Skillet was an American Grammy-nominated christian rock band from Memphis, Tennessee. The band formed in 1996.
Band members
Current members
John Cooper - lead vocals, bass (1996-present) Korey Cooper - guitar, keyboard, vocals (2000-present) Jen Ledger – drums, percussion, backing vocals, co-lead vocals (2008–present) Seth Morrison – lead guitar (2011–present) Tate Olsen – cello (2008–present)
Former members
Ken Steorts - guitar (1996 - 1999, founder of Visible School in Memphis, TN, a music and worship arts college) Trey McClurkin - drums (1996 - 2000) Kevin Haaland - guitar (1999 - 2001) Jonathan Salas – lead guitar (2011) Billy Dawson – rhythm and lead guitar (2000-2001) Chris Marvin – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (2002–2003, 2005–2006) Faith Stern – keyboards, backing vocals (2002–2003) Andrea Winchell – keyboards (2005–2006) Scotty Rock – bass guitar (2009–2011) Jonathan Chu – violin (2008–2015) Drew Griffin – violin (2017) Lori Peters - drums (2000 - 2008) Ben Kasica - guitar (2002 - 2011)
Career
Debut titled-album and the Gasoline music video (1996-1997) Skillet formed in 1996 with two members: John Cooper, former vocalist for Tennessee progressive rock band Seraph, and Ken Steorts, former guitarist for Urgent Cry. The two bands met through touring together, but those bands disbanded soon after, so John and Ken's pastor encouraged them to form their own band as a side-project. Coming from different styles of rock music, they decided to name the experiment Skillet. After, Trey McClurkin joined the band as a temporary drummer. Skillet was only together for a month when they received interest from major Christian record label ForeFront Records. In 1996 they released a self-titled debut Skillet. It was well-received, and the trio continued to write new material as they toured the United States. One topic that comes up often among fans and the band itself, is the name 'Skillet'. John Cooper, the lead vocalist, explains that it was a joke at first. Each starting band member was already in a separate band, and all decided to start a side project. Since each other band had a different sound and style to it, the side project was said to be like putting all of those styles in a big skillet to come up with something unique, hence the band name 'Skillet'. The band name is still somewhat of a joke between the band members, especially Cooper, who claims to still not like the title.
Tracklist
1. Gasoline
2. Saturn
3. Promise Blender
4. I Can
5. Splinter
6. Safe With You
7. Paint
8. Boundaries
9. Shovel
10. My Beautiful Robe
11. You Thought
12. Darn Great Day
Hey You, I Love Your Soul and the More Faithful music video (1998-1999) Skillet recorded their follow-up album throughout 1997, titled Hey You, I Love Your Soul, which was released in April 1998. Their second effort was a change in style from the band's first release. With this release, Skillet would abandon their post-grunge approach for a lighter alternative rock and style. His wife Korey was enlisted soon after to play keyboards live in order to alleviate John's live performance duties.
Tracklist
1. Hey You, I Love Your Soul
2. Pour
3. Scarecrow
4. Whirlwind
5. Dive Over In
6. Locked in a Cage
7. More Faithful
8. Your Love (Keeps Me Alive) 9. Take 10. Deeper 11. Suspended in You 12. Coming Down 13. Last Day Of Summer
Invincible and Ardent Worship and the Best Kept Secret music video (2000-2001) Shortly before the band began recording for their third album, Invincible, Steorts left the band to be with his family and launch Visible Music College, a modern music ministry college located in Memphis, Kevin Haaland joined the band as their new guitarist, and Korey Cooper joined the band permanently and played keyboards for the recording of Invincible. Because of this change, the musical style on Invincible changed to a more electronic sound. Soon after the release of Invincible in 2000, Trey McClurkin parted ways with Skillet, and Lori Peters filled the drummer's position.
In late 2000 (several months after Invincible was released), The band released the worship album, and fourth album overall, Ardent Worship. The band kept much of their sound from Invincible on their next studio album Alien Youth. With little time between touring and recording.