Drowning Pool is a four-piece rock band that was formed in 1996 in Dallas, Texas, United States. They are currently signed to Eleven Seven Music and have released three albums, their most recent being Full Circle , which was released on August 7, 2007. Each of their three albums has featured a different lead singer. After original lead singer Dave Williams died, Jason Jones took over for their second album, Desensitized . When he left the band for personal reasons, he was replaced by former Soil lead singer Ryan McCombs for Full Circle . The band will be playing in Crüe Fest 2: the White Trash Circus in the summer of 2009.

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History

Early days (2000-2002)

Drowning Pool rose to fame while playing along with Ozzy Osbourne during an Ozzfest tour. Their 2001 debut album, Sinner , was certified silver within six months, and the video for its first single "Bodies" was widely aired on various music video channels. After the September 11th attacks, radio stations pulled "Bodies" because there were concerns regarding its content in light of the 9/11 victims who had jumped from the towers. On August 14, 2002, the band's lead singer Dave Williams was found dead inside his tour bus ^[1]. A spokesperson for the medical examiner from the Northern District of Virginia said he suffered from a form of heart disease ^[2]. When asked if the band had any unreleased songs, according to a 2002 Blabbermouth article, drummer Mike Luce replied that "only 3-4 songs were done, including one called "Heroes," which is a tribute to dead rock musicians such as Layne Staley. I don't know if we will ever release them."

Jason Jones (2003-2005)

After Williams' death, the band decided to carry on and begin searching for a new singer ^[3]. Many were considered, such as Ben Schigel of Switched, Vince Mullins of Haji's Kitchen, Robb Flynn of Machine Head and many others. But in 2003, the band decided on Jason 'Gong' Jones to replace Williams ^[4] and released the album Desensitized in 2004. During this era, Drowning Pool also experienced a considerable shift in visual style: rather than the dark, grimacing, anti-social demeanor seen with Williams as the frontman, they shifted toward rock star vanity and sex appeal. Despite the success of the album's lead single, "Step Up," the album was not nearly as successful as Sinner .

Jones' departure from Drowning Pool was publicly announced on June 14, 2005, due to irreconcilable differences ^[5]. Jones would later join the alternative metal band AM Conspiracy. Almost immediately, rumors started swirling concerning the new singer's identity, ranging from Pat Lachman of Damageplan to Phil Anselmo of Pantera, but the biggest buzz of the rumors was about former Soil singer Ryan McCombs. Drowning Pool announced that the new singer would be formally announced at Ozzfest in Dallas, Texas, where Drowning Pool did a one-off performance on the main stage.

On July 20, 2005, the website received word from close sources that McCombs was indeed the new singer. According to their manager, McCombs was "really good" and someone the band had wanted when they first set out to replace original vocalist Dave Williams nearly two years prior ^[6]. However, McCombs, who abruptly left his previous band while in mid tour in 2004 and forced the cancellation of several tour dates, acquired further resentment from his former bandmates for joining Drowning Pool. In particular, bassist Tim King claimed on Soil's website that McCombs would "be singing the very songs he hailed as 'average,' " and scoffed, "Drowning Pool can have him. Now we have the better singer and the better band." ^[7]

New beginning (2006-2007)

In spring of 2006, Drowning Pool announced that they had parted ways with Wind-up Records ^[8]. In October 2006, the new song "No More" was announced to be released on the Saw III soundtrack, their first track (besides the second version of "Rise Up") with McCombs on vocals.

On February 26, 2007, the band announced it signed a new deal with Eleven Seven Music. ^[9] It was also confirmed that Drowning Pool would have a new management company, Tenth Street Entertainment.

The band's latest album, Full Circle , was released on August 7, 2007 and met with moderate success, though some fans pointed out that they favored McCombs' vocals over previous vocalist Jason Jones. Two songs on the album were produced by Funny Farm Records, owned by Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba. The remaining tracks have been recorded with producer Ben Schigel at the Dallas-based January Sound Studio.

Loudest Common Denominator & fourth studio album (2008-present)

In January 2008, the band members announced that they would be touring North America as special guests of Saliva. ^[10] On July 26, 2008, in Dubuque, Iowa, Drowning Pool played at the Dubuque County Fair alongside the bands Sick Puppies and Seether.

In September 2008, McCombs said in a statement that Drowning Pool will be recording its next album after it finishes touring with Saliva. ^[11] According to an article from the El Paso Times, Drowning Pool has written material for its new album, and the band will be in the recording studio following the holidays.

On December 9, 2008, bassist Stevie Benton was quoted by the Associated Press as considering it an honor that the U.S. military was using Drowning Pool's music to inflict music torture upon captured prisoners. ^[12] On December 13, 2008, Stevie Benton issued an apology on Drowning Pool's MySpace page about his comment on musical torture, stating his comment had been "taken out of context". ^[13]

On March 3, 2009, the band released its live album, Loudest Common Denominator , which featured two bonus tracks of acoustic versions of "Shame" and "37 Stitches". ^[14]

According to a blog posted by the band members on the website SMNNEWS, they have hinted at having six songs already completed, and they just need to finish the other half of the album. McCombs dropped teasers of possible titles to two of the songs, "L.O.M.L" and "Regret". Drummer Mike Luce also said they are hoping to have the album out and in stores by summer of 2009. Guitarist C.J. Pierce also said he is bringing back some effects used on debut album Sinner , but not on the previous two albums ^[15].

Tours

• Ozzfest 2002 Tour
• Sinner Tour
• Desensitized Tour
• Full Circle Tour
• This Is For The Soldiers Tour 2007
• Full Circle Tour
• Know Your Enemy Tour 2008
• 2008 World Tour
• Escape From the Studio Tour (opening for Korn)
• Spring/Summer Tour 2009
• Crue Fest 2

Members

• Ryan McCombs - vocals
• C.J. Pierce - guitar, backing vocals
• Stevie Benton - bass guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Luce - drums, percussion,backing vocals

Former members

• Dave Williams: vocals (1996-2002)
• Jason Jones: vocals (2003-2005)

Discography

• Sinner (2001)
• Desensitized (2004)
• Full Circle (2007)
• Loudest Common Denominator (2009)

In media

• Drowning Pool songs have been used by World Wrestling Entertainment. "Bodies" was used for Summerslam 2001, "Sinner" was used for Vengeance 2001, "Tear Away" for WrestleMania X8 (the band performed the song live at the event), and "Step Up" for WrestleMania XX. "Rise Up 2006" was used as the SmackDown! brand's official theme. "Rise Up" was featured on the album WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6 and was originally recorded with Jason Jones. However, a new version of the song recorded with Ryan McCombs was featured as a bonus downloadable track for the WWE Wreckless Intent album. The remix, "Rise Up 2006" was a former WWE Friday Night SmackDown theme.
• Drowning Pool also recorded a version of Triple H's theme "The Game" for the album WWF Forceable Entry, however the version recorded by Motörhead continues to be used for TV and live events.
• The song "Bodies" has been used multiple times by World Wrestling Entertainment. It was also the official theme song for SummerSlam 2001, One Night Stand 2005 and 2006, and December to Dismember 2006. "Bodies" was also used as the ECW brand's official theme from June 13, 2006 until July 10, 2007. It was also one of Stephanie McMahon's entrance music.
• The song "Follow" was featured in the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 .
• The song "Sinner" was also the main theme song for Jet Li's film The One . The song "Bodies" is also featured in the film.
• The song "Step Up" was featured in the end credits for 2004 film The Punisher .
• Ring of Honor wrestler Kevin Steen uses the song "Tear Away" as his entrance theme.
• The band included three songs on the English release of the Dragon Ball Z feature movie Cooler's Revenge . They are "Reminded", "Mute", and "Told You So", all three originally from the album Sinner , the band's debut album.
• On Memorial Day, May 25, 2008, ESPN's SportsCenter did a short feature on Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge entering the game to Drowning Pool's "Soldiers". He chose the song for his entrance theme for the 2008 spring training as a way to honor the troops.
• The song "Bodies" was used to promote the 2008 film Rambo .