Early career and Suicidal Tendencies (1980–1986) Suicidal Tendencies was formed in 1980 as a punk band in
Venice, California. In 1983, Suicidal Tendencies signed with the independent label
Frontier Records and released their
self-titled debut album. It was described by critic Steve Huey as "Fast, furious, and funny... Mike Muir proves himself an articulate lyricist and commentator, delving into subjects like
alienation,
depression, and nonconformist politics with intelligence and humor." It contained the song "
Institutionalized", which featured a music video that became one of the first
hardcore punk videos to receive substantial MTV airplay, and greatly expanded the band's fan base. Prior to creating the "Institutionalized" video, the band appeared on an episode of the MTV program, "The Cutting Edge", which generated some criticism by fans who regarded MTV as too mainstream; criticism to which Muir responded, "I think it was the best thing that's been on MTV! It's a helluva lot better to see Suicidal Tendencies on [MTV] than it is to see
Duran Duran." The song "Institutionalized" was later featured in the 1984 film
Repo Man, as well as in a 1986 episode of the TV show
Miami Vice which also featured a cameo appearance of the group performing in a club. Soon after the release of their debut album in 1983, Estes left the band and was replaced by Jon Nelson. That same year was the beginning of Suicidal Tendencies's four-year recording hiatus and Mike Muir and bassist Louiche Mayorga formed the label Suicidal Records as well as the band
Los Cycos. After some lineup changes the band recorded the song "It's Not Easy" written by Muir. "Welcome to Venice" was the first record to be released on Suicidal Records; the original masters were later destroyed in a fire. In 1989, Suicidal Tendencies re-recorded "It's Not Easy" for their release
Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit... DejaVu album. The other Los Cycos track "A Little Each Day" which never made it to the album, was re-recorded for the 1987 Suicidal Tendencies release
Join the Army and again on
Still Cyco After All These Years released in 1993. In 2000 it resurfaced on the
FNG compilation and a fourth time on 2008's (split) album
Lights...Camera...Revolution!/Still Cyco After All These Years. The band found a new label in
Caroline Records in 1986. Later that year, Suicidal Tendencies released their fourth album (also referred to as a compilation of two
EPs),
Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit...Déjà Vu. Although Trujillo appeared in the videos that promoted the album, he was not a member of the band at the time of its recording; bass duties were reportedly handled by
Rocky George and
Mike Clark.
Controlled by Hatred... featured two versions of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow": the video version (the original song cut down for radio/video airplay) and the "heavy emotion" version (a semi-unplugged, more mellow version of the song). In addition to those two versions of "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow", as well as two new original cuts ("Just Another Love Song" and "Feel Like Shit...Deja Vu"), the album includes four covers of No Mercy songs ("Master of No Mercy", "Waking the Dead", "Controlled by Hatred" and "Choosing My Own Way of Life") and a cover version of
Los Cycos' only-known existing track "It's Not Easy". The album featured the hit "Waking the Dead", which at seven minutes was one of the most
progressive tracks the band had released to date, and had a music video that received considerable airplay by
Headbangers Ball on
MTV.
Controlled By Hatred... eventually went
gold, the first of only two Suicidal albums to do so.
Height of popularity and funk-oriented era (1990–1993) , who was the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies from 1989 to 1995, was responsible for adding funk influences to the band's musical direction. In 1990, Suicidal Tendencies released the album that many fans consider to be their masterpiece, and the album that almost broke them into the rock mainstream,
Lights...Camera...Revolution!. This album featured the same line-up as
Controlled By Hatred..., with Trujillo on bass guitar. The songs were much more complex than on any other Suicidal album, some songs bordering on
progressive metal, but also showed a new influence courtesy of Trujillo,
funk. To accompany the album, Suicidal Tendencies released the
home video Lights...Camera...Suicidal. The album was a hit, and featured the singles "
You Can't Bring Me Down", "
Send Me Your Money", and the melodic thrash song "Alone". All three singles were successful and its music videos (especially for "You Can't Bring Me Down") became staples on
MTV's
Headbangers Ball; During the accompanying tour for
The Art of Rebellion, the band had performed at mostly arenas and stadiums worldwide, sharing the stage with such mainstream rock staples as
Metallica,
Megadeth,
Kiss,
Guns N' Roses,
Queensrÿche,
Danzig,
Alice in Chains,
Faith No More and
White Zombie, where they earned a wide reputation as an excellent live act. Also during this period, Suicidal Tendencies had found a permanent replacement for Herrera, former
White Lion and
Y&T drummer
Jimmy DeGrasso. Now at their commercial peak, Suicidal Tendencies released
Still Cyco After All These Years in 1993. The album was a re-recording of Suicidal Tendencies's self-titled debut album with three additional songs (two re-recordings of
Join the Army tracks, and the B-side to the 1990 single "Send Me Your Money"). It featured singles for the re-recorded versions of "Institutionalized" and "I Saw Your Mommy", which managed to do well, as did the album. That same year also saw the release of another
Infectious Grooves album, ''
Sarsippius' Ark'', which included new tracks as well as demo recordings of old songs, and live tracks.
