Early years (1988–1993) When
Stephen Carpenter was 15 years old, he was hit by a car while
skateboarding. Using a wheelchair for several months, he began teaching himself to play guitar by playing along to songs by
thrash metal bands such as
Anthrax,
Stormtroopers of Death, and
Metallica. A long-circulated myth alleged that the driver paid Carpenter a cash settlement that allowed the band to purchase equipment, but
Abe Cunningham commented in a 2007 interview that the story about the settlement was false. Carpenter, Cunningham and
Chino Moreno were childhood friends. All three went to
C. K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento and remained friends through the city's skateboarding scene. When Moreno found out that Carpenter played guitar, he set up a
jam session with Cunningham, who played drums, and the three began playing regularly in Carpenter's garage around 1988.
Chi Cheng joined to play bass, and the band recorded a four-track demo soon afterwards. Carpenter created the band's name by combining the
hip hop slang term "
def" with the suffix "-tones". The name is also a pun on the term "
tone deaf." An early track which predated
Adrenaline but did not make the album's final cut was "Teething"; the band contributed the song to
the soundtrack for the 1996 film
The Crow: City of Angels. The band can also be seen performing the song live during The Day of The Dead festival scene as themselves. The album spent 21 weeks on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart, reaching a peak position of 23. When asked what he attributed the album's success to, Cheng responded, "One word: perseverance. We've been together for almost eight years, on the road for two, and we do it with honesty and integrity—and the kids can tell". The album was certified gold by the
RIAA on July 7, 1999, and was certified platinum on September 23, 2008. Regarding the recording of the album, Cunningham said, "At the time we did the first record—which I really like and think is good—you can tell the band was really young. We'd been playing most of those songs for quite a while, and we were just so happy to be making a record that we didn't really think a whole lot about making the songs better". Moreno felt that
Adrenaline was recorded "really fast"
AllMusic's review of
Adrenaline praised the album's musical control, precision, overall groove and Cunningham's "surprisingly sophisticated drumming". It was also noted that "there is a bit of sameness in Chino Moreno's whispered vocal melodies, which drags the record down a bit".
Around the Fur (1997–1999) Deftones' second album,
Around the Fur, was recorded at Studio Litho in
Seattle, Washington, and produced by Date. Released on October 28, 1997, the album was dedicated to Dana Wells, the late stepson of the singer
Max Cavalera of
Sepultura,
Soulfly and
Cavalera Conspiracy. Cavalera also collaborated on "Headup", a tribute to Wells. Although not yet a member of the band, Delgado was credited as "audio" on five of the album's tracks. Cunningham's wife, Annalynn, provided guest vocals on "MX". In a 1998 interview with
Chart magazine, Moreno stated, "When we went in to make this record, we really didn't have a set idea of what we wanted to come out with". He felt that the album "fell into place" once the band settled into the studio. The band expanded its sound, spending more time with Date and giving more thought to the album's production. Cunningham varied his drum sound and experimented by using different types of
snare drum on almost every track.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine's retrospective review noted that "while they don't have catchy riffs or a fully developed sound,
Around the Fur suggests they're about to come into their own".
Around the Fur propelled the band to fame in the alternative metal scene on the strength of radio and MTV airplay for the singles "
My Own Summer (Shove It)" and "
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)". The band went back to touring, making appearances at the
Warped Tour (in the United States, New Zealand and Australia),
Pinkpop Festival,
Roskilde Festival and
Ozzfest as well as releasing
a live EP on June 22, 1999.
Around the Fur went on to reach RIAA gold status on June 24, 1999, and platinum status on June 7, 2011.
