Finger Eleven biography
Finger Eleven is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1989. They have currently released five studio albums, with their album The Greyest of Blue Skies bringing them into the mainstream. The 2003 self-titled album achieved Gold status in the United States and Platinum in Canada, largely from the success of the single "One Thing", which marked the band's first placing on the US Hot 100 Chart at number 16. Their 2007 album Them vs. You vs. Me launched the single "Paralyzer", which went on to top numerous charts including the Canadian Hot 100 and both US rock charts, as well as reaching #6 on the US Hot 100 and #12 on the Australian Singles Chart. They won the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2008.
History
Letters from Chutney and Tip (1995-1999)
Finger Eleven first formed in their high school, Lester B. Pearson High School in Burlington, Ontario, but then achieved a devoted Canadian following throughout their time as a band. One of their first shows was at a school Christmas concert in 1990. They were originally called Rainbow Butt Monkeys. They released their first full album
Letters from Chutney (1995) with money won from a rock band search contest on 97.7 CHTZ (Hits) HTZ FM's "Southern Ontario's Best Rock".
The group found a new management team in Coalition Entertainment (Rob Lanni & Eric Lawrence with Sarah Parham) in 1996. Once they had realized their music changed and wanted to be taken more seriously, "Rainbow Butt Monkeys" became "Finger Eleven". The name Finger Eleven comes from an earlier version of the song "Thin Spirits" from the album Tip. Scott Anderson explains: "when everything is pushing you in one direction and your instinct drives you in another that's finger eleven, I couldn't get it out of my head."
Their breakthrough album, Tip, was released on Mercury Records in Canada in 1997 and re-released by Windup Records in the United States in 1998. This marked a change in the band's sound. Tip was produced by Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace). By then, they managed to tour alongside bands such as Creed and Fuel.
The Greyest of Blue Skies and Finger Eleven (2000-2006)
Following the release of
Tip, drummer Rob Gommerman left the band and was replaced by Rich Beddoe whom James Black had met coincidentally at an Alice in Chains concert several years earlier in Toronto.
In 2002 the recorded the song Slow Chemical for (WWE) Superstar Kane as his entrance music. The song would then be released in the album The Punisher: The Album in 2004.
In 2000, Finger Eleven released The Greyest of Blue Skies, again produced by Arnold Lanni. They had success in their home country with this album going gold (50,000 units sold).
In 2002 they recorded the song
Their 2003 release, self-titled album Finger Eleven was produced by Johnny K. This album includes the sleeper hit single "One Thing" which pushed the band into the mainstream. The song was a hit on rock, pop, and adult radio charts; the success of the single earned the band its first US Gold Album (500,000 copies) and Canadian Platinum (100,000 copies). "One Thing" reached #16 in the U.S., and had exposure on TV series such as Scrubs, Smallville and Third Watch. It was used on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE's) June 25, 2007 edition of Raw during a tribute video featuring Chris Benoit who had killed himself on June 25. In 2007, a duet version with Amy Lee of Evanescence was also recorded.
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