Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal.[2] The band's current lineup consists of Sandoval (lead vocals, guitars, percussion), Colm Ó Cíosóig (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums), Suki Ewers (keyboards), and Josh Yenne (pedal steel guitars, guitars, drums).
Mazzy Star
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
- 1988–1997
- 2012–present
- Rhymes of an Hour
- Rough Trade
- Capitol
Hope Sandoval
Suki Ewers
Colm Ó Cíosóig
Josh Yenne
William Cooper
Jill Emery
Keith Mitchell
David Roback
Mazzy Star is best known for the song "Fade into You", which brought the band some success in the mid-1990s and was the group's biggest mainstream hit, earning extensive exposure on MTV, VH1, and radio airplay. Roback and Sandoval were the creative center of the band, with Sandoval as lyricist and Roback as composer of the majority of the band's material until his death in Los Angeles on February 24, 2020, from cancer. Mazzy Star's founding drummer Keith Mitchell, originally part of Opal, died on May 14, 2017, also from cancer. The EP Still released on June 1, 2018 was dedicated to Keith Mitchell and stage manager Tom Cashen who also died in 2017. Following Roback's death in 2020, Sandoval and Ewers are the last surviving members of the band's original lineup.
The band released the album She Hangs Brightly in 1990, So Tonight That I Might See in 1993 (the album went platinum in 1995), and Among My Swan in 1996.
The band's most recent studio album, Seasons of Your Day, was released in 2013, followed by the EP Still in 2018.
History[edit]
Opal and Paisley Underground (1981–1987)[edit]
Mazzy Star has deep roots within the Californian Paisley Underground movement of the early 1980s. David Roback, along with his brother Steven, was one of the main architects of leading Los Angeles psychedelic revival band the Rain Parade.[2][3] Leaving that band after their first LP, he founded Clay Allison in 1983 with then-girlfriend, ex-Dream Syndicate bassist Kendra Smith.[2][4] Soon after the publication of their sole release, the 1983 double A-sided single "Fell From the Sun"/"All Souls", Clay Allison renamed themselves Opal and released the LP Happy Nightmare Baby on SST on December 14, 1987.[4] With Roback as its musical catalyst, Opal were a direct precursor to Mazzy Star musically—often featuring the same psychedelic guitar drones and similar hints of blues and folk that would later appear on Mazzy Star recordings. Meanwhile, Sandoval—who was in high school at the time—formed the folk music duo Going Home in the early 1980s with fellow student Sylvia Gomez,[4] and played gigs with Sonic Youth and Minutemen.[5] Both were devoted followers of the Rain Parade, and after a 1983 concert by the band in the Los Angeles area, Gomez entered the backstage area of the venue and gave Roback a copy of Going Home's demo tape, featuring Sandoval on vocals and Gomez on guitar.[4][5] Upon hearing the tape, Roback offered to produce a still-unreleased album by the pair.[2][4]
When Smith left Opal under cloudy circumstances in the middle of a tour supporting The Jesus & Mary Chain, Sandoval was chosen as her replacement.[2]