Kevin Martin (born April 9, 1969) is an American singer who is best known as lead vocalist of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Candlebox Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released seven studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD. Candlebox found immediate success with the release of ...

. He also provides lead vocals for the bands

The Gracious Few The Gracious Few (also known as TGF) were an American rock group from York, Pennsylvania. The band featured guitarist Chad Taylor, bassist Patrick Dahlheimer and drummer Chad Gracey from the band Live, along with lead vocalist Kevin Martin a ...

and The Hiwatts.

Career

Martin was born in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Elgin is located northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the seventh-large ...

. His father worked for a salt company and the family moved to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

when he was 10. They subsequently moved to

Mercer Island, Washington Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue to i ...

near

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

when Martin was 15. He and drummer Scott Mercado set out to start a band in 1990. Candlebox was formed in 1991 after guitarist Peter Klett and bassist Bardi Martin joined them. They gained a ''Billboard'' 200 top 10 hit in 1993 with their self-titled debut album, released by

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

. The album's success was largely due to the single " Far Behind", a song written about two of Martin's friends who suffered heroin overdoses, including Andrew Wood of

Malfunkshun Malfunkshun is an alternative rock band formed in 1980 by Andrew Wood and his brother Kevin Wood. The band formed around the same time as other Washington state bands such as The U-Men (1980), Melvins (1983), Green River (1984), Soundgarden (1 ...

and

Mother Love Bone Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and lyrics helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/ear ...

. The single reached number 18 on the

US Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and was a top 10 hit in both the

US Modern Rock Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

and

US Mainstream Rock Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in ...

charts. Candlebox released two more albums in the 1990s, but following several line-up changes and diminishing commercial success, the group broke up in an apparent attempt to be released from the Maverick label. Maverick considered Martin the sole remaining member of Candlebox and demanded a fourth studio album before finally terminating his contract in 2000. As a result, he would no longer receive album sale royalties while the other band members would. As of April 2011 Kevin has started receiving his royalties for all 3 Candlebox records. Following Candlebox's demise, Martin became lead vocalist for the band The Hiwatts. The group recorded the album ''The Possibility of Being'' in 2002 and began touring in early 2003. In late 2005, Martin was asked to rejoin Candlebox to promote their ''

The Best of Candlebox ''The Best of Candlebox'' is a greatest hits album by the Seattle rock band Candlebox, released on May 23, 2006. The album contains songs from the band's first three albums, as well as the song "Glowing Soul," from the soundtrack to ''The Waterbo ...

'' compilation. The band subsequently signed with the

Silent Majority Group Silent Majority Group is a record label founded in 2006 by former Creed (band), Creed, Alter Bridge, and Sevendust artist manager Jeff Hanson (music executive), Jeff Hanson that concentrates on finding and developing up-and-coming alternative, ro ...

label and began working on a new album. In 2007, Martin recorded vocals with label mates Tantric for the song "The One" from their album, '' The End Begins''. The new Candlebox album, '' Into the Sun'', was released in 2008 and was promoted by an extensive tour. In 2009 Martin was invited by three former members of the band

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

to form

, a

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

which also includes

Sean Hennesy Sean Robert Hennesy is a guitarist for the bands Candlebox,"Band"
''candleboxrocks.com''

, a member of the Hiwatts who had also joined the re-formed Candlebox as rhythm guitarist for their live shows. The Gracious Few released their self-titled debut album in September 2010 and toured the US and Europe into 2011 to promote it. In 2014, Martin formed a side project with

Sevendust Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lowery ...

drummer

Morgan Rose Morgan Jay Rose (born December 13, 1968) is an American drummer and a founding member of Atlanta-based rock band Sevendust. He is also responsible for much of the background vocals. He has also played drums for Call Me No One and Methods of Mayh ...

called

Le Projet Le Projet is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and Staten Island, New York. The band features lead vocalist Kevin Martin, guitarist Brian Quinn & bassist Adam Kury from the band Candlebox, guitarist Lenn ...

Discography

;Candlebox *''

'' (1993) *''

Lucy Lucy is an English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings are Luci, Luce, Lu ...

'' (1995) *'' Happy Pills'' (1998) *''

'' (2006) *'' Into the Sun'' (2008) *''Alive in Seattle'' (September 2, 2008) *''

Love Stories & Other Musings ''Love Stories & Other Musings'' is the fifth studio album by the alternative rock band Candlebox. It was released in 2012 on Audionest. Reception Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic thought the album to be Candlebox's best and richest album, a ...

'' (2012) *''

Disappearing in Airports ''Disappearing in Airports'' is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Candlebox. It was released on April 22, 2016, on Pavement Entertainment. It is also the first album without original guitarist Peter Klett, and has only singer Kevin ...

'' (2016) *''Wolves'' (2021) ;Kevin Martin and the Hiwatts * ''The Possibility of Being'' (2003) ;The Gracious Few * ''

'' (2010) ;Other appearances * Tantric – '' The End Begins'' (2008) ("The One") *

Century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

– ''Red Giant'' (2011) ("Oak God") * The Infinite Staircase – "The Pride" (2013) with

(

;

Call Me No One Call Me No One (sometimes abbreviated as CMNO) was an American hard rock band founded by Sevendust members Clint Lowery and Morgan Rose in 2012. It was later extended with Rek Mohr (Leo (band), Leo/Hurt (band), Hurt) on bass and Souls Harbor guit ...

Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heavy meta ...

(

Black Label Society Black Label Society is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three vide ...

;

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

) and John "JD" DeServio (Black Label Society; Cycle of Pain)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Kevin Candlebox members The Gracious Few members 1969 births Living people People from Elgin, Illinois American rock singers Singers from Illinois 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male singers Alternative rock singers American alternative rock musicians