Vacaville, CA · nu-metal · alt-rock

Papa Roach

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'Last Resort' to now — nu-metal survivors who never stopped filling fields, with Jacoby Shaddix still working every inch of stage.

Papa Roach formed in Vacaville, California, in 1993, after singer Jacoby Shaddix and drummer Dave Buckner met on the Vacaville High School football field. Guitarist Jerry Horton, from nearby Vanden High School, joined soon after, and the band's name combined the nicknames of Shaddix's two grandfathers, "Papa" and "Roach." Bassist Tobin Esperance completed the lineup in 1996, replacing early member Will James.

The band spent the mid-1990s playing whatever shows it could find, releasing a string of independent EPs and a debut album, Old Friends from Young Years, in 1997. Two years later Papa Roach signed to DreamWorks Records, setting up the release that would make its name.

That album, Infest, arrived in 2000 and went on to sell triple platinum. Its lead single, "Last Resort," paired rapped verses with a sung chorus in the style then dominating American rock radio, topped the Alternative Songs chart, and was eventually certified six times platinum on its own.

Papa Roach followed with the gold-selling Lovehatetragedy in 2002 and the platinum Getting Away with Murder in 2004, whose single "Scars" became the band's biggest mainstream hit, reaching number 15 on the Hot 100. Across these records and the ones that followed, the group moved gradually toward straightforward hard rock and alternative metal, keeping the big choruses while dropping much of the rap phrasing.

Buckner left the band in 2007 and was replaced by Tony Palermo, a lineup that has held ever since through albums including Metamorphosis, The Connection, F.E.A.R., Crooked Teeth, Who Do You Trust? and 2022's Ego Trip. Shaddix's between-song exhortations and constant movement remain a fixture of the live show, more than three decades into the band's run.

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nu-metalalt-rock