Bush

Bush are an English rock band formed in London in 1992. As of 2026, their lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Gavin Rossdale, lead guitarist Chris Traynor, bassist Corey Britz, and drummer Nik Hughes.

In 1994, Bush found immediate success outside the UK with the release of their debut album, Sixteen Stone, which is certified six times multi-platinum by the RIAA. Bush have had numerous top ten singles on the Billboard rock charts and one No. 1 album with Razorblade Suitcase in 1996. The band broke up in 2002 but reformed in 2010, and have released six albums since then: The Sea of Memories (2011), Man on the Run (2014), Black and White Rainbows (2017), The Kingdom (2020), The Art of Survival (2022) and I Beat Loneliness (2025).

History

Formation and Sixteen Stone (1992–1995)

After leaving his band Midnight, Gavin Rossdale met former King Blank guitarist Nigel Pulsford at a Wembley performance by Baby Animals opening for Bryan Adams in November 1991. The two musicians became friends over a shared appreciation for several artists, including Big Black, the Fall, Pixies, and the Velvet Underground. They formed a new band which they called Future Primitive. Describing the early sound of the group, one British record label executive said years later, "They weren't what they are today – they were a little like the more commercial side of INXS". To complete the lineup, the pair recruited bassist Dave Parsons, and drummer Robin Goodridge joined in mid-1993 shortly before Bush were signed. While still known as Future Primitive, the band released the song "Bomb", later to be featured on the band's debut, as a single through Rossdale's own Mad Dog Winston Records. Rossdale's goal was for Bush to sign with 4AD because of his love for their bands Cocteau Twins, Pixies and Throwing Muses.

In 1993, the band was signed by Rob Kahane, who had a distribution deal with Disney's Hollywood Records. The band completed recording its debut album Sixteen Stone in early 1994. However, the death of Disney executive Frank G. Wells eliminated a supporter for Kahane, and executives at Hollywood deemed Bush's album unacceptable for release. Consequently, the bandmates took jobs performing menial labour. Interscope Records ultimately decided to release the album, and at the end of 1994, Kahane sent an advance copy of the album to a friend at influential Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, which added the song "Everything Zen" to its rotation.

On the Billboard charts (North America), Sixteen Stone peaked at No. 4 on the Heatseekers and Billboard 200 charts. The album spawned two Top 40 singles. After about six months of promotion for Sixteen Stone, the album began to sell well, once "Comedown" and "Glycerine" struck America. Additionally, "Little Things" and "Machinehead" both charted well in North America.

In Canada, the band were initially forced to release Sixteen Stone under the name BushX, as the 1970s Canadian band Bush still held the rights to the name Bush in the Canadian market. The dispute arose after the British band's lawyers threatened to intervene to prevent the Canadian band from reissuing its 1970 album, although it was entirely between the bands' lawyers as Rossdale and Domenic Troiano, the leader of the Canadian band, both expressed a willingness to negotiate a solution. In 1997, after the band's second album Razorblade Suitcase also bore the X, Rossdale and Troiano directly negotiated an agreement under which the British band were allowed to drop the X in exchange for donating $20,000 each to the Starlight Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund. Both Sixteen Stone and Razorblade Suitcase were then reissued without the X.

Razorblade Suitcase (1996–1998)

In late 1996 Bush released the first single "Swallowed" from their second album titled Razorblade Suitcase. The song spent seven weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. This was followed by single "Greedy Fly". The album hit number 1 in America and placed high in many European countries. Bush later released the remix album Deconstructed. The album saw Bush re-arranging their songs into dance and techno stylings. The album went platinum less than a year after release.

The Science of Things (1999–2000)

Following the completion of touring, Rossdale went into seclusion in Ireland, where he worked on material for the group's next album, periodically sending demo tapes of his works in progress to his bandmates. The group finally convened to record in London in August 1998, where the band reteamed with Sixteen Stone producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley.