Early years and Big Top Halloween (1986–1988) Greg Dulli (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick McCollum (lead guitar),
John Curley (bass), and Steve Earle (drums) formed the band in Cincinnati late in 1986. The Afghan Whigs had evolved out of Dulli's previous band, The Black Republicans, a band that Curley later joined. Curley attended a number of Black Republicans shows and approached Dulli and "made it a point to tell the vocalist he was a better bassist than the one in the Black Republicans." Curley would introduce Dulli to McCollum, a frequent jam partner who was famed on the local Cincinnati scene for his innovative use of effects pedals. McCollum and Dulli would bond over their shared love of R&B, in fact the first song The Afghan Whigs ever rehearsed was a cover of
The Temptations' "
Psychedelic Shack." The name The Afghan Whigs was coined by Curley "as a play on the Black Republicans." In the wake of The Black Republicans' breakup Dulli had decamped to Arizona, where he composed half the material for what would become The Afghan Whigs' debut album
Big Top Halloween (1988), self-released on the band's own Ultrasuede label. "We were running through what were the first songs I'd ever written to do some demos, so we were playing really loose," Dulli recalls. "And then all of a sudden, I found out John was having covers made." While only a thousand copies of
Big Top Halloween would be pressed initially, one of them managed to capture the attention of
Jonathan Poneman, In 1990, Sub Pop put out The Afghan Whigs' second album
Up in It. Largely recorded by
Nirvana producer
Jack Endino and featuring the college-radio hit "Retarded,"
Up in It received a favorable reception with music critics upon release. To support the album's release, The Afghan Whigs went on a package tour with
Mudhoney and Boston underground band
Bullet LaVolta.
Up in It was followed by a limited edition single released by
No.6 Records under the name "Ornament," which included vocals by
Scrawl singer Marcy Mays (who would later contribute lead vocals to the band's song "My Curse" off the album
Gentlemen).
Congregation and Uptown Avondale (1992) With the 1992 album
Congregation and covers
EP,
Uptown Avondale, the band developed what would become their signature sound, blending soul with psychedelic sprawl and punk abandon. Critics noted the combination of
Stax and
Motown influences with indie-rock sonics on the band's material. The Afghan Whigs would also tour extensively during this period, including a U.S. jaunt with Scottish indie rockers
Teenage Fanclub. {{Listen
Signing to Elektra and Gentlemen (1993) Building on the buzz that welcomed
Congregation, The Afghan Whigs soon signed to a major label,
Elektra Records, following a bidding war that resulted in a contract so lucrative, it featured a clause that allowed for the funding of a Dulli-scripted feature film that ultimately was never made. For their major label debut, The Afghan Whigs ensconced themselves in
Ardent Studios in Memphis, where
Big Star,
Bob Dylan,
Led Zeppelin, and
ZZ Top had recorded. The result of those sessions was the 1993 album
Gentlemen.
Gentlemen would place at No. 17 on The
Village Voice's "Pazz & Jop" critic's poll for 1993.
Gentlemen proved to be The Afghan Whigs' most commercially successful release, and by 1996 it had sold 130,000 copies in the United States. The singles "Debonair" (a Modern Rock Top 20 hit) and "Gentlemen" received regular airplay on
MTV and
college radio. Another album track, "Fountain and Fairfax" appeared on the television series
My So-Called Life in 1994. Dulli also was the only musician other than
Dave Grohl to appear on the debut album from
Foo Fighters. Eventually, work began on The Afghan Whigs' fifth full-length album, which would be called
Black Love upon its release in 1996. The band started writing demos in March 1995; the recording took place in both Seattle and Memphis-based studios featuring new drummer
Paul Buchignani, who had replaced Steve Earle. Although previous releases explored liquor-drenched obsession, secrets and misery,
Black Love stepped into a darker, seