Screaming Trees (1984–2000) in the 1980s
Screaming Trees was formed in late 1984 by Lanegan, guitarist
Gary Lee Conner, bassist
Van Conner, and drummer
Mark Pickerel. The band released the
Other Worlds EP in 1986; recorded in 1985 and originally available only on cassette tape, the album was re-released on CD and LP by
SST Records in 1987.
Barrett Martin replaced previous drummer Pickerel and the new line up recorded
Sweet Oblivion in 1992.
Solo work and other projects In 1990, Lanegan released his first solo album,
The Winding Sheet via label
Sub Pop. Lanegan had intimated that the album came around following a
Leadbelly project he was working on with Mark Pickerel, Kurt Cobain, and
Krist Novoselic. Also in 1999, Lanegan participated in the
tribute album for
Moby Grape co-founder,
Skip Spence, who was terminally ill. In 2009 Lanegan sang lead vocals on "The Last Time," an A side track on
The Breeders' EP
Fate to Fatal. In 2001, he released his fifth studio album,
Field Songs. The album featured friend
Duff McKagan, as well as major contributions from
Soundgarden's bassist,
Ben Shepherd.
Josh Homme,
Dave Catching,
Alain Johannes, and
Martyn LeNoble contributed to the creation of the album. In November 2012 Lanegan self-released a Christmas album titled
Dark Mark Does Christmas 2012, including a
Roky Erickson cover "Burn the Flames". The limited six-track EP had only been available at his concerts. Released on Heavenly Recordings in 2013, Lanegan released his first collaboration with Duke Garwood entitled
Black Pudding. It featured a largely acoustic guitar-driven sound, not unlike his first solo albums on Sub Pop, as well as long-time solo collaborator Alain Johannes. Lanegan released a five-track EP entitled
No Bells on Sunday in the United States on July 29, 2014, followed by a European release on August 25. A music video was released on July 15 for "Sad Lover", the third track off the EP. Lanegan's next full-length album,
Phantom Radio, was released on October 21, 2014. It was produced by Alain Johannes and has a similar sound aesthetic to
Blues Funeral. Lanegan's second collaborative album with Duke Garwood,
With Animals, was released on August 24, 2018. The pair toured Europe in October 2018 to support the release. Lanegan released three further solo albums between 2017 and 2020 on Heavenly Recordings;
Gargoyle in 2017, ''
Somebody's Knocking in April 2019, and Straight Songs of Sorrow'' in May 2020.
Queens of the Stone Age (2000–2014) Lanegan's first appearance on a
Queens of the Stone Age album was on
Rated R. He sang the lead vocals on "In the Fade" and background vocals on "Leg of Lamb", "Autopilot", and "I Think I Lost My Headache".
Rated R became a commercial success and became the first Queens of the Stone Age album to chart. Shortly after the release of
Field Songs, Lanegan became a full-time member of Queens of the Stone Age. He appeared on the 2002 release
Songs for the Deaf, singing lead on the tracks "Song for the Dead", "Hangin' Tree", "Song for the Deaf", and "God Is in the Radio". The album became the band's big breakthrough and peaked at number 17 on the
Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the
RIAA. He also toured in support of the album over the next two years. and "
Go with the Flow" (2004). In 2005, Lanegan released his last album with Queens of the Stone Age,
Lullabies to Paralyze, where he sang lead vocals on the first track of the album called "This Lullaby". The album was delayed during 2004 because of some changes to the line-up: bassist
Nick Oliveri was fired and Lanegan went on tour to support
Bubblegum. Lanegan would later appear in support of the album. Lanegan continued to collaborate with Queens of the Stone Age and its members after leaving the band. In 2007, he appeared on their album,
Era Vulgaris, contributing background vocals to the track "River in the Road". On August 12, 2010, Lanegan re-joined Queens of The Stone Age on stage at the Nokia Club in
Los Angeles, where he sang four encore songs with the band. The concert was put together to raise funds for
Eagles of Death Metal bassist
Brian O'Connor, who was diagnosed with cancer a few months prior to the event. In 2013, Lanegan appeared on their sixth album,
...Like Clockwork, co-writing the song "Fairweather Friends" and contributing background vocals to the track "If I Had a Tail".
Collaboration with Isobel Campbell (2004–2011) in 2007 in support of their album
Ballad of the Broken Seas. In April 2004, Lanegan released an
EP with former
Belle & Sebastian vocalist
Isobel Campbell, titled
Time Is Just the Same. They would later release a single entitled "
Ramblin' Man" for their collaboration album
Ballad of the Broken Seas. Campbell wrote and recorded the majority of the album's tracks in
Glasgow, with Lanegan adding vocals in Los Angeles. The record was well received by critics. In addition to providing vocals, Lanegan also wrote the track "Revolver" with Campbell. The album was nominated for the 2006
Mercury Prize. By the end of the tour the duo had ceased to function and each went their separate ways.
The Gutter Twins (2003–2009) , Mark Lanegan.
The Gutter Twins was a collaboration between Lanegan and
Afghan Whigs/
Twilight Singers vocalist
Greg Dulli. Working on a collaborative album since at least 2003, the pair first played as The Gutter Twins in Rome in September 2005.
Saturnalia was released on March 4, 2008, on
Sub Pop, a label both Dulli and Lanegan had worked with before. The duo's first tour commenced on February 14, 2008, in New York City and continued in March and April throughout Europe and the United States. In 2008, Lanegan collaborated with
Tim Simenon on a track entitled "Black River" which appeared on Simenon's fourth album under his
Bomb the Bass moniker,
Future Chaos. In 2007, English
electronica duo
Soulsavers' album ''
It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land featured Lanegan on 8 out of 10 album tracks. As well as appearing as a vocalist, the tracks "Revival", "Ghosts of You and Me", "Paper Money", and "Jesus of Nothing" are credited as written by Lanegan and Soulsavers. This led to a significant run of touring in support of the album, beginning on September 6, in Portland, Oregon. Following the tour of the United States, Lanegan continued to perform with them throughout their extensive run of European shows. These varied between headline gigs and slots in support of Depeche Mode. Having completed touring duties for Soulsavers, Lanegan announced a solo European tour. Shows focused specifically on his solo back catalogue, having not done so since touring finished in support of Bubblegum''. Also in 2009, Lanegan followed in
Josh Homme's footsteps in collaborating with
Unkle, the British electronic act masterminded by
James Lavelle. He contributed his vocals to "Another Night Out", the final track of the album
Where Did the Night Fall (released in May 2010). In 2011, Lanegan's music was featured in a trailer and end credits for the video game
Rage and the soundtrack for the film
The Hangover Part II. Lanegan collaborated on a track "So Long Sin City" with
Slash who recorded music for the 2011 indie film
This Is Not a Movie, directed by
Olallo Rubio, and starring
Edward Furlong,
Peter Coyote,
Miguel Ferrer, and more. On April 16, 2013, Lanegan and
Duke Garwood released their first studio collaboration,
Black Pudding. Lanegan collaborated with
Warpaint and
Massive Attack for a cover of
the xx's song "
Crystalised". Lanegan, Warpaint, and
Martina Topley-Bird recorded the cover of "Crystalised" and released it as a single in 2013. For
Record Store Day 2013, Lanegan collaborated with
Moby to release a 7-inch record called
The Lonely Night. Of working with Lanegan, Moby stated: "I've been a fan of Mark's from his early SST records days, and I've always wanted to work with him. He has one of the best and most distinctive voices of the last 25 years. Now that we live near each other it ended up being really easy working on a song together."
The Lonely Night also appeared on Moby's album
Innocents. In 2013, Lanegan teamed up with Seattle producer
Martin Feveyear, to work on a covers record,
Imitations. Prior to its release, Lanegan had only issued one previous record of covers, 1999's ''
I'll Take Care of You. On Imitations'', Lanegan offers contemporary songs, standards, and obscure numbers that, according to him, reveal the effect his parents' record collection had on him. He enlisted the help of Seattle composer
Andrew Joslyn for the string arrangements and performances, as well as Seattle rock icons
Duff McKagan,
Barrett Martin, and others. The record was released September 17, 2013, through Vagrant Records. Lanegan and
Josh Homme co-wrote the theme song for
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, which first aired in 2013 on
CNN. Lanegan contributed vocals on two tracks on
Earth's 2014 album
Primitive and Deadly, released on September 2, 2014, and on one track on
Manset's 2014 album ''Un oiseau s'est posé
. In 2016 he featured on Wounded Wing by The Duke Spirit. He also worked with Unkle on the track "Looking for the Rain" from their 2017 album The Road: Part I'', along with
Eska. He also contributed vocals and songwriting to
Tuareg rock band
Tinariwen's "Nànnuflày" off their 2017 album
Elwan. In 2020, Lanegan contributed a spoken-word vocal performance to the song "The Mirror" by English rock band
Hey Colossus, from their album
Dances/Curses. He wrote lyrics and recorded lead vocals for "A Drink Of Poison Water" on Spanish duo Agrio's La Murga EP, and also appeared on the eponymous album by Black Phoebe, collaborating with his wife Shelley Brien and members of the Mark Lanegan Band including
Martyn LeNoble. Lanegan contributed vocals on the song "Inside of a Dream" on
Cult of Luna's EP
The Raging River, released on February 5, 2021, "The Music Becomes a Skull" on
The Armed's album
Ultrapop, released April 16, 2021, and "Blank Diary Entry" on
Manic Street Preachers' 2021 album
The Ultra Vivid Lament. In October 2021, Lanegan released a collaborative album with former
The Icarus Line member Joe Cardamone entitled
Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe. ==Books==