White Pony (2000–2002) On June 20, 2000, the band released their third album,
White Pony, again produced by Date and Deftones. It was recorded at the
Record Plant studio in
Sausalito, California, and at Larrabee Sound Studios,
West Hollywood. Delgado, now a full-time band member, added new elements to the band's music. The melancholy "Teenager", for example, was a departure in style and mood, a "
love song", according to Moreno. Programming duties were carried out by DJ Crook, a friend of Moreno (and bandmate in his side project
Team Sleep). "Passenger" was a collaboration with singer
Maynard James Keenan of
Tool, and the refrain in "Knife Prty" featured vocals by Rodleen Getsic. Moreno also started contributing additional guitar work. An interview with the band in
Alternative Press described the recording process of
White Pony. After a break from touring, the band spent four months in the studio writing and recording it, the longest amount of time they had dedicated to an album thus far. Moreno said that the majority of this time was spent trying to write songs, and that the writing of "
Change (In the House of Flies)" was the turning point where the band began working as a unit. Despite being pressured to release the album sooner, the band decided to take their time. Cheng explained, "We didn't feel like we had anything to lose, so we made the record we wanted to make." Moreno did not have an overall lyrical theme in mind, but made a conscious decision to bring an element of fantasy into his lyrics: "I basically didn't sing about myself on this record. I made up a lot of story lines and some dialogue, even. I took myself completely out of it and wrote about other things". The album was originally released as an 11-track edition beginning with "Feiticeira" and ending with "Pink Maggit", and featuring gray cover art. A limited-edition print of 50,000 black-and-red jewel case versions of
White Pony was released at the same time with a bonus twelfth track titled "The Boy's Republic". Later, the band released "
Back to School (Mini Maggit)", a rap-influenced interpretation of "Pink Maggit". The song was released as a single and included as the new opening track of a re-released
White Pony on October 3, 2000. The new release still had "Pink Maggit" as the final track and featured altered white cover art. Not entirely happy with re-releasing the album, the band negotiated to have "Back to School" made available as a free download for anyone who had already bought the original album. Moreno noted that "Everybody's already downloaded our record before it came out anyway, otherwise I'd be kind of feelin' like, 'Man, why [are] we putting [out] all these different versions of the record?' [...] that's the best way we can actually get this song out to the people who already purchased this record, for free basically. And if they wanna buy the record again, it's cool".
White Pony debuted at No. 3 on the U.S.
Billboard chart with sales of 178,000 copies. Allmusic's review said that "Deftones went soft, but in an impressive way, to twist around its signature
punk thrash sound". The album achieved platinum status on July 17, 2002,
Deftones (2002–2005) Deftones began work on their fourth album under the
working title Lovers. Regarding the album's direction, Cheng commented, "We've proven that we can musically go in any direction we want, and we want to get kind of heavy on this one". Moreno underwent vocal training as a precaution after severely damaging his
vocal cords on the band's 2001 summer tour. The band was fined by Maverick for missing deadlines. In January 2003, Deftones left the studio to perform several one-off shows in Australia and New Zealand as part of the annual
Big Day Out festival. Shortly after, the band returned to the studio to finish their fourth album. The self-titled
Deftones was released on May 20, 2003. It entered the
Billboard 200 at No. 2 and sold 167,000 copies in its first week. The album remained in the
Billboard Top 100 for nine weeks, supported by the first single, "
Minerva". The band shot a video for the album's second single, "
Hexagram", with fans watching the band play the song in an indoor
skatepark in
Simi Valley, California. Reviews were mainly positive, praising the band for the album's progression and originality in the midst of declining creativity in contemporary metal. Moreno was quoted as saying, "It's all on record. We told motherfuckers not to lump us in with
nu metal because when those bands go down we aren't going to be with them".
The A.V. Club similarly called the album "less rewarding than its predecessor, though its peaks rival any in the genre". The band released a compilation album titled
B-Sides & Rarities on October 4, 2005. The CD includes various
B-sides and
covers from throughout their career, while the DVD contains behind-the-scenes footage and the band's complete videography up to that point. After recording all the instrumental parts for the record, Moreno decided to record his vocals separately, and finished recording the album with former
Far guitarist
Shaun Lopez as producer. According to an interview with Abe Cunningham, there were tensions involved with the recording of
Saturday Night Wrist that were related to the band members' personal lives. Cunningham compared the process to “pulling teeth.” The band released the album, titled
Saturday Night Wrist, on October 31, 2006. It debuted at No. 10 on the U.S.
Billboard chart with sales of just over 76,000, a significant decrease in the first-week sales of their two previous releases. The album's first single, "
Hole in the Earth", was released on September 12, 2006. The single was featured in the video game
Saints Row 2 and as downloadable content for the
PlayStation 3 and
Xbox 360 versions of
Guitar Hero 3.
Blabbermouth.net wrote that Deftones "have rallied to create one of the strongest discs in the band's repertoire". "
Mein" was the album's second single, which was released on March 9, 2007. Collaborations on the record include
Annie Hardy from
Giant Drag on the song "Pink Cellphone" and
Serj Tankian from
System of a Down on the track "Mein". Deftones spent the majority of 2006 and 2007 touring around the world in support of the album, performing in North America, Europe, South America, Japan and Australia. The band also performed on such tours as
Taste of Chaos,
Family Values Tour and the
Soundwave Festival.
