Live

Group

Live

US alt rock band

From
York, United States
Since
1990–present
Rating
★ 4 (2 votes)
Releases
106
  • alternative rock
  • post-grunge
  • rock
  • grunge
  • hard rock
  • pop rock

About

Live , often typeset as Līve, LĪVE, or +LĪVE+, is an American rock band formed in York, Pennsylvania, in 1984 by Ed Kowalczyk (lead vocals, guitars), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass), Chad Gracey (drums), and Chad Taylor (guitars).

Read more

Live earned early fame for their single "Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)", whose video received airtime on MTV. Their second album, Mental Jewelry, released in 1991, enjoyed modest sales. Their biggest success came in 1994 with their third album, Throwing Copper, which sold eight million copies in the U.S. The band had a string of hit singles in the mid-1990s, including "Lightning Crashes", which stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for ten consecutive weeks and the Modern Rock Tracks (now Alternative Songs) chart for nine weeks from February 25 to April 22, 1995. The band has sold over twenty million albums worldwide.
When touring, Live has used additional musicians, including Kowalczyk's younger brother Adam, British keyboardist Michael "Railo" Railton, rhythm guitarist Christopher Thorn of Blind Melon, and guitarist Zak Loy of Alpha Rev.
In 2009, Kowalczyk left the band; he was replaced by singer Chris Shinn and the band released the album The Turn in October 2014. Kowalczyk rejoined Live in December 2016 and in 2018, they released a new EP, Local 717. In June 2022, Kowalczyk fired Taylor after taking majority control of the band. Gracey and Dahlheimer were also let go shortly after. Kowalczyk is the only remaining member of the original lineup and has been performing and recording as Live with other musicians as of October 2022. In November 2022, it was reported that Gracey filed a lawsuit against Taylor and Dahlheimer as managers of their company, ThinkLoud. In February 2026, Taylor and Gracey issued a cease and desist letter to Kowalczyk, asserting that he no longer had rights to use the band's trademarks and demanding that he stop using them for touring and other commercial activities. Kowalczyk has continued performing since the revocation, re-branding the act as +LIVE+, while his attorney has disputed the claims and stated that they will be addressed in court.

From Live (band) on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Heard on the radio

Members

  • Ed Kowalczyk 1990–2009, 2016–now · original member lead vocals, guitar
  • Patrick Dahlheimer 1990–2009, 2012–2022 · original member · former electric bass guitar
  • Chad Gracey 1990–2009, 2012–2022 · original member · former drums (drum set)
  • Chad Taylor 1990–2009, 2012–2022 · original member · former background vocals, guitar
  • Adam Kowalczyk 1999–2009 · former guitar
  • Chris Shinn 2012–2016 · former lead vocals, guitar

Discography

Albums 10
EPs 12
Singles 35
Live 34
Compilations 9
Other 6

Links

Artist rename

Also known as

Līve

Tags

  • alternative-rock

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000111671481

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 7 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.