Placebo

Placebo (band)

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For other uses, see Placebo (disambiguation).

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Placebo
Placebo in November 2009
Background information
Also known as	Ashtray Heart
Origin	London, England
Genres	Alternative rock
Years active	1994–present
Labels	PIAS, Vagrant, EMI, Virgin, Hut,Caroline, Deceptive
Website	www.placeboworld.co.uk
Members
Brian Molko Stefan Olsdal Steve Forrest
Past members
Robert Schultzberg Steve Hewitt

Placebo are an English rock band from London. They were formed in 1994 by singer-guitarist Brian Molko and guitarist/bassist Stefan Olsdal. The band was soon joined by drummer Robert Schultzberg, who was later replaced by Steve Hewitt after conflicts with Molko. Hewitt left the band in October 2007 and was replaced by Steve Forrest in 2008. They are known for their androgynous image and angst-fueled musical content. To date, they have released six studio albums, all of which have reached the top 20 in the UK, and have sold over ten million records worldwide.^[1]

Contents   [hide]  1 History 1.1 Formation (1994–1995) 1.2 Debut album, lineup change, and glam connection (1996–1998) 1.3 Without You I'm Nothing and Black Market Music (1998–2002) 1.4 Sleeping with Ghosts and Once More with Feeling (2003–2005) 1.5 Meds and lineup change (2006–2009) 1.6 Battle for the Sun (2009–2011) 1.7 7th studio album (2011–present) 2 Lyrical content 3 Members 4 Placebo in film and television 5 Discography 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit]History

[edit]Formation (1994–1995)

Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal had both attended the American International School of Luxembourg, but didn't cross paths properly until 1994 in London, England. At the time, Olsdal was taking guitar lessons and was on his way home when he met Molko at theSouth Kensington tube station. Molko, observing that Olsdal had a guitar strapped to his back, invited Olsdal to watch him perform at a local bar. On the strength of Molko's performance, Olsdal decided that they should start a band.^{[2][dead link]} The two formed Ashtray Heart, a lo-fi duo, playing mostly on toy instruments. They wrote four songs, but decided to try out as a serious band and started to scout for a drummer.^{[citation needed]}

Originally, the two were unable to decide on a drummer. Molko had some experience playing with Steve Hewitt, making him the ideal choice. However, Hewitt had prior commitments to the London band Breed, and only had time to play on occasional demos with Molko and Olsdal. This led Robert Schultzberg to assume the position of drummer when the band signed its contract with Caroline Records. Schultzberg had known Olsdal from boarding school in Sigtuna, Sweden as well as from an earlier Swedish band, Elevating Addiction, which they had both been members of.^{[citation needed]}

The name "Placebo", Olsdal remarked in an MTV interview, was chosen because of its Latin origins;^{[2][dead link]} "placebo" literally translates from Latin as "I will please". Frequently in interviews, Molko has stated that the name is a satirical reflection of the 1990s cliche of naming one's band after a drug,^{[2][dead link]} though Olsdal claims this was not the original motivation for naming the band "Placebo".^{[2][dead link]} When asked about naming a band, Molko said:

It's a complex question to answer, really. As musicians you try to find a name for your band that represents you and you never really do, because, basically, names for bands lose their meaning after a while. They become a series of sounds that you associate with people in music. The most important thing for a name is that you can imagine forty-thousand people screaming it in unison.^[3]