Formation and Choose to Love, Live or Die, Stacy's departure (2001–2002) I Killed the Prom Queen formed in
Adelaide, South Australia in 2001, with the original line-up featuring Ben Engel on
bass guitar, Simon O'Gorman on
guitar, JJ Peters (Josef John W. Peters) on
drums, Lee Stacy on
vocals and
Jona Weinhofen on guitar. Peters, Weinhofen and bass guitarist
Leaton Rose had previously been members of the local band Cur. Originally named The Rubik's Equation, then briefly Child Left Burning, Michael Crafter joined to share lead vocals and soon after Rose replaced Engel on bass guitar. The band's first performance was at the Dom Polski Centre in Adelaide, October 21, 2001. Five songs were recorded during the sessions, but a computer glitch caused the fifth to be erased. In 2002, it was issued by 618 Recordings, then re-released by Final Prayer Records and distributed by
Missing Link Records. O'Gorman left after the release to join Day of Contempt and he was replaced by guitarist Kevin Cameron in late 2002.
Choose to Love, Live or Die was the only release to include both Lee Stacey's vocals and the higher-pitched vocals by Crafter, as Stacy would depart from the band later that year. The tracks were later re-recorded for their third EP,
Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You (2005).
Split CD with Parkway Drive and When Goodbye Means Forever (2003–2005) In March 2003, Rose departed (he later joined
The Hot Lies) and Sean Kennedy took his place. The new lineup then recorded the "Homicide" demo, which appeared on
Blunt Magazine's
Harder Core than You compilation. While in
Byron Bay Crafter saw the first performance by local metalcore band
Parkway Drive and was so impressed that he invited the group to record a
split CD with his band. In May, Final Prayer Records issued the
I Killed the Prom Queen / Parkway Drive split EP, with two tracks by I Killed the Prom Queen ("Homicide Documentaries" and "Death Certificate for a Beauty Queen") and two by Parkway Drive. In September, the line-up of Cameron, Crafter, Kennedy, Peters and Weinhofen recorded their debut studio album
When Goodbye Means Forever... for Sydney hardcore label Resist Records, which was released in December. It was produced by Dan Jones, Anj and the group. Crafter said that when entering Hawaii, "Three of us got questioned. They were asking us what jails we had been in, what our parents did and what our parents thought of our tattoos". By late 2005, they had completed recording the album but in January 2006 Crafter was fired. Instead of releasing the album as it was, they decided to recruit a new vocalist and replace Crafter's tracks. They recruited Ed Butcher from UK band The Hunt for Ida Wave. New lyrics were written by Cameron and Butcher, while some lyrics that the whole band had contributed during the Crafter sessions were retained.
Music for the Recently Deceased was produced by
Fredrik Nordström, and by
Patrik J. Sten. The album was released on 31 July 2006 by Stomp Entertainment and peaked in the top 30 on the
ARIA Albums Chart. The Australian tour in support of the album had over 50 concert dates in three months, from north Western Australia to the southern states and then along the east coast to Cairns. They followed with a support slot on a tour for US groups
Killswitch Engage and
Lamb of God. Weinhofen later stated that limited touring markets for the band at the time, and the accompanying financial issues, also put pressure on Butcher and the band during this period. After returning to the UK, Butcher fronted UK metalcore band
Eternal Lord from 2007 to 2008. Tyrone Ross from Mourning Tide subsequently filled in as the vocalist for I Killed the Prom Queen for a Japanese tour. Colin Jeffs of
Bendigo band Heavenslost and
Aversions Crown then provided vocals on a European tour with
Bleeding Through,
All Shall Perish and
Caliban. In April 2007, I Killed the Prom Queen announced their breakup, citing both an inability to find a permanent vocalist and Weinhofen's decision to join Bleeding Through. Soon after a final Australian tour with Crafter on vocals was arranged for 2008. In May 2008, Stomp re-issued
Music For The Recently Deceased in a limited tour edition – of 5,000 hand-numbered copies – for the Say Goodbye Tour. The release included a cardboard slipcase, two live tracks and four tracks with Crafter's vocals taken from the original album recording. The group toured in May and June, with most of the 18 shows selling out. The support acts were
Bring Me the Horizon,
The Red Shore,
The Ghost Inside and local acts from each city. A live album and DVD,
Sleepless Nights and City Lights, was recorded at their Adelaide performance; it was released on 22 November 2008 and peaked in the top 50. He also managed Australian deathcore act The Red Shore. Kevin Cameron formed the progressive metalcore band In Trenches with vocalist Ben Coyte. He also acted as a touring musician for several other groups. Peters formed and fronted hardcore project
Deez Nuts and was one half of the hip-hop duo Grips & Tonic, alongside New Zealand rapper Louie Knuxx. Kennedy played bass for Deez Nuts on Australian and international tours.
Reformation, Beloved and second hiatus (2011–2017) In March 2011 I Killed the Prom Queen announced their reunion and an upcoming Australian tour in May with
The Amity Affliction,
Deez Nuts, and
Of Mice & Men. Jamie Hope (Who was previously the vocalist of
The Red Shore) joined the band as their new permanent vocalist. At the time, Weinhofen was not planning to leave
Bring Me the Horizon and intended to remain in both groups. Likewise Peters continued his work with
Deez Nuts. In January 2012 Weinhofen confirmed that the band was writing their third studio album and said they were entering the studio at the end of the year with a tentative release date for the album in early 2013. However, in March 2013 the band announced on
Facebook that the planned release date had been pushed back to early 2014. The band played three UK dates in July. These three shows were around a similar time the band was planning to perform at the
2012 Sonisphere festival however, the festival was cancelled. After the cancellation, the band incorporated the UK shows into a 17-date European tour across eleven countries. Jona Weinhofen said touring in Europe was special for the band as they have a very strong fanbase there. In August 2017, in an Instagram comment to Weinhofen about the status of I Killed The Prom Queen, he said that playing guitar in a band isn't at the top of his priority list right now. On 8 August 2018, the group announced they would be reuniting with their 'classic lineup' (featuring Crafter) for a one-off performance at the 2019
Unify Gathering festival, for the 15th anniversary of their debut album
When Goodbye Means Forever.... However, two days later, Unify announced the band's appearance at the festival was cancelled due the unearthing of an "offensive" Facebook comment made two years prior by Crafter about gender equality in festival lineups. Crafter apologised for the comment and fans launched a petition to have the band re-added to the line-up, although Unify did not reverse the decision. Kennedy took his own life on February 24, 2021, at age 35. In 2022 Michael Crafter and Confession performed songs from throughout I Killed the Prom Queen's two decade career, as well as Confession songs, on the When Goodbye Means It's Life and Death tour. The tour was a tribute in response to the passing of Sean Kennedy.
25th anniversary reunion (2024–present) In September 2024, the band released a video on their Instagram teasing a possible reunion in 2025. On 10 April 2025, the band announced their 25th anniversary tour to take place in October, in which they will only play songs between 2000 and 2008.
Emmure,
To the Grave, and Threshold were announced as support. ==Band members==