became Halestorm’s sixth single to reach number one on the Active Rock charts. A deluxe edition of the album with seven new tracks arrived later that December. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi