1997–2002: The early years and Reinventing Axl Rose Against Me! was formed in 1997 by singer/guitarist
Laura Jane Grace as a solo act, amidst the breakup of her previous band(s). The band's first EP,
Against Me!, was released twice through Crasshole Records (once in 1999 and 2000). Grace's longtime friend
James Bowman joined the band for a west coast tour in support of the EP, traveling in Grace's 1976
Buick LeSabre, the engine of which exploded at the end of the tour. Their first widely distributed release was the EP
Crime as Forgiven by Against Me! (2001), released by
Plan-It-X Records and Sabot Productions (run by longtime Against Me! tour manager Jordan Kleeman). While neither Bowman or Fridkin had part in the recording of
Crime as Forgiven by Against Me!, they both joined the band on tour to support it. On April 23, 2001, while heading south on I-75, returning home from their first tour as a four-piece band, their van was struck by a semi truck. They landed upside-down in a ditch. No one was harmed, but the van and equipment were destroyed, A
third EP, a self-titled acoustic recording by Grace and bassist Dustin Fridkin, was released in November 2001. Mahon was eventually replaced by
Warren Oakes, and guitarist James Bowman returned in December 2001 during the recording of the band's first album,
Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose, released in March 2002 by
No Idea Records. Fridkin left during the summer of 2002 to return to college and was replaced by Andrew Seward of the Tennessee band kill devil hills, and this new lineup released the single "
The Disco Before the Breakdown" (2002). This lineup remained intact until 2009.
2003–2006: As the Eternal Cowboy and Searching for a Former Clarity Against Me! signed to
Fat Wreck Chords and released their second album, 2003's
Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy. It reached no. 36 on
Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart and was supported by singles for "
Cavalier Eternal" and "
Sink, Florida, Sink". The DVD ''
We're Never Going Home'' followed, documenting their Spring 2004 tour. 2005's
Searching for a Former Clarity was their first album to chart on the
Billboard 200, reaching no. 114. Against Me! supported the album with a tour of all 50
U.S. states. It spawned singles for "
Don't Lose Touch" and "
From Her Lips to God's Ears (The Energizer)", which also became the band's first music videos. The live album
Americans Abroad!!! Against Me!!! Live in London!!! followed in 2006.
2007–2010: New Wave and White Crosses Against Me! moved to
Sire Records for 2007's
New Wave, produced by
Butch Vig. It debuted at no. 57 on the
Billboard 200 and featured their first charting single, "
Thrash Unreal", which reached no. 11 on
Billboard's
Modern Rock Tracks chart. "
White People for Peace", "
Stop!", and "New Wave" were also released as singles, and
New Wave was named as
Spin's album of the year. The DVD
Live at the Key Club followed later that year. In 2008, Against Me! supported
Foo Fighters on a North American tour, and Sire released the
digital EP
New Wave B-Sides. In October 2008, while traveling west on I-80, en route to Salt Lake City, their tour bus hit a patch of ice; causing it to spin and land on its side in a ditch. No one was harmed. For the 2008 presidential election, Against Me! partnered with
Rock the Vote. Oakes left the band in June 2009, in part to focus on running his Mexican food restaurant. In an interview with MTV Oakes wanted it to be known that he wasn't fired, but rather, his leaving the band "was really a mutual decision ... it was really amicable." He said he still considers the band members to be "more than friends -- they're family," and added that Boca is already carrying Against Me! guitarist James Bowman's homemade hot sauce on the menu. Oakes was replaced by
Hot Water Music drummer George Rebelo. The following month Fat Wreck Chords released
The Original Cowboy, an album of
demo recordings from the
Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy sessions. Against Me! released
White Crosses, their second album with Sire, on June 8, 2010 (although it was leaked about 3 months earlier). It was supported by singles for "
I Was a Teenage Anarchist", "
White Crosses", and "
High Pressure Low" and was their highest-charting album to date, reaching no. 34 on the
Billboard 200. Following a two-month hiatus from touring, the band spoke for the first time since their tour cancellation, talking of their upcoming December 2010 shows, which saw
Jay Weinberg cover for George Rebelo on drums, as he toured with
Hot Water Music. Throughout December 2010, Grace spoke of George Rebelo's intentions to record an album with his primary band
Hot Water Music. In January 2011, Weinberg was officially confirmed as Against Me!'s new drummer.
Total Clarity, an album of demos and unreleased songs from the
Searching for a Former Clarity sessions, was released on May 24, 2011, through
Fat Wreck Chords.
