Black President is an American punk rock band. It was formed in 2005 by Circle Jerks/

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

guitarist

Greg Hetson Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961) is an American guitarist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has lived in the Los Angeles area since he was 2 years old. Active since 1979, Hetson is best known as the guitarist for the influential hardcore pu ...

and Goldfinger guitarist Charlie Paulson.

History

The band was originally formed in late 2005 by Hetson and Paulson, who were joined by

Jason Christopher Prong is an American heavy metal band formed in New York City in 1986. The band is fronted by guitarist/vocalist Tommy Victor, Prong's sole constant member. To date, they have released 12 studio albums (including a covers album), one live alb ...

(New Dead Radio) on bass and vocals,

Roy Mayorga Roy Mayorga (born April 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of heavy metal bands Hellyeah and Stone Sour and is currently the drummer for the industrial metal band Ministry. Early life Mayorga was born in Forest Hill ...

(

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) on drums, and

Christian Martucci Christian Martucci (born June 5, 1977) is an Italian American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a dual citizen of Italy and the United States. As of 2013, he is the lead guitar player for the American hard rock band Stone Sour and from J ...

(

The Strychnine Babies The Strychnine Babies were an American punk rock band formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, by Christian Martucci Christian Martucci (born June 5, 1977) is an Italian American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a dual c ...

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) on vocals. Mayorga was unable to commit to the band due to previous commitments with

Stone Sour Stone Sour is an American rock band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1992. The band performed for five years before disbanding in 1997. They reunited in 2000 and since 2015, the group has consisted of Corey Taylor (lead vocals, guitar), Josh Rand ...

. He was temporarily replaced by Wade Youman (

Unwritten Law Unwritten Law is an American punk rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California. They have released seven full-length studio albums and have toured internationally, including performances on the Warped Tour. They are notable for their singles " ...

), and later by Ty Smith (

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). Mayorga returned in time to record the debut album and has been permanently replaced by

Dave Raun Dave Raun (born June 7, 1970) a resident of Fresno, California, is the drummer for the seminal California punk rock band Lagwagon. He also filled in on drums for a short period for Sean "SC" Sellers of Good Riddance. Additionally, Raun drums f ...

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. Since forming, the band has toured with

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, the Germs,

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, and

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and performed stints on the 2008

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as well as

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2008. On February 25, 2008, the band announced they had signed a deal with Cobra Music. At the time of the announcement, Hetson had left the band. Other members of the band cited Hetson's conflicting commitments with Bad Religion and Circle Jerks as the reason for his departure. Guitar duties were picked up by Martucci, reducing the quintet to a four-piece. Their self-titled debut album was released September 16, 2008. The band also filmed a video for the song "Suspects." According to a MySpace blog post titled "in the war room", the band recorded 14 songs total: "12 originals, an

alice cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

cover & a surprise track to be released early next year."

Band name

The band came up with the name before

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

had announced his 2008 run for the United States presidency. The band addressed the name in a March 2008 MySpace blog post titled "our name & barack obama": Excerpts from the blog post were quoted in an article on Barack Obama in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' in which the band was mentioned."Two Words With a Ring Of Possibility."
''

''. June 4, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2008.

Band members

;Current members *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar (2005–present) * Charlie Paulson – lead guitar (2005–present) *

– bass, backing vocals (2005–2007; 2008–present) *

– drums (2009–present) ;Former members *

– rhythm guitar (2005–2008) * Wade Youman – drums (2006) * Ty Smith – drums (2007) * Pat "PK" Kim – bass (2007) *

– drums (2005–2006; 2008–2009)

Discography

* '' Black President'' (2008, Cobra Music)

References

External links

Black President
at MySpace.com
Cobra Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black President Punk rock groups from California Hardcore punk groups from California Rock music supergroups Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups from Los Angeles