Suicidal for Life, disbandment and reunion (1994–2001) Disturbed by their recent commercial success and fame, and fear that the band was no longer relevant in the underground, Suicidal Tendencies released
Suicidal for Life in 1994. The album was intended by the band to be the least accessible album they had released, starting out by having four consecutive songs with the word "
fuck" in the title, and switching to a more aggressive style than on their previous studio album.
Suicidal for Life was widely considered to be a disappointing album by critics, many of which claimed Muir had "dumbed down" his lyrical approach from previous albums. Fans also had a generally mixed reaction, although their reaction was more favorable than critics'. Muir's strategy worked, however. Despite obtaining the band's second-highest chart position on the
Billboard 200 at number 82, . He replaced
Rocky George in 1996 when the band reformed a year after their breakup. It was also around this time the band, whose contract with Epic Records had expired, began to fall apart, and folded after a tour in 1995. Muir and Trujillo continued Infectious Grooves, releasing
Groove Family Cyco later that year (this album was released before Suicidal Tendencies split), but they eventually folded as well, with Trujillo joining
Ozzy Osbourne's band (and later
Black Label Society and
Metallica) and Muir performing as
Cyco Miko, releasing
Lost My Brain! (Once Again). Rocky George formed the group Samsara and played in 40 Cycle Hum and
Cro-Mags after Suicidal Tendencies's breakup, eventually joining
Fishbone. Mike Clark joined a band called
Creeper, while Jimmy DeGrasso returned to Y&T while joining
Dave Mustaine's side project
MD.45, and eventually replaced
Nick Menza in
Megadeth, who recruited guitarist
Anthony Gallo (Suicidal Tendencies, Los Cycos) for his solo record entitled
Life After Deth. Around 1996, Suicidal Tendencies had reunited, with Muir and Clark hiring lead guitarist
Dean Pleasants (formerly of
Infectious Grooves), new bassist
Josh Paul and new drummer
Brooks Wackerman (formerly of
Bad4Good and
Infectious Grooves, who later joined
Bad Religion and is now with
Avenged Sevenfold) as the respective replacements of George, Trujillo, and DeGrasso. Coinciding with the reunion, a greatest hits compilation,
Prime Cuts, was released in 1997 by their former record company, apparently against the band's will. The band released their first new material in almost half a decade, the
Six the Hard Way EP in 1998, which also included two live tracks. Released on Suicidal Records, this EP saw the band switching back to their original
punk metal and
skatepunk style (with songs originally recorded by
Cyco Miko covered). This, along with the absence of George and Trujillo, upset many of the bands metal-era fans, but fans of the older punk Suicidal Tendencies warmly welcomed the new style. The band stuck to a similar formula for
Freedumb, released in 1999. Despite generally bad reviews from critics (who claimed that the band had "dumbed themselves down" not only lyrically, but musically as well) it was considered by fans of the band as their "comeback album", with the title track, "Cyco Vision" and "We Are A Family" becoming fan favorites (although no singles from the album were released). The following year Suicidal Tendencies released
Free Your Soul and Save My Mind. Unlike its predecessor, which was more straightforward hardcore, this album saw the band covering most of the styles they had dabbled with in the past. Some songs were punk, but many of them were also
thrash-oriented, and this was by far Suicidal Tendencies's funkiest album yet. Fans and critics greeted the album warmly, and a new single, "Pop Song", was released.
Infectious Grooves released their fourth and comeback album
Mas Borracho in 2000, followed by Muir's second solo album as
Cyco Miko,
Schizophrenic Born Again Problem Child, in 2001. Suicidal Tendencies featured a new song on the
Friends & Family, Vol. 2 compilation in 2001; after then, the band fell silent again.
Years of touring and lineup changes (2001–2012) Wackerman (who had just joined
Bad Religion) had left Suicidal Tendencies by 2001 while the band was on tour.
