Formation and early years (1986–1989) After the
hardcore punk group
Minor Threat dissolved, MacKaye (vocals) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably
Embrace. MacKaye realized that he wanted to prioritize making music over being in a band, "because sometimes bands get in the way of music, because you're so focussed [sic] on making a band that you forget that it should be about music first." After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" (which means "false or inauthentic") from Mark Baker's
Nam, a compilation of stories of
Vietnam War veterans, in there being a slang
backronym for "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In [a body bag]". The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by the use of a
foil in
hip-hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band
Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, and he accepted.
Fugazi EP & Margin Walker – 13 Songs (1988–1989) Fugazi embarked on its first tour in January 1988. In June 1988 the band recorded its debut EP
Fugazi with producer
Ted Niceley and producer/engineer
Don Zientara (who became a longtime collaborator), and shortly afterward embarked on an arduous tour of Europe. At the tour's conclusion in December, the band recorded songs for its intended debut album, but the band was exhausted from touring and found the resulting sessions were unsatisfactory. The track list was cut down to an EP and released as
Margin Walker the next year. Both EPs were eventually combined into the
13 Songs, released in late 1989. Upon the band's return from Europe, Picciotto, unsatisfied with singing, began playing guitar too.
Repeater and Steady Diet of Nothing (1990–1992) {{Listen With Picciotto playing guitar full-time, Fugazi made the transition into
jamming and writing new material as a band as opposed to performing songs composed solely by MacKaye. In addition to working on new material, songs they had been performing live were refined, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover", for inclusion on their first official full-length studio album. Released on April 19, 1990, through
Dischord Records,
Repeater did not initially reach the
Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. But the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily behind
Repeater, performing 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000-plus capacity venues throughout the world. By summer 1991, the album sold more than 300,000 copies, a large number for a label that relied on minimal promotion. Major labels began to court Fugazi, but the band stayed with Dischord. It was critically well received and featured an
alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as
Nirvana's
Nevermind and
Pearl Jam's
Ten, which unexpectedly broke the genre into the mainstream. After the success of
Repeater and its subsequent world tour,
Steady Diet was highly anticipated. Six months before its release Dischord had more than 160,000 pre-orders for the album.
In on the Kill Taker and Red Medicine (1993–1996) Fugazi recorded its third album,
In on the Kill Taker, in the fall of 1992 with
Steve Albini in Chicago, but the results were deemed unsatisfactory and the band rerecorded the album with Niceley and
Don Zientara. With the breakthrough of alternative rock in the early 1990s,
In on the Kill Taker; released on June 30, 1993, became the group's first record to enter the
Billboard album charts, receiving critical praise from
Spin,
Time and
Rolling Stone, and becoming the band's breakthrough album. The organizers of
Lollapalooza also attempted to recruit the band for a headlining slot on its 1993 tour, which the band considered but ultimately turned down. Fugazi began writing the material for
Red Medicine in late 1994, after touring in support of
In on the Kill Taker. The band worked with Zientara but chose not to work with Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of
In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound that displayed greater range and depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties itself, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation.
Red Medicine has been seen as an introduction to the
art rock aesthetic that would continue in the band's next two studio albums. The band began an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, playing 172 shows between March 1995 and November 1996.
End Hits and The Argument (1997–2002) After the grueling worldwide tour the band completed in support of
Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release. By March 1997 Fugazi had once again returned to
Inner Ear Studios with Zientara to begin recording what became
End Hits, with the intention of taking a more relaxed approach to recording and a longer amount of time to experiment with different songs and techniques in the studio. The group ultimately spent seven months recording the album. Due to the title, rumors began circulating at the time that it was to be their last release. Released on April 28, 1998, the album was commercially successful and marked one of the band's highest debuts yet on
Billboards charts. Critical reaction to
End Hits was mixed. Many critics praised its heavier tracks, while others questioned the inclusion of the group's longer, more experimental songs. Fugazi elected to bring in their former roadie
Jerry Busher as a second drummer in order to replicate the drum overdub-heavy sound of the album live. Fugazi began work on
The Argument in 1999. This process saw the group taking more time than usual to write and demo material. Each member brought his own riffs and ideas to the band, jammed on them, and then began piecing the songs together into various configurations before deciding on the final versions. The album's recording sessions took place between January and April 2001 at Inner Ear Studios and Dischord House in
Arlington, Virginia. The band once again worked with Zientara. During the recording process a considerable amount of time was spent finalizing each song's production, in particular the album's drum tracks, in an effort to give it a unique feel. Canty told
Modern Drummer, "We recorded them all very differently in terms of the drum sounds. We used a lot of different drum kits, cymbals, snares, and ways of miking." and Chris True of
AllMusic "spine-tingling and ear-shattering all at once", writing, "the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again." He also wrote that the album had "touched on strange new territory". By this point Fugazi was on tour less, due in large part to other professional and personal commitments. It performed only 32 shows in 2001 and 2002. Even though the number of performances dwindled, during Fugazi's last tour they performed in front of over roughly 70,000 people.
Indefinite hiatus and reunion rumours (2003–present) Fugazi went on what it has called an "indefinite hiatus" after the conclusion of its 2002 UK tour following three sold-out nights at the
London Forum on November 2–4, 2002. The hiatus was brought on by the band members' insistence on spending more time with their families and pursuing other professional projects. Since Fugazi went on hiatus in 2003, rumors began circulating about a reunion, with some insinuating that the band may get back together to headline the
Coachella Festival. While the band has confirmed that it has been offered large sums of money to reunite and headline festivals, such as Coachella, it has so far declined the offers. In March 2011, MacKaye reiterated that Fugazi has "been offered insane amounts of money to play reunions, but it's not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and time allowed it". In November 2011, when asked by
The A.V. Club about the possibility of a reunion and a follow up to 2001's
The Argument, Lally said, "
The Argument was a great record that we should try and top. It'll take some time to come together and everything. To do that, we'd have to, the way the four of us are, we would take quite some time, I think, reassociating ourselves musically, and then just letting it come about naturally, because it would have to be a natural thing. So we'll just see." The announcement included a preview of the demo for the Fugazi track "Merchandise". The album was released on November 18, 2014. MacKaye insisted in a 2017 interview that Fugazi is not, in fact, broken up. While he admits any future public performance will have to contend with various confounding factors, the members have occasionally played music together, privately, since their 2003 hiatus. On March 21, 2018, in an interview on Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol podcast, Lally confirmed the band's irregular practice of casual get-togethers. He stated: "Yeah, when we're all in D.C., we totally hang out together and talk and spend a lot of time laughing. We have a great time together, go out to dinner, and we'll play some music together." Lally also stated that additional public performances or tours were unlikely: "There's so much to try to look after to allow Fugazi to do anything, that we do not have the time to give it the respect that it deserves. So unfortunately, it is where it is." On February 13, 2019,
Louder Sound asked Lally and Canty about the possibility of Fugazi returning, Lally responded "You never want to say never about anything, because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, 'Should we play old songs?' 'Who are we now?' 'What is it now?' We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home." Canty added, "If we got back together it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. It would be different if we got back together." On March 6, 2026, Fugazi released the band's original
In on the Kill Taker sessions, recorded with
Steve Albini, as a digital-only,
name-your-own-price download album on
Bandcamp, titled
Albini Sessions (Benefit for Letters Charity), with all of the proceeds going to Letters Charity, a
non-profit organization with whom Albini and his wife, Heather Whinna, worked extensively. ==Side projects and related work==