Jared Hartmann

Flyleaf is an American rock band formed in Belton, Texas, in 2002. The band has charted on mainstream rock, Christian pop, and Christian metal genres. They performed around the US in 2003 before releasing their eponymous debut album, ''Flyleaf'', in 2005. The album went platinum after selling more than one million copies. Flyleaf released their second album, ''Memento Mori'' (2012), lead vocalist Lacey Sturm announced her departure. Kristen May subsequently became the new lead vocalist. May sang with the band until August 2016. After a period of inactivity for several years, Sturm returned to the band in November 2022.

History

Early years (2002–2004)

Early on, Lacey Sturm performed with James Culpepper. Guitarists Jared Hartmann and Sameer Bhattacharya were later recruited. "Sameer and Jared are really experimental with melodies and pedals," said Sturm, "and we all had different influences that were all blending together with the same passionate and hopeful heart, and that brought out this beautiful feeling. It was magical." Bassist Pat Seals joined after leaving his previous band, The Grove.

As Passerby, the band released three EPs and played over 100 shows in Texas alone over the span of two years under the booking and promotion company Runt Entertainment. In 2004, Passerby played a showcase for RCA Records in New York City in hopes of getting signed. RCA passed on the band, but the president of Octone Records was very interested. They waited for two days in their van at a truck stop for a phone call about an Octone showcase. They were signed after the showcase, and on January 7, 2004, Octone Records' website announced their arrival to the label.

In March 2004, Passerby traveled to Seattle, Washington, to record an EP with producer Rick Parashar. Afterwards, they toured with Skillet, Breaking Benjamin, Staind, and 3 Doors Down to promote their self-titled EP. Due to legal reasons, they renamed themselves ''Flyleaf'' in June 2004. In October, the EP was released to stores (as ''Flyleaf''), spawning their first official single and video for the EP version of "Breathe Today".

Debut album (2005–2008)

In 2005, the band recorded their first full-length album with Howard Benson. On October 4, 2005, the record was released under the title ''Flyleaf''. Appearances on the album include Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Ryan White of Resident Hero. The first mainstream single from their debut album was "I'm So Sick", "Fully Alive" was the second, "All Around Me" was the third, and "Sorrow" was the fourth.

In the summer of 2006, the band played on the mainstage of the Family Values Tour 2006, and in late 2006, Flyleaf toured with Disturbed, Stone Sour and Nonpoint on the Music as a Weapon III Tour. The band issued an exclusive EP, which was sold at the tour called '' Music as a Weapon EP'' which features an acoustic version of "Fully Alive", and three previously unreleased tracks: "Much Like Falling", "Justice And Mercy", and "Christmas Song" (''Much Like Falling'' and ''Justice and Mercy'' later appeared on Much Like Falling EP). A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the EP went to World Vision.

In 2007 Flyleaf toured with Three Days Grace and throughout Australia with the Soundwave festival, and also toured Europe with Stone Sour and Forever Never. In the spring of 2007, Flyleaf headlined their Justice & Mercy Tour which first featured Skillet and Dropping Daylight. Later on they did a second leg of the tour which featured Sick Puppies, Kill Hannah and Resident Hero. Flyleaf again joined the Family Values Tour in 2007. The music video for "I'm So Sick" appeared briefly in the 2007 film ''Live Free or Die Hard''. Also a remix of the song "I'm So Sick" is on the Soundtrack to the movie '' Resident Evil: Extinction''. " Perfect" was also released as a single in late 2007 to Christian radio stations. Released on November 5, 2007, ''The Sims 2'' expansion pack '' Teen Style Stuff'' featured the band's song "Cassie" recorded in Simlish.

Flyleaf also released a song entitled "Tina" which was the first song that they debuted in the release of ''Guitar Hero 3'' as part of the Companion Disk Set. Also, the song "I'm So Sick" appears in ''Rock Band''.
On October 30, Flyleaf also released a digital EP titled Much Like Falling EP. The songs included on this EP were "Much Like Falling", an acoustic version of "Supernatural", the limited release song "Tina", and The EP is available on iTunes along with the expanded edition of their debut album.

On April 26, 2008, the band released their fourth video, "Sorrow", from their debut album on MTV2. The band toured with Seether in late spring but had to cancel five shows due to a problem with Sturm's voice. The members of Flyleaf took the fall off to write new music, hoping to begin recording by January.

Flyleaf also contributed a cover of the song, "What's This?" from ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' soundtrack for its cover album, ''Nightmare Revisited''.

''Memento Mori'' (2009–2010)

When the band finished recording their second album, The band had selected 14 songs out of the 30 already written. Some of these songs, such as "Again", "Have We Lost", and "Beautiful Bride" have been performed live. The band reunited with producer Howard Benson and enlisted the mixing services of Chris Lord-Alge It was released on November 10, 2009. The album has been titled ''Memento Mori

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