hard rock

Hinder

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Oklahoma City post-grunge outfit whose 'Lips of an Angel' became inescapable in the mid-2000s — two decades of hard rock built around outsized radio hooks.

Hinder formed in Oklahoma City in 2001 when singer Austin Winkler met drummer Cody Hanson and guitarist Joe Garvey at a college party. Bassist Cole Parker joined during work on their debut EP, later replaced by Mike Rodden, with Mark King added on rhythm guitar. The band built a following playing a local club called the Blue Note, funding their independent 2003 EP Far from Close, which sold around 5,000 copies.

In 2005 Hinder signed to Universal Records and released Extreme Behavior, produced by Brian Howes. The album went triple platinum in the United States. Its second single, the power ballad "Lips of an Angel," crossed over from rock radio to pop stations and became the song most identified with the band, helped by Cody Hanson and Winkler's songwriting on most of the record.

Hinder followed with Take It to the Limit in 2008, All American Nightmare in 2010 and Welcome to the Freakshow in 2012, all recorded with Winkler on lead vocals. In 2007 the band was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, a mark of their standing in the state's rock scene alongside their national radio success.

Winkler left Hinder in 2013 and was replaced by Marshall Dutton, who has since sung on When the Smoke Clears (2015) and The Reign (2017). The band released Back to Life in 2025 through Evil Teen Records, their first new album in seven years, keeping the hard rock and alternative metal sound intact through the lineup change.

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hard rock