Blues Pills are a Swedish rock band, formed in

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers in ...

in 2011. The band has released three studio albums, two EPs, three live albums and five singles since its formation. Their latest studio album, ''Holy Moly!'', was released in August 2020 through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

History

Formation and EPs (2011–2013)

In 2011, step-brothers Zack Anderson (bass) and Cory Berry (drums), formerly of

Radio Moscow Radio Moscow ( rus, Pадио Москва, r=Radio Moskva), also known as Radio Moscow World Service, was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993. It was reorganized with a new name ...

, were in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and met singer Elin Larsson, who was staying in California. Together they recorded two demo tracks and published them on YouTube, after which label "Crusher Records" offered them a deal. The band toured to Spain and France, where they met 16-year-old guitarist Dorian Sorriaux, whom they invited to

and made a member of the band. The name of the band came from their friend, Jens Heide, who had a music blog called BluesPillz with obscure 60s and 70s underground music. In May 2012 they released an EP called "''Bliss''", followed by the "''Black Smoke''" single in July. The band toured extensively during 2013 with appearances in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

's "Desertfest" in April, in

Bad Kötzting Bad Kötzting (; before 2005: Kötzting; Northern Bavarian: ''Bad Ketzing'') is a town in the district of Cham, in Bavaria, Germany, near the Czech border. It is situated in the Bavarian Forest, southeast of Cham. Overview Bad Kötzting has the ...

's "Void Fest" and

Geel Geel () is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which acquired city status in the 1980s. It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns: Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum. Further on around the cen ...

's "Yellowstock Festival" in August, in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

's "Crossroads Festival" in October and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's "Cherry Rock Festival" in November 2013. In July 2013, Blues Pills signed a contract with the "Nuclear Blast" label and released their "''Devil Man''" EP in October . Their appearance at the "Crossroads Festival" was recorded and released in the form of the "''Live at Rockpalast''" EP in March 2014.

The self-titled debut album and ''Lady in Gold'' (2014–2017)

In July 2014 they released their first album, ''

Blues Pills Blues Pills are a Swedish rock band, formed in Örebro in 2011. The band has released three studio albums, two EPs, three live albums and five singles since its formation. Their latest studio album, ''Holy Moly!'', was released in August 2020 ...

'', the special edition of which included a DVD of their appearance in the "Hammer of Doom" festival from the year before. Shortly after the release of the first album, Cory Berry was replaced with new drummer André Kvarnström. In mid-2014 they appeared in the "Sweden Rock Festival", in

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

's "Rock Hard Festival" in June and in the famous

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

in July 2014. The album became successful in Europe, climbing to No. 4 in Germany and No. 10 in Switzerland, while it also reached British charts at No. 68. During the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, the band started writing and recording their second album. On 22 April 2016, Blues Pills announced that '' Lady in Gold'' would be released on 5 August 2016 through

with a ten track set-list. In 2016, Blues Pills toured with

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, play festivals in the summer in North America and Europe followed by a UK tour in November. A live album Lady in Gold Live in Paris was announced with a release date of 3 November 2017.

Departure of Dorian Sorriaux and ''Holy Moly!'' (2018–present)

In November 2018 the band announced the peaceful departure of guitarist Dorian Sorriaux via a post on their Facebook page. Work on a third album will continue, with Zack Anderson moving to guitar. In October 2019, it was announced that Kristoffer Schander would be joining on the bass guitar, in the same post, they have also announced that they were working on their third studio album, set to be released in 2020. On 6 March 2020, the band released the first single of their third album, "Proud Woman", in the same video, they announced their upcoming third studio album is titled ''Holy Moly!''. On 10 April 2020, they released their second single from the upcoming album titled "Low Road" which was accompanied by an official music video. On 10 July 2020, they released the third and final single titled "Kiss By Past Goodbye". ''Holy Moly!'' was originally meant to be released on 19 June 2020 but was postponed to 21 August 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Band members

;Current members *Elin Larsson – vocals (2011–present) *Zack Anderson – bass (2011–2019), guitar (2019–present) *André Kvarnström – drums (2014–present) *Kristoffer Schander – bass (2019–present) ;Former members *Cory Berry – drums (2011–2014) *Dorian Sorriaux – guitars (2011–2018) ;Tour- and session member: *Rickard Nygren - guitars, organ (2016–present)

Discography

;Albums

References

BLUES PILLS on Rock Overdose: "It's all about the feeling and soul in the music for us"

External links

*

Blues Pills , Music Biography, Credits and Discography , Allmusic

Blues Pills – YouTube
{{Authority control Swedish rock music groups Musical groups established in 2011 Musical quartets 2011 establishments in Sweden Female-fronted musical groups