Career After falling out as a touring musician with multiple local musical acts in the
Orlando, Florida area during 2006,
Jesus David Torres, going by the moniker "Dahvie Vanity" ("Dahvie the Elite Hair God" on
Myspace), formed a musical group with friends Matty "M" Malaret, Christopher Mongillo, and Rebecca Fugate. Initially the group (then titled "Love the Fashion") was considered a joke, but developed into Blood on the Dance Floor in the summer of 2007. Malaret left the group in late 2007 before the group's self-released first album, ''Let's Start a Riot'', in April 2008. Citing the inability to tour, Mongillo and Fugate also left the band shortly thereafter. During the recording of their second album, ''It's Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World'', the band was picked up by producer and writer Rusty Wilmot. During the recording of this album, Garrett Marshal McLaughlin (Garrett Ecstasy) was recruited to do backup vocals and
screaming. The CD was self-released in October 2008. Only 300 copies were made. Vanity and Ecstasy recorded the singles "Siq with a Q" and "Suicide Club" as a duo in 2008, and released three extended plays over the first half of 2009,
I Scream I Scream,
OMFG Sneak Peak, and
Extended Play. The duo embarked on the OMFG Tour with other local bands Electric Valentine, Weston Buck, The Greenlight District, and The Crush in promotion of their upcoming album then titled
OMFG. After Ecstasy's departure from the band in light of rape allegations against Vanity, Vanity asked
Jayy Von Monroe (who had been a fan of the band before joining) to join the group as Ecstasy's replacement. Many of the songs originally recorded with Ecstasy intended for the upcoming album
OMFG were re-recorded with new vocals by Von Monroe. The previous concept of the
OMFG album was scrapped, and rebranded as
Epic, set for release in 2010. The band went on tour over spring and summer 2010 to promote the release of
Epic. With
Jeffree Star they recorded three songs for that album. The collaborations with Jeffree Star were short-lived because like former member Garrett Ecstasy, Star had also accused Vanity of being a pedophile and a predator, claiming to have witnessed questionable behavior. Star later chose to go back on his accusations due to feeling like the band was being
victimized. He was then featured on their 2014 single "Poison Apple", from the album
Bitchcraft. As with the previous conflict with Garrett, the three singles featuring Star's vocals were re-recorded with vocals by Von Monroe, and the original tracks were not featured on the final album. In October 2010, the album
Epic charted No. 5 on the Dance/Electronic
Billboard chart. Even before the release of
Epic, recording began for Blood on the Dance Floor's fourth album,
All the Rage!!. The duo collaborated with several artists for the album, including Lady Nogrady, JJ Demon, and Nick Nasty. The album was preceded by several singles to promote the release, including "Yo Ho", and "P.L.U.R.", and "Bewitched", which became the band's most well-known song. The band later embarked on
Warped Tour 2011 in June 2011, and released the album while on tour. The music video for their hit single from the album
Bewitched featured Nicole "Lady" Nogrady. She later shared that she felt disrespected by the band throughout the album's production and during the music video shoot. Nogrady revealed that she had to directly confront the band to make sure her name was properly credited for her contributions. The song was subsequently performed by other female vocalists in place of Nogrady at live shows, and was re-recorded with vocals by Haley Rose for their 2013 acoustic album
Blood Unplugged. The album peaked at No. 13 on the
Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. In celebration of Blood on the Dance Floor's fourth anniversary, a digital compilation album titled
The Legend of Blood on the Dance Floor was set to be released on Halloween. Blood on the Dance Floor's fifth album,
Evolution, was released on June 19, 2012, along with a deluxe edition that featured acoustic versions of two songs. Two music videos and four singles were released from the album. The album featured tracks in collaboration with Haley Rose, Amelia Arsenic, Shawn Brandon, Joel Madden of the band
Good Charlotte, Elena Vladimirova, and Deuce. As a thank you to their fans they released the three-song free EP
Clubbed to Death! on June 20, 2012, for free through an app on
Facebook. Their sixth EP,
The Anthem of the Outcast, was released on October 30, 2012. Rumors of a breakup in 2013 were proven to be a hoax with Vanity completely denying that the group was disbanding.
Bad Blood was slated for release in September 2013. On February 18, 2013, the lead single "I Refuse to Sink! (Fuck the Fame)" was released, and a third, "Something Grimm", on July 2, 2013. Andrew "Drew" Apathy joined in early 2014, and a new album,
Bitchcraft, was released in June 2014. Their single "We're Takin over!" featuring
Deuce was released February 7. They released the album
Scissors in 2016, the band's final release to feature
Jayy Von Monroe due to Von Monroe leaving the group shortly afterward. After Vonn Monroe's departure from the band, Vanity established multiple new solo music projects such as "
Sinners Are Winners" and Master of Death. In April 2017, Vanity announced that there would be a new member, and that Blood on the Dance Floor would be returning on May 5 of that year without Jayy Von Monroe. In May 2017, it was revealed that Dahvie's girlfriend, Fallon Vendetta, had temporarily joined Blood on the Dance Floor. With Vendetta, they released the singles "Resurrection Spell", "Love Like Voodoo", "Six Feet Under", "Yo Ho 2 (Pirate's Life)", "Ghosting" and "Destroy". Their album
Kawaii Monster was released on October 31, 2017.
Kawaii Monster pre-orders included a second disc, a remastered edition of ''Let's Start a Riot
. The band also released an exclusive EP, You Are the Heart
. In 2018, they released Haunted
, followed by Cinema Erotica
and You Are the Heart''. Vendetta departed the group shortly afterward following a breakup with Vanity, leaving him the sole remaining member of the group. On September 5, 2019, Vanity released a solo album as Blood on the Dance Floor titled
Hollywood Death Star featuring singles such as "Sweet Like Popsicles" and "Sex Rx". After this album, Vanity seemingly retired the Blood on the Dance Floor moniker to focus on his alternate music projects such as "
Kawaii Monster" and "The Most Vivid Nightmares" as well as his "Dark Arts Official" merchline. On January 1, 2021, Vanity released a new version of Blood on the Dance Floor's "Bewitched" as "Bewitched Reimagined" featuring singer Sammy Beare. As of 2016, Monroe has continued to work as a
drag queen under the name "The Dahli" and Vanity has continued to release music and merchandise by himself under both "The Most Vivid Nightmares" and "Dark Arts Official". Although the band had been inactive since the breakup with Fallon Vendetta in 2019 and multiple rape allegations against Vanity between 2020 and 2021, in Spring 2025 Vanity teased an upcoming final Blood on the Dance Floor record on his "Dark Arts Official"
Instagram page, with two singles being released on June 13, 2025. The complete album (somewhat of a sequel to
Epic), titled
Epidemic, was released on October 31, 2025. This was later revealed to be a marketing stunt, and Vanity would go back on claims that this is their final album, with a new record planned for 2026, titled Ripe With Decay.
Vanity sexual misconduct cases announced an investigation on Vanity in 2020, including having multiple interviews with those who claim Vanity abused or raped them. Since 2009, at least 21 women have made
sexual assault,
child sexual abuse, and
rape allegations against Vanity, with one leading to his arrest in 2009. Vanity and Moore directly participated in the taunting of Leonhardt, initially by releasing a parody of Leonhardt's video, with Moore in the role of Leonhardt and Vanity in the role of Leonhardt's father. They also released a song, "You Done Goofed", from the album
Epic about Leonhardt and Vanity's alleged experiences with them, with mocking lyrics including "We watched as the world watched you cry" and "My name and reputation won't be the target of a slut". Vanity intentionally released the song on Leonhardt's 12th birthday, and it resulted in Leonhardt attempting suicide by overdosing. Years later, Leonhardt publicly alleged that the rumors sparking the original harassment were true, stating that Vanity began grooming and sexually abusing them in 2009 when they were only 10 years old. These claims, along with dozens of others, led to investigative reports by outlets such as HuffPost and MetalSucks. In an interview with television journalist
Chris Hansen, who also interviewed Leonhardt and several of Vanity's other accusers, Monroe accused Vanity of abuse as well, stating that Vanity forced him to tour without his
HIV medication which caused him to nearly develop
AIDS. Von Monroe also stated that he later made a full recovery after leaving the band in 2016. Many of the accusers were underage during the alleged attacks. In response to the allegations,
Combichrist removed Blood on the Dance Floor from their tour in 2014. Merchandising website Big Cartel removed the band's products in 2018 in response to the allegations, while
Spotify and
Google Play removed the band's music in April 2019 for violating their guidelines regarding prohibited content. As of 2025, no criminal charges have been brought against Vanity. He has responded to the accusations on multiple occasions, usually with denial, threats or
evasion. == Musical style and influences ==