Eros sessions, Cheng's car accident and Vega's arrival (2008–2009) In the fall of 2007, Deftones started writing songs for what was planned to be their sixth studio album,
Eros. Moreno described the album as unorthodox and aggressive. Recording started on April 14, 2008. The band returned to working with Terry Date as the producer for
Eros. In late January 2009, the band released a new statement, stating that "our fallen comrade has not yet made significant progress", and that a friend of the band,
Sergio Vega (formerly of
Quicksand), would be taking over as bassist in Cheng's absence, as he had done temporarily in 1999. On April 5, the band played their first show without Cheng since 1998 at the
Bamboozle Left festival in
Irvine, California. On June 23, 2009, Deftones announced on their official website that
Eros would be delayed indefinitely, saying, "As we neared completion on
Eros, we realized that this record doesn't best encompass and represent who we are currently as people and as musicians. And although those songs will see the light of day at some point, we collectively made the decision that we needed to take a new approach, and with Chi's condition heavy on our minds while doing so. We needed to return to the studio to do what we felt was right artistically". They also said, "The decision to hold off on releasing
Eros has no connection with Chi's condition or anything associated. This was, and is, purely a creative decision by the band to write, record, and deliver an amazing product". Korn members
Brian "Head" Welch and
Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, along with members of
Sevendust,
Slipknot and other alternative metal bands, recorded and released "
A Song for Chi", with proceeds benefiting Cheng and his family. To aid in the fundraising for the Cheng family, the band announced two 2009 benefit shows in Los Angeles. A website—One Love for Chi—was launched by Deftones fan Gina Blackmore on March 10, 2009, about four months after Cheng's accident. The site served as a platform for updates and information on Cheng's condition, as well as serving as an auction site for items donated by friends of the band. All proceeds raised by the website were donated to his family so they could provide him the best possible medical care.
Diamond Eyes (2010–2011) Deftones' sixth album,
Diamond Eyes, was originally scheduled for release on April 27, 2010; this date was later pushed back to May 18. In March, it was announced that the album had leaked onto the Internet, and the album's release date was moved forward to May 4 as a result. On February 23, 2010, the album's first single, "
Rocket Skates", was made available for free download at www.gunsrazorsknives.com. The album was produced by
Nick Raskulinecz. In contrast to
Eros dark and aggressive nature, the band took a more optimistic approach both lyrically and sonically on
Diamond Eyes. festival on the
Gold Coast in 2011 On March 15, Deftones debuted their first radio-ready single, "
Diamond Eyes". Both "Diamond Eyes" and "Rocket Skates" received positive reviews from fans and critics, with many making comparisons of the two singles' style and sound to that of material from the
Around the Fur album. Teaming up with bands
Mastodon and Alice in Chains, Deftones went on tour in the fall of 2010 in the United States and Canada. The tour was called
Blackdiamondskye from the three bands' latest albums (
Black Gives Way to Blue,
Diamond Eyes and
Crack the Skye). The tour included a limited edition series of silk-screened art prints promoting each show individually, created by the poster artist
Jermaine Rogers. Rogers has created a majority of the Deftones concert poster and print artwork since the late 1990s. On April 16, 2011, in honor of
Record Store Day, the band released an LP titled
Covers, containing several cover songs that the band had recorded over the years, including "
Drive" (originally by
the Cars), "
If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" (originally by
the Cure) and "
No Ordinary Love" (originally by
Sade). On October 25, Deftones released
The Vinyl Collection 1995–2011 in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.
Koi No Yokan and Cheng's death (2012–2013) On March 29, 2012, Carpenter revealed that the band were working on a new record in an interview posted on
ESP Guitars's
YouTube channel. It was reported that Raskulinecz would return to produce their as-yet-unnamed seventh studio album. It was also reported that the band would be recording several B-sides for the album, including an
Elvis Presley cover and possibly an
Earth, Wind, and Fire cover. It was later announced that there would be no bonus tracks. On July 28, Deftones performed a brand-new song titled "Rosemary" and also debuted another track titled "Roller Derby" (later retitled "Poltergeist"). Continuing the experimental direction of
Diamond Eyes,
Koi No Yokan was announced on August 30, 2012, and released on November 12, 2012, by
Reprise Records.
Metacritic rated
Koi No Yokan 86 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 18 reviews. In May 2013, it won
Revolvers Golden Gods Award for Album of the Year. Moreno announced in May that the album
Eros, shelved in 2008 after Cheng's accident, was now more likely to be released following his death.
