Living Colour originally started in 1984 as a side project for guitarist Vernon Reid, who eventually hired Corey Glover on vocals, Muzz Skillings on bass, and Will Calhoun on drums. After spending a few years on the local scene, Living Colour were signed to Epic Records in 1987 and began recording their debut album that same year. The resulting debut, "Vivid", was released in 1988 and managed to debut at number six on the Billboard 200 charts, their highest chart position to date. Thanks to the single "Cult of Personality", "Vivid" eventually achieved double platinum status. By 1989, Living Colour had gained further exposure when they appeared on Saturday Night Live, supported The Rolling Stones and Guns N' Roses on the "Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle" tour and were named Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Living Colour's second album "Time's Up" was released in 1990. The album was as successful as "Vivid", spawning five singles ("Type", "Love Rears Its Ugly Head", "Solace of You", "Elvis Is Dead" and "Pride"), peaking at another higher position on the Billboard 200 charts (#13) and achieving gold status. "Time's Up" eventually won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1991. "Biscuits", an EP containing covers and tracks that were recorded live or unreleased, was also released in 1991 and debuted at lower position at #110 on the Billboard 200 chart. However, the EP's only single "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing", which is a cover of James Brown, did chart on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks at #12.
After the release of "Biscuits", Skillings left Living Colour in 1992, citing creative differences, and was replaced by Doug Wimbish. The new lineup of Glover, Reid, Wimbish and Calhoun recorded the band's third album "Stain", which was released in 1993. While the album was not as successful as their previous recordings, "Stain" debuted at #26 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the lead single "Leave It Alone" peaked at number four on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, making it their second single to reach a higher position (one of their previous singles "Type" peaked at number three on the same chart). Around 1994, tensions began to surface amongst the band members while working on a fourth album. This resulted in breaking up in 1995, and since then, all the members of Living Colour went to work on their own projects. A compilation album, "Pride", was released posthumously that November and contained four tracks that they recorded for an attempted fourth album.
Living Colour remained defunct until December 21, 2000 when a performance under the name "Head>>Fake w/ special guests" brought the "Stain" lineup back together. The band started playing a series of reunion gigs and "Collideøscope", their first album in 10 years, was released in October 2003. Even though "Collideøscope" was critically praised at the time of its release, it failed to chart. Their next album, "The Chair in the Doorway", surfaced in September 2009. Despite peaking at a lower position at #159 on the Billboard 200 chart, "The Chair in the Doorway" generally received positive reviews.
Origin
New York, NY
Formed
1984
Members
Will Calhoun, Corey Glover, Vernon Reid, Muzz Skillings, Doug Wimbish