2011–2017: Transgender Dysphoria Blues and Shape Shift with Me In 2010 Grace had expressed the desire to release at least one album per year for the next decade. On June 3, 2011, the band announced that they started their own record label, Total Treble. In July 2011, the band released "
Black Crosses" which were demos and alternate versions of songs from "White Crosses". In September 2011, Grace built a recording studio in
Elkton, Florida, for future Against Me! projects. The studio has since been named Total Treble Studio. The first band to record an album in the studio were
Cheap Girls from
Lansing, Michigan, with their album
Giant Orange. In May 2012 Grace publicly
came out as
transgender, having dealt with
gender dysphoria since childhood, and began her transition. "I felt like I drop-kicked them in the face," she said of informing the other members of Against Me! "We had the most awkward hug ever, and then they left. And the second I shut the door, I was like, 'What the fuck did I just do? Instead, Grace was acting as both
recording engineer and
record producer for the album. Drummer
Atom Willard filled in with the band for their 2013 Australian tour dates, and was confirmed as the band's new drummer on July 31, 2013. In March 2013, the band canceled their US tour with Bad Religion. In May 2013, bassist Andrew Seward also announced his departure from the band. Grace expressed that she felt the band wouldn't have continued under the name Against Me! were it not for the then-upcoming record having a message she wanted to spread. On June 24, 2013, Grace announced that recording for
Transgender Dysphoria Blues was finished. Grace went on a solo tour in August in a handful of east coast US cities in support of the record. On July 15, 2013, Against Me! released the "
True Trans" single for free, featuring the new acoustic song "FUCKMYLIFE666" and the namesake "True Trans Soul Rebel". On August 29, 2013,
Inge Johansson, formerly of
the (International) Noise Conspiracy and
Refused, was confirmed as the new bass player. On January 21, 2014, Against Me! released
Transgender Dysphoria Blues, their sixth full-length studio album. The album was praised for its raw quality, reminiscent of Against Me!'s earlier music. It is their highest-charting album to date, reaching no. 23 on the
Billboard 200. A new live album,
23 Live Sex Acts was recorded on the subsequent tour by the band in 2014, and was released on September 4, 2015. In July 2016, the band announced their seventh studio album
Shape Shift with Me would be released on September 16. The band also immediately released a song from the album, "
333". On August 10, 2016, a second song, "
Haunting, Haunted, Haunts" was released via the Adult Swim Singles Program 2016. On September 8, the entire album was available for streaming.
Shape Shift with Me, was released September 16, 2016. Grace revealed in August 2018 that she strongly considered disbanding Against Me! once this show had occurred.
2018–2020: Seward's return and 2 Nights / 4 Records / 48 Songs tour Against Me! played their final show with bassist Inge Johansson in May 2018. The following month, the band played an unannounced show at Trumbullplex in Detroit, MI. The show was notable for being the first show with Andrew Seward playing bass since 2013, although no songs were played from
Shape Shift with Me. Grace officially announced in July 2018 via Instagram that after performing these shows, Seward had rejoined the band. In October 2018, the band played two shows on the eve of their South American tour: one with
As the Eternal Cowboy played front to back, and the other with
New Wave. Laura Jane Grace announced in July 2018 that the band she had performed previous solo tours with since 2016, the Devouring Mothers, had recently completed a record together.
Bought to Rot was released on
Bloodshot Records on November 9, 2018. The band's members since its inception have been Grace and Willard from Against Me!, as well as long-time producer and collaborator Marc Hudson. The album is said to be heavily influenced by the works of
Rowland S. Howard and
Tom Petty, and includes collaborations with other artists. Grace later confirmed that Against Me! was still continuing as a band, with a "clean slate", and that an eighth Against Me! record was still planned for eventual release. However, she also noted that it could be either shelved or re-recorded, following Seward's replacement of Johansson as bassist. The band recorded a cover of The
Jim Carroll Band's "
People Who Died" for a 2018 compilation album (
Songs That Saved My Life) in aid of mental health charities. The track was the first recording with Seward back as bassist since their 2011 single "
Russian Spies / Occult Enemies", and Grace used the announcement to further confirm that the band intend to record an eighth studio album together. The band began work on their eighth studio album in February 2019. In May 2019, the band announced their "2 Nights / 4 Records / 48 Songs" tour. On this North American run, the band performed two shows in each city: The first dedicated to
Searching for a Former Clarity and
New Wave, the second dedicated to
White Crosses and
Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Support for the shows came from
Chuck Ragan, Toy Guitar,
Dilly Dally,
Chris Cresswell, and
Cursive. The band played its final show to date on March 12, 2020, at the Port City Music Hall – in turn, becoming the final band to ever perform there, due to the venue's closure later that year on account of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–present: Hiatus Grace released a solo album entitled
Stay Alive in 2020, as well as an EP entitled
At War with the Silverfish in 2021. Bowman began working as a guitar tech on tour with
My Chemical Romance, while Seward formed the duo Nighttime Flyers and released a self-titled album independently in April 2022. Seward also joined
As Friends Rust, initially as a touring and session musician, but ultimately becoming an official member and performing on their 2023 album
Any Joy and their 2024 EP
Lightless. Willard formed a new band, Plosivs, with members of
Drive Like Jehu and
Pinback. They released their debut self-titled album in March 2022. He also served as a touring drummer for both
The Bronx and
Worriers throughout 2022, and was announced as the new permanent drummer of
Alkaline Trio in 2023. In February 2024, while promoting her second solo album,
Hole in My Head, Grace confirmed that Against Me! was still on hiatus as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic: "We never broke up, but the pandemic fucked us up. It killed our momentum. It made apparent that there was a point of burnout. So that's where we've been – everyone stepped away. People started doing other things and it got weird. I'm one person in the equation, and because I'm still out here playing the songs and putting out records and doing interviews, I'm always put to task to answer for it all. All I'm ever trying to do is demonstrate that I still want to do it. I go out every night and I still feel attached to the music and I still love playing music. I can't speak for the other people, I can only speak for myself." Grace, however, remained optimistic that the band would reunite in the future after "reconnecting" at her wedding: "I don't want to jinx anything. We'll just have to see. But we didn't break up, it just got weird. We'll play again, I have faith in that. I just don't know when that'll be. I'm really hopeful for this year that we'll start playing music again." ==Band members==