Maria Brink (born December 18, 1977) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the frontwoman of the metal band The band has gone on to release seven studio albums and receive four nominations, two from

Alternative Press Music Awards The Alternative Press Music Awards was an annual music awards show in the United States, founded by the music magazine '' Alternative Press''. History On April 24, 2014, '' Alternative Press'' announced they were organizing an award show to be ...

, one from Grammy Awards, and one from Loudwire Music Awards. Brink has been awarded "Rock Goddess of the Year" in the third (2013) and fifth (2015) Annual Loudwire Music Awards, "Hottest Chick in Metal" in 2010, one of eleven women in heavy metal who matter by Yell! Magazine in 2012, and was recognized by

Revolver Magazine ''Revolver'' is a heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published in North America. It has been in print since 2000, and is about both established acts and up-and-comers in heavy music. In the fall of 2017, ''Revolver'' underwent a brand re ...

as one of the "25 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock & Metal".

Early life

Brink was born on December 18, 1977, in the state of New York, and her father left the family when she was young. Brink's mother introduced her to bands and artists such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

, and the Rolling Stones. Brink became interested in performing at the age of 5.

Career

Brink performing at Fort Rock Festival 2013

Early career

The first band Brink was ever in was an

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

-based band called Pulse, before moving to California. In 2002, when she was 25, she moved to Los Angeles to find a band to work with. Before finding a band, she worked in stores, and sang in coffee shops and bars. In 2004, she met now-band member Chris Howorth at an audition. At first, Howorth rejected Brink for being a woman. Two weeks later, Howorth apologized and hired Brink as the singer. They formed the band Dying Star with drummer Jeff Fabb. They were later joined by guitarist Blake Bunzel and bassist Josh Newell. Soon after, the band changed their name to In This Moment.

In This Moment

Along with her band, she has released seven studio albums. They released their debut album, ''

Beautiful Tragedy ''Beautiful Tragedy'' is the debut studio album by American rock band In This Moment. The album was promoted largely in part by an interview conducted on Sirius Satellite Radio's Hard Attack station, which performed several songs off ''Beautif ...

'', on March 20, 2007. Their second studio album, '' The Dream'', was released on September 30, 2008. The band's third album, '' A Star-Crossed Wasteland'' was released July 9, 2010. The band's fourth album titled ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...

'' was released on August 14, 2012. Their fifth studio album titled '' Black Widow'' was released on November 17, 2014. Their sixth studio album, ''

Ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...

'', was released on July 21, 2017. Their seventh studio album, ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'' was released on March 27, 2020. Brink has been awarded "Rock Goddess of the Year" in the third (2013) and fifth (2015) Annual Loudwire Music Awards, "Hottest Chick in Metal" in 2010, one of eleven women in heavy metal who matter by Yell! Magazine in 2012, and was recognized by Revolver Magazine as one of the "25 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock & Metal".

Personal life

At age 15, Brink gave birth to a son, Davion. She worked to support herself and her son as well as helping her mother to overcome a drug addiction. Brink is a vegetarian and active with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA campaign. She is also an aspiring artist/painter going by the alias of 'Maria Brink's Wonderland'. Brink was in a relationship with

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, lead guitarist Mike Spreitzer, drummer Davier Pérez, bassist Jon Miller and rhythm guitarist Alex Lee. The band was ...

bassist, Jonathan Miller. Brink is currently in a relationship with Ded vocalist Joe Cotela.

Influences

Brink has cited

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...

, Pantera, M83 as some of her favorite bands. She was inspired by vocalists

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...

and Phil Anselmo. Outside of music, Brink has cited

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

, and her two mothers as the women that influenced her the most.

Discography

Brink performing at With Full Force 2018

In This Moment

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2007) * '' The Dream'' (2008) * '' A Star-Crossed Wasteland'' (2010) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Black Widow'' (2014) * ''

'' (2017) * ''

'' (2020)

Live albums

* '' Blood at the Orpheum'' (2014)

Compilation albums

* '' Rise of the Blood Legion: Greatest Hits (Chapter 1)'' (2015)

Songs featured on

* "Here's to Us" (Guest Version) –

Halestorm Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, her drummer brother Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. The group's self-titled debut album was ...

* "Heaven's a Lie" – Manntis * "Anywhere But Here" –

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

* "Big Mouth" – Red Dragon Cartel * "Contemptress" –

Motionless in White Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2004, the band consists of lead vocalist Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, guitarists Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky "Horror" Olson, drummer Vinny Mauro and bassist Ju ...

* "

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

" – Papa Roach * "Criminal Conversations" – P.O.D. * "New Devil" –

Asking Alexandria Asking Alexandria are a British Rock music, rock band from York, North Yorkshire, consisting of guitarists Ben Bruce and Cameron Liddell, drummer James Cassells, lead vocalist Danny Worsnop, and bassist Sam Bettley. Initially formed in 2006 ...

References

External links

Official website for In This Moment

Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brink, Maria 1977 births Living people 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American contraltos American women heavy metal singers American women singer-songwriters American rock songwriters People from Schenectady, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Women in metal