Breaking Benjamin

Breaking benjamin is one of my favorite bands and here is a little biography of them; enjoy. Breaking Benjamin is an alternative rock band from Pennsylvania. The band now includes Ben Burnley as the lead vocalist, Aaron Fink and Mark James Klepaski as the guitarists, and Jeremy Hummel as the drummer. (Breaking Benjamin)
The band all started in 1998 with Ben Burnley and Jeremy Hummel doing a Nirvana cover. When the song was over Ben threw the microphone to the ground breaking it. Then the owner of the equipment said to the audience "I'd like to thank Benjamin for breaking my freaking microphone". From then on the band called themselves Breaking Benjamin. Approximately a year later they changed their band’s name to Plan 9, and then in 2000 the band changed the name back to Breaking Benjamin. At this time two new members joined the band. The new members were Aaron Fink and Mark James Klepaski. They currently had a band of their own called Lifer. Lifer was a band that obtained short-lived fame and attention. The cause of that was their part in an MTV cover band contest that resulted in a record deal with Universal Records. They decided that they wanted to join Burnley and Hummel because they were so impressed with Benjamin’s song writing talent. (Breaking Benjamin Biography)
Some interesting facts about Breaking Benjamin are the logo is tattooed on Burnley's left wrist. The Breaking Benjamin logo was found in a tattoo book by a fan. Breaking Benjamin even has fans so dedicated that they have people video taping themselves singing Breaking Benjamin song and posting them on the internet. They also have a few hit songs that are featured on the moth popular videogames, such as halo. There are songs also featured on some T.V shows and soundtracks of movies. Their record for being at the top of the music charts has been over 35 weeks in a row. The rumor is that in the spring of 2008 they are going back to the studio after their tour is concluded they will start working on their fifth album. Their first album was “Saturate” that debuted in 2001, and their second album was “We Are Not Alone” that came out in June 2004. Later that year they released their third album, “So Cold”. The most recent album Breaking Benjamin released was “Phobia” and that was released August 6 in 2006
While performing live in concert the band has been known to frequently sing songs from Godsmack, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Tool, and on more recent tours Deftones, and Nine Inch Nails songs. The band usually tour with Seethe, Tool, and Velvet Revolver. Thursday I will see them in concert in Illinois where they will be performing with Three Days Grace and Seether.
I would categorize Breaking Benjamin as apart of pop culture because they are a very important part of the rock culture and in America you know that there are different types of music with rock being the most popular. I think that if you know American pop culture you have to know rock and Breaking Benjamin are a perfect example. I chose to research Breaking Benjamin for my biography because they are popular so I think that they are a big part of American pop culture.