Mark Lanegan (born November 25, 1964 in Ellensburg, Washington) is a singer and songwriter. He has had a noteworthy career as a solo artist, but until recently was best known for his tenure as the lead singer of Screaming Trees, a band that was part of the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the 1990s.

• 1 Early life
• 2 Musical career
  • 2.1 Screaming Trees and early solo work (1986 - 1997)
  • 2.2 Later solo career and Queens of the Stone Age (1998-2007)
  • 2.3 Isobel Campbell collaboration (2005)
  • 2.4 Soulsavers' It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land (2007)
• 3 Discography
• 4 See also
• 5 External links

Lanegan rarely talks about his childhood years. However it is known that he came from a 'dysfunctional' family that he tried to avoid, and was heavily into drugs by the age of 18, having already been arrested and sentenced to one year's imprisonment for drug-related crimes.[1] He managed to get out of actual jail by taking a year-long rehab course. Around this time he met and befriended Van Conner with whom he would eventually form the Screaming Trees. At this point his relationship with the Conner brothers was restricted to talking about music and working for their parents' electronics hardware store. This job apparently largely involved repossessing televisions, microwaves and toasters from nearby trailer parks and having guns pulled on him. [2]

Screaming Trees put out their first electric album to good review, Clairvoyance in 1986 and recorded 9 albums and EPs of original material between 1986 and 1996. The band was among the pioneers of Seattle's grunge music phenomenon, but never achieved the fame or commercial success of other Seattle grunge acts such as Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, or Soundgarden. Lanegan's solo career began while he was still working with Screaming Trees, but has continued beyond the band's dissolution in 1997.

In 1990, Lanegan released his first solo album, The Winding Sheet, on the legendary label Sub Pop, which also hosted Nirvana, Soundgarden and many others. Around this time, Lanegan had a blues-based side-project which featured Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana fame on guitar and bass respectively, with then Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel on drums. Although a number of tracks were apparently recorded only one, a cover of Leadbelly's version of Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, ever surfaced, appearing on The Winding Sheet, although Cobain also supplied backing vocals elsewhere on the album. Nirvana would later go on to perform Where Did You Sleep Last Night at their famous Unplugged performance in New York. [3]In the end, the majority of the album was recorded with Pickerel on drums, Mike Johnson (who would later go on to play bass with Dinosaur Jr.) on guitar and Jack Endino on bass.[4]

The second record, 1994's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, was a more consistent recording.

In 1995 Lanegan appeared on Above, an album by the "grunge supergroup" Mad Season. The group was formed in late 1994 by Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and John Baker Saunders of The Walkabouts. Lanegan appeared on "Long Gone Day" and "I'm Above".

Lanegan then returned to his day job with Screaming Trees. 1996 brought the release of Dust. Often seen as the band's best record, it would also turn out to be their swan song. The record featured Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Mad Season playing the guitar solo on 'Dying Days', a track commemorating the death of several of Lanegan's close friends, and of the grunge scene in general.

1998 brought Scraps At Midnight, recorded in Joshua Tree.

The fourth of his solo recordings was 1999's I'll Take Care of You, on which Lanegan covers songs by prominent folk and R&B artists such as Tim Hardin and Booker T. and the MGs, as well as country icon Buck Owens.

In 2000, Lanegan appeared on Rated R, the second album from Queens of the Stone Age, singing lead vocals on the track "In The Fade."

2001 saw the release of his fourth album proper, Field Songs. This album had a more low-key feel than its predecessors and also featured friend Duff McKagan.

Lanegan appeared on the 2002 release from QOTSA entitled Songs for the Deaf, once again singing lead on the tracks "Song for the Dead," "Hangin' Tree," and "God is in the Radio". He also toured in support for that album.

2003 saw him appear on Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers record "Blackberry Belle".

On his latest solo album, Bubblegum (2004), Lanegan was joined by a cadre of prominent artists, including P. J. Harvey, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age, Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers, and Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin, previously of Guns N' Roses. Also appearing on Bubblegum is Lanegan's ex-wife, Wendy Rae Fowler.

The favorably reviewed album is his most commercially successful to date, reaching number 39 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart. Some would assume this is due to the appearance of several prominent musical figures.

Lanegan also frequently appears as a guest on other artists' records. He toured full-time as third vocalist for Queens of the Stone Age between 2001 and 2005 before leaving due to health issues. Joining his friend Joshua Homme, who supported the Screaming Trees as their touring guitarist in 1996, Lanegan's distinctive vocals are featured on many of QOTSA's most notable tracks (Hangin' Tree, Song for the Dead, and In the Fade, among others). The 2005 Queens of the Stone Age album Lullabies to Paralyze began with Mark Lanegan singing accompanied only by Homme's acoustic guitar on the track "This Lullaby". Improbably, he also recorded a song by Sandra Boynton, "Sneakers", for her 2005 rock-and-roll children's album, "Dog Train." He has also worked with Mad Season, Masters of Reality, Melissa Auf der Maur, Martina Topley-Bird, The Walkabouts, Mondo Generator and The Twilight Singers.

In September of 2005, Lanegan performed with Greg Dulli in Italy as the Gutter Twins for the first, and only, time. Other current projects include an album recorded with former Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd's band Hater, as well as a Gutter Twins studio album.

In 2007, Lanegan also appears on the Queens of the Stone Age album, Era Vulgaris, singing backup vocals for the track River in the Road.

In December of 2005, he released an EP with Isobel Campbell, formerly of Belle & Sebastian, titled Ramblin' Man (the title track itself a cover of the Hank Williams track). This served as a precursor to their full-length album, Ballad of the Broken Seas. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in Glasgow. Lanegan then added vocals in Los Angeles. The record was received well by critics who likened the duo to Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra.

Aside from providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the song Revolver. Different versions of this song appear on Ramblin' Man and Ballad of the Broken Seas. Ballad of the Broken Seas was put on the shortlist for the 2006 Mercury Prize.

2006 Tour

In 2006 Lanegan has been touring with Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers. Lanegan toured Europe and Israel with the Twilight Singers and a fall tour throughout the United States is currently under way. Lanegan is now listed as an official member of the band, according to the Twilight Singers' Myspace profile.

2007 Tour with Isobel Campbell

Lanegan played four UK dates in January 2007 with Isobel Campbell. The London concert was moved to a larger venue due to a high demand for tickets.

In October 2006, Soulsavers announced on their Myspace site that they were putting the finishing touches to their new album "It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land", which featured Mark Lanegan on 8 of the albums tracks.

Although the album is not credited as Soulsavers And Mark Lanegan, he did have a significant input. As well as appearing as vocalist, the tracks "Revival", "Ghosts Of You And Me", "Paper Money" and "Jesus Of Nothing" are credited as written by Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers. The album also features a re-working of "Kingdoms Of Rain", which features on Lanegan's second solo album, "Whiskey For The Holy Ghost".

Soulsavers recorded the tracks in England in 2005 & 2006, with Lanegan recording the vocal parts at Conway Studios in Los Angeles.

The single, "Revival", has received significant airplay and can be streamed on the band's Myspace (as well as the video for the track).

On March 9th 2007, a blog entry on Soulsavers' Myspace stated that they had "just confirmed 2 shows on 13 & 14 July in Madrid & Barcelona". On March 15th 2007, Onewhiskey, the Mark Lanegan fan site was updated to state that Lanegan would be touring with Soulsavers.

• Grunge music
• Screaming Trees
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Mad Season

• Mark Lanegan Official Site
• onewhiskey: dedicated to the music and fans of Mark Lanegan
• Mark Lanegan discography
• Mark Lanegan: House A Home
• Mark Lanegan: Sub Pop
• Mark Lanegan: allmusic
• Review of "It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land"

Dave Grohl · Nick Oliveri · Alain Johannes · Natasha Shneider · Dave Catching · Mark Lanegan · Alfredo Hernández · Gene Trautmann · Brendon McNichol · Chris Goss

Studio albums: Queens of the Stone Age · Rated R · Songs for the Deaf · Lullabies to Paralyze · Era Vulgaris

EPs: Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age · The Split CD · Stone Age Complications

Singles: "If Only" · "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" · "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" · "No One Knows" · "Go with the Flow" · "First It Giveth" · "Little Sister" · "In My Head" · "Burn the Witch" · "Sick, Sick, Sick" · "3's & 7's"· "Make It Wit Chu"

DVDs: Over the Years and Through the Woods

The Desert Sessions · Eagles of Death Metal · Fififf Teeners · Kyuss · Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator · Rekords Rekords · Screaming Trees

Queens of the Stone Age albums · Queens of the Stone Age songs