hard rock

Saliva

2 festivals played ↓

Memphis band from the nu-metal boom whose riff-and-hook formula outlasted the trend that produced it — three decades of rap-inflected hard rock.

Saliva formed in Bartlett, a Memphis suburb, in September 1996, pulled together from local bands Roxy Blue, Blackbone and Gemini Clan. After a scrappy demo tape won them a spot in a Grammy Showcase talent competition, they took first place locally and regionally before finishing runner-up at the national final in New York. Island Records signed them soon after, and they released a self-titled debut in 1997.

Every Six Seconds became their commercial breakthrough, carrying the singles "Your Disease" and "Click Click Boom." Back Into Your System followed in 2002, reaching No. 19 on the Billboard 200 on the strength of "Always," which topped the Modern Rock chart. Both records helped make the band a fixture of sports broadcasts and WWE programming.

The band kept releasing albums through the 2000s and beyond: Survival of the Sickest, then Blood Stained Love Story in 2007, which matched the earlier No. 19 Billboard 200 peak and produced the No. 2 Mainstream Rock hit "Ladies and Gentlemen." Six further studio albums followed, most recently Revelation in 2023, alongside a Grammy nomination and an MTV Video Music Award along the way.

Their sound combines downtuned guitar riffs with sung choruses and occasional rapped verses. Josey Scott fronted the group through its most commercially successful years before departing, and Bobby Amaru has handled lead vocals since. Guitarist Wayne Swinny, the band's last remaining original member, died in 2023, leaving no founding members in the current lineup.

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hard rock