The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish rock band formed in Fagersta in 1993. After gaining traction in Sweden through the 1990s, they rose to worldwide prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. The band's line-up—consisting of Howlin' Pelle Almqvist (vocals), Nicholaus Arson (lead guitar, backing vocals), Vigilante Carlstroem (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Dr. Matt Destruction (bass), and Chris Dangerous (drums)—remained unchanged from 1993 until 2013, when Matt Destruction retired for health reasons and was replaced by The Johan and Only.
This article is about the Swedish band. For the disease known as hives, see Urticaria. For other uses, see Hive.The Hives have released six studio albums: Barely Legal (1997), Veni Vidi Vicious (2000), Tyrannosaurus Hives (2004), The Black and White Album (2007), Lex Hives (2012), and The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons (2023). They have also released the compilation album Your New Favourite Band (2001), the live DVD Tussles in Brussels (2005), and the live album Live at Third Man Records (2020). Their mainstream success came with the release of Veni Vidi Vicious and its single "Hate to Say I Told You So", considered their signature song. They are known for always dressing in matching black-and-white tuxedos and for their energetic and eccentric live shows, with critics hailing them as one of the best live rock bands of the last two decades.[1][2][3]
History[edit]
Beginnings of the Hives (1993–1999)[edit]
The Hives was formed in 1993 by brothers Per "Pelle" Almqvist (Howlin' Pelle Almqvist) and Niklas Almqvist (Nicholaus Arson) in Fagersta.[4] Friends of the brothers, Mikael Karlsson (Vigilante Carlstroem), Mattias Bernvall (Dr. Matt Destruction) and Christian Grahn (Chris Dangerous), soon joined the band and took punk rock-inspired stage names like the brothers.[4] Drummer Dangerous suggested the name "Hives" for the band as he had read the word for the skin disease in a dictionary.[4] The other members misunderstood the condition based on his description of it, as Howlin' Pelle later explained, "we thought it was a way more lethal disease, for one, and we thought it was way more contagious. So, we figured that we’d spread like a deadly disease across the land". The band went by the name Hives for some time before they realized that "all good band names are plurals", and added a 'the' to their name.[4]
The band's first recording was a 1994 demo titled Sounds Like Sushi. In 1995, the band signed with Burning Heart Records, a Swedish independent record label. The following year they released their debut EP Oh Lord! When? How? In 1997, the band released their debut studio album, Barely Legal, and embarked on a tour in support of it. The album's track "The Stomp" was later featured on the soundtrack of the film RocknRolla.[5] In 1998, the band released their second EP, A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T. Burning Heart signed a deal with Epitaph Records to distribute the band's material in the United States during that same year.[6]
Veni Vidi Vicious and Your New Favourite Band (2000–2002)[edit]
The Hives released their second studio album, Veni Vidi Vicious, in April 2000 through Burning Heart Records. The band members described the album as being like "a velvet glove with brass knuckles, both brutal and sophisticated at the same time". The album yielded the singles "Hate to Say I Told You So", "Main Offender", "Die, All Right!", and "Supply and Demand". The album track "The Hives – Introduce the Metric System in Time" was included on the punk rock compilation album Punk-O-Rama Volume 5 from Epitaph later that year.[7] "Hate To Say I Told You So" was later included on the soundtrack for Spider-Man, and also featured in the video game Forza Horizon . The track "Main Offender" was featured in the video game Rock Band while "Die, All Right!" was released as downloadable content in the game's digital music store.
After seeing the video for "Hate to Say I Told You So" on German television, industry executive Alan McGee decided to sign the band to his newly formed Poptones label. Poptones released the 'best of' compilation Your New Favourite Band in 2001, which proved to be the band's breakthrough record, reaching number seven on the UK album charts. Following the success of the album, the band re-released the singles "Hate to Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender", which reached number 23 and 24 respectively on the UK Singles chart. The band also re-released Veni Vidi Vicious in the US.
During the promotion of Veni Vidi Vicious and Your New Favourite Band, the Hives signed a record deal with Universal Music, reportedly worth $10 million.[8] The signing was a result of Epitaph selling the rights to the band's material in the US to Warner Bros. Records without informing the members beforehand.[4] A dispute followed between the Hives and the labels, who claimed that the band were still contracted for one more album, in which a lawsuit was filed against the band and settled out of court.[9][4]
Tyrannosaurus Hives (2003–2006)[edit]
After extensive touring and winning awards for "Best International Band" and "Best Dressed Band" at the NME awards in 2003, the band retreated to Fagersta to record their third album.Tyrannosaurus Hives was released in 2004 and included the singles "Walk Idiot Walk", which debuted at number 13 on the UK singles charts, "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones", a top 50 hit, and "A Little More for Little You". The tracks "B is for Brutus" and "Uptight" were featured in the video game Gran Turismo 4, while "No Pun Intended" was featured in the video games SSX on Tour and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.
In 2005, the band won five Swedish Grammis awards in the categories "Artist of the Year", "Rock Group of the Year", "Album of the Year", "Producer of the Year" (with collaborator, Pelle Gunnerfeldt), while the video for "Walk Idiot Walk" won the MTV "Best Music Video" award.[10][11]
Collaborations[edit]
In 2006, Almqvist collaborated with Swedish rock artist Moneybrother on a cover of the Operation Ivy song "Freeze Up" for his cover album Pengabrorsan. The duo replaced the song's original lyrics with Swedish lyrics and retitled it to "Jag Skriver Inte På Nåt" (Swedish for "I Won't Sign Anything"). The Hives collaborated with hip-hop producer Timbaland on the track "Throw It On Me" from his 2007 album Shock Value. The band also featured in the track's music video.[41] During that same year, Howlin' Pelle posted in the online diary on the band's website that he had recorded footsteps with Jack White for the Raconteurs new album.[42]
In 2008, the Hives contributed to the tracks "Time For Some Action" and "Windows" from N.E.R.D.'s album Seeing Sounds, with Almqvist providing guest vocals on the former. The members are credited by their real names on the album instead of the pseudonyms they use within the band.[43][44] Later that year, the band recorded a Christmas duet entitled "A Christmas Duel" with Cyndi Lauper, which was available as a free download from their website on 28 November.[45]
In 2018, the Almqvist brothers gifted the song "Let the Punishment Fit the Behind" to the Norwegian rock band Turbonegro for their album RockNRoll Machine.[46] Howlin' Pelle performed the song live with the band during their concert in Stockholm on 9 March. In 2019, the singer contributed backing vocals to the track "Turn the Cross" from Swedish punk band Refused's album War Music.
Current members
Former members
Former touring musicians
Studio albums