Greg Saenz joined the band before
Ron Bruner took over drum duties, and Josh Paul also left the following year but was replaced by Ron Bruner's brother
Steve. The band toured during 2003, but were forced take another hiatus in 2004 due to Mike Muir requiring surgery for a back injury. While the band failed to release an album with material, independently or otherwise, Suicidal Tendencies have continued to tour consistently since 2005. On October 29 of that year their live performance at the
Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles was filmed. Suicidal Tendencies secured a spot in the metal/punk rock
Soundwave Festival in Australia in February and March 2007, taking in
Brisbane, Sydney and
Perth. They performed at the Artefact Festival in France on April 29, 2007, and performed in Istanbul, Turkey on May 29. They also headlined the
Tuborg Stage at the
Download Festival, held at
Donington Park, UK, on Friday June 8, 2007, and closed select shows for the
Sounds of the Underground tour in San Jose, California, on August 3, Irvine, California, on August 4, and Mesa, Arizona, on August 5. On August 1, 2008, Suicidal Tendencies headlined the Porão do Rock Festival in
Brasília in front of 15,000 people. By this stage Eric Moore had replaced Dave Hidalgo on drums. During the fall of 2008, the band toured with
Madball,
Terror, and
Death by Stereo, opening select dates. During this tour
Year of the Cycos – a compilation album featuring Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Cyco Miko and No Mercy – was available for the first time for purchase at the concerts or from their official website. From the album, the original track "Come Alive" was released as a
video clip. The band replaced
As I Lay Dying on the first five shows of the
No Fear Energy Music Tour with
Lamb of God. Suicidal Tendencies toured Europe from June through July 2009. The first Suicidal Tendencies DVD
Live at the Olympic Auditorium, featuring the full show recorded in Los Angeles back in 2005, was released on January 26, 2010, by
Fontana Distribution via the band's own imprint, Suicidal Records. On the same day, a
best of compilation was released as part of the
Playlist music album series issued by
Sony BMG. In September 2010, Suicidal Tendencies released the album
No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family which consists of re-recordings of tracks from the
Join the Army album and of old
No Mercy songs, plus the previously released "Come Alive".
13 and World Gone Mad (2013–2017) was the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies from 2002 to 2011, although he did perform on their eleventh studio album
13, which was released two years after his departure from the band. Suicidal Tendencies released
13, their first album with new material in 13 years, on March 26, 2013. The band spent the next few years touring in support of the album, with such bands as
D.R.I.,
Sick of It All,
Slayer,
Exodus,
Slipknot,
Beartooth,
Megadeth,
Children of Bodom and
Havok. They also headlined the 2014 Persistence Tour, and appeared at many festivals such as
Riot Fest in 2013,
Amnesia Rockfest in 2014 and
Motörhead's Motörboat cruise and
Knotfest in both 2015. On March 11, 2014,
Thomas Pridgen (former drummer of
the Mars Volta) confirmed on his Instagram and Facebook page that he had joined Suicidal Tendencies. By the fall of 2014, Pridgen was no longer playing in Suicidal Tendencies, and Eric Moore rejoined the band. On August 27, 2014, Suicidal Tendencies announced that bassist Tim Williams had died. Rawbiz was replaced by Michael Morgan, and two years later by Ra Díaz. In a December 2014 interview with
Loudwire, vocalist
Mike Muir was asked if Suicidal Tendencies would release a follow-up to
13. He replied, "Right now I have no answer to that as far as the previous one. There were a lot of things that went on and I think for us now, if everyone said they wanted to get into the studio and there was something they really wanted to do, I'd take it into consideration. But we're in the studio all the time, we're always recording." In an April 2015 interview with Metalhead Blog, guitarist
Dean Pleasants revealed that Suicidal Tendencies had been working on new material for a possible compilation album. In a February 2016 interview, Muir hinted at a new EP, followed by a new full-length studio album, inspired by the then-current political climate and
upcoming election. He also stated that the album and EP could be the band's final recordings, although he added, "I thought the
first one would probably be the last we would do, too." drummer
Dave Lombardo, a longtime friend and supporter of Suicidal Tendencies, was a member of the band from 2016 to 2021. On February 20, 2016, Suicidal Tendencies announced that former
Slayer drummer
Dave Lombardo, a longtime friend and supporter of the band, would be playing drums on their February–March 2016 tour with
Megadeth, and again on their May–June 2016 European tour. On May 6, 2016, guitarist Nico Santora announced on his Facebook page that he had left Suicidal Tendencies to focus on his new project Lillake. He was replaced by Oneironaut guitarist Jeff Pogan. On May 15, 2016, Suicidal Tendencies posted a video of Lombardo laying down tracks for the band's follow-up to
13, which was expected to be released in September. This video implied that Lombardo had become a permanent member of Suicidal Tendencies.
Mike Muir revealed in June 2016 interviews that the album would be called
The World Gone Mad, and that the band planned to release a new EP in January 2017. However, the title of the album was later shortened to
World Gone Mad. It was supported by the band's first single in 22 years (since 1994's "Love Vs. Loneliness") "Clap Like Ozzy". To promote
World Gone Mad, Suicidal Tendencies supported
Megadeth,
Amon Amarth and
Metal Church on the
Dystopia tour in the United States in September–October 2016, and headlined two tours in 2017: the Persistence Tour with
Agnostic Front in Europe in January, and a U.S. tour in February–March with
Crowbar and
Havok. Muir had stated in interviews that
World Gone Mad may be Suicidal Tendencies' final studio album, though he later retracted this statement, saying, "You can't believe what anybody says nowadays – everybody's effin' lyin'."
Get Your Fight On!, Still Cyco Punk After All These Years and upcoming fifteenth studio album (2018–present) On December 1, 2017, Suicidal Tendencies announced that they had completed work on a new EP with producer
Paul Northfield for an early 2018 release. Muir has described the EP as "a little more specifically a statement of the time" and an effort that "could be interpreted as political." The EP,
Get Your Fight On!, was released on March 9, 2018, and was the first of two releases the band had planned for release that year; the second being a new full-length,
Still Cyco Punk After All These Years, released on September 7, 2018. The latter is a near re-recording of
Cyco Miko's first album
Lost My Brain! (Once Again). On July 2, 2018, it was announced that guitarist Jeff Pogan had left Suicidal Tendencies for personal reasons. Former
The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist
Ben Weinman filled in for him on the band's summer and fall 2018 shows. In a July 2020 interview with
Ultimate Guitar, however, Weinman stated that "there hasn't been any music made", but also stated that "maybe when all this comes back, when things go back to normal, we can think about that." On March 18, 2020, Muir announced on Suicidal Tendencies' Facebook page that they are working on an "old-school vinyl release" featuring instrumental "songs from ST members and people related to ST." Drummer
Brandon Pertzborn had filled in Lombardo (who around this time had joined
Mr. Bungle and
Testament) as a drummer for the band as well as Tye Trujillo filling as a bassist, most likely due to the relationship his father, Robert Trujillo has with the band. Weinman announced that there would be new Suicidal Tendencies shows soon. On January 7, 2023, the official Suicidal Tendencies social media account streamed what seemed to be a new song for a new album. Drummer
Greyson Nekrutman announced on April 18, 2023 via his social media page that he would be joining Suicidal Tendencies as the replacement of Brandon Pertzborn, who later joined
The Offspring. In February of the following year, Nekrutman left the band to join
Sepultura on their final world tour and was replaced by current
Infectious Grooves and former
Slipknot drummer
Jay Weinberg. On July 5, 2024, Suicidal Tendencies released a new version of their 1999 track "We Are Family" entirely in Portuguese under the title "Nós Somos Família". This marked the band's first song with Weinman, Trujillo and Weinberg, and included additional vocals by Brazilian musicians Badauí (
CPM 22),
João Gordo (
Ratos de Porão), B Negão (
Planet Hemp), Rodrigo Lima (
Dead Fish), Supla, Fernanda Lira (
Crypta), Milton Aguiar (Bayside Kings), Mayara Puertas (
Torture Squad), Felipe Ribeiro (Treva), Pirata Homes (Anjo dos Becos), Ya Amaral (Eskrota), Júnior Bass, as well as football player
Marinho and skateboarder
Sandro Dias.
Thiago Castanho and
Marcão Britto also provided guitar on the track. Suicidal Tendencies released its first original song in nine years, "Adrenaline Addict", on April 18, 2025, which coincided with the band opening for
Metallica on selected dates to their
M72 World Tour the same month. In December 2025, they were announced on the line-up the 2026 Milwaukee Metal Fest. On January 11, 2026, Jay Weinberg announced his departure from the band, leaving to focus on being a first-time father as well as other creative projects. Xavier Ware, known simply by the nickname X, was announced as the group's new drummer in an Instagram post on January 23, 2026. The band are confirmed to be appearing at
Welcome to Rockville taking place in
Daytona Beach, Florida in May 2026. ==Style and influence==