Gore (2014–2017) In March 2014, while Moreno was touring with his side project
Crosses in support of their
self-titled debut album, the rest of Deftones began writing a follow-up to
Koi No Yokan. Deftones also previously reported that they intended to record a new album either in late 2014 or early 2015. On April 13, 2014, the first anniversary of Cheng's death, Deftones released a track from
Eros titled "Smile" on YouTube, the first officially released material from the long-shelved album. The video was removed by
Warner Music Group two days later due to copyright infringement, despite the track having been uploaded by Moreno. Although the track has again been made available, it remains the only recording to be released from the
Eros sessions to date. 2016 In late February 2015, just after the band had finished the new album's drum tracks, Moreno told
Rolling Stone that Deftones had written 16 songs during the album's sessions. He described the album as "a little more of a heady record" than the previous album. On May 15, 2015, Moreno was interviewed by
Kerrang! about the new album, which he described as having "a lot of different moods". He further explained that it was not a "happy record", but also "not a completely angry record". Despite reports of Carpenter's initial difficulty getting into the feel of the album, band members have noted the album's distinct collaborative nature. Vega utilized a six-string bass when recording the new material, helping to push the band into new sonic territory. After producing their previous two records with Raskulinecz, Deftones worked with
Matt Hyde, who had been a recording engineer on
Koi No Yokan. The album was pushed back multiple times from its originally scheduled September 2015 release date. On February 4, 2016, the band released the first single from
Gore, titled "
Prayers / Triangles". "Doomed User" and "
Hearts / Wires" were also made available ahead of the album's release, on March 16 and April 3, respectively.
Gore was officially released on April 8, 2016. The second official single, "Phantom Bride", was released on June 7. The song featured a
guitar solo by
Alice in Chains guitarist
Jerry Cantrell; this is considered unusual for a Deftones song. Gwilym Mumford of
The Guardian praised the album for its emphasis on experimentation and ambiance and noted the exploration work in the tension between the "
croon" in Moreno's "soulful" voice, his "opaque" lyrics, and Carpenter's "pile-driving" guitar riffs.
Ohms and Vega's departure (2017–2023) In 2017, Chino Moreno revealed that Deftones had begun writing material for their ninth studio album, which he stated hoped would be out sometime in 2019. Moreno went on to state that the band would be going in a different direction than they had on
Gore and that he would be taking a step back from leading the song writing to allow Stephen Carpenter and Abe Cunningham to be more involved in the material on the new album. In May 2018, Moreno was again asked about the new material and he stated the songs were "considerably heavier" than those on
Gore. That same month, Deftones embarked on a South American tour with support from
Quicksand and
Deadly Apples. In April 2020, Deftones announced that they were mixing their new album. During the recording sessions, which reportedly took place in Los Angeles, the band reunited with
Terry Date as the producer of the album, making it the first time Deftones had worked with him since the unreleased
Eros album in 2008. On August 19, 2020, the band teased the release date and the title of their upcoming ninth studio album. A day later, the band officially announced the title of the album,
Ohms, set for release on September 25, 2020. At the same time, the band revealed the album itself, the album cover, the track list, and release date. The title track serves as the first single, and was released on August 21. On September 17, 2020, the band released the second single from the album, "Genesis". On September 22, the band announced their "Adopt-a-Dot" campaign in which fans could digitally sponsor a dot from the
Ohms album cover via a charitable donation. In October 2020, they officially announced a 20th anniversary reissue of
White Pony to be released in December of that year. The reissue was packaged alongside
Black Stallion, a companion remix album featuring artists including
Linkin Park's
Mike Shinoda,
DJ Shadow and
Robert Smith. Deftones postponed their joint tour with
Gojira in support of
Ohms twice due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2022, it was announced that bassist Sergio Vega had left the band in early 2021, with Vega claiming he was never an official member of the band and was just a contracted bassist for his tenure. Vega said he sought what he perceived as official membership, and chose to leave after being offered the same status as he had had since he began performing with the band. The following month, it was announced that
Fred Sablan had joined the band as Vega's touring replacement. The band was also joined by touring guitarist Lance Jackman;
Private Music (2024–present) In April 2024, Chino Moreno told
KROQ that the band had completed the bulk of its tenth studio album. He said the entire album was tracked instrumentally, but vocals had yet to be recorded. In September 2024, Deftones announced a 2025 North American headlining tour, the band's first headlining tour since 2022. On November 4, 2024, the band announced a headline show in Crystal Palace Park, London on June 29, 2025, with
Weezer and
High Vis. In March 2025, it was revealed that the band would be playing at the UK's biggest music festival
Glastonbury for the first time since 1998 on June 28, 2025. However, the group was forced to cancel their appearance on the day they were set to perform due to a band member's illness. On July 10, 2025, they announced their tenth studio album,
Private Music; the album's lead single, "
My Mind Is a Mountain", was released the same day. The album's second single, "
Milk of the Madonna", was released on August 8, 2025. The album was released on August 22 and features touring bassist Sablan. ==Musical style, influences and legacy==