Early years (1980s) Brett Gurewitz formed Epitaph Records as a vehicle for releases by his band
Bad Religion. The name had been taken from the
King Crimson Cold War protest song "
Epitaph" from which the lyrics "Confusion will be my epitaph." had struck a chord with Brett and Greg when they were young. Its first release for the label was Bad Religion's 1981
self-titled EP, followed by their debut
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, which was also the label's first full-length release. Also released during this period was
Peace thru Vandalism, an EP by
the Vandals, who were the first band besides Bad Religion to sign to Epitaph. Two more Bad Religion releases followed –
Into the Unknown and the EP
Back to the Known – before their temporary split. After Gurewitz had cleaned up his drug issues, both Epitaph and Bad Religion were revived in 1987. In the following year, Epitaph released its first record as a proper label, which was
L7's
self-titled album, and it was distributed by
Chameleon. Also in 1988, Bad Religion released
Suffer, which was both released and distributed by Epitaph. In 1989, Gurewitz signed
NOFX to Epitaph. They released their debut for the label,
S&M Airlines, that same year, featuring the video for its title track and the cover of
Fleetwood Mac's "
Go Your Own Way", which featured guest vocals by Gurewitz and
Greg Graffin, also a member of Bad Religion. This was followed by Bad Religion's next two albums –
No Control and
Against the Grain – which sold 60,000 and 100,000 copies respectively.
Breakthrough success (1990s) By 1993, more punk acts had signed to Epitaph, and the label relocated to new offices in
Silver Lake, Los Angeles. releasing seven more albums, the latest being
Age of Unreason (2019). In mid-2005 Epitaph was added to the official list of
RIAA members along with several other high-profile independent labels. The reason for the listing is not clear, but one source points to an agreement for internet
P2P distribution. Another source claims label management joined RIAA to get certified sales awards (i.e., official "Gold" or "Platinum" record status) for releases. This sparked some controversy as some feel they should no longer be labeled independent if they are a member of the RIAA. However, the only source that has actually been used for these claims of membership is the official RIAA membership list, which has been disputed.
Recent years (2010s) Epitaph signed
Weezer in 2010, the label releasing
Hurley later that year. The label signed
Social Distortion in the same year. Epitaph signed
Australian punk band
Dangerous! in 2011 and released album
Teenage Rampage. Epitaph had also signed the Canadian punk rock band
Propagandhi. The label has also been more active in signing bands from the
emo revival including
The Menzingers,
Joyce Manor,
Pianos Become the Teeth,
Defeater,
the World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, and
Touché Amoré. ==Sales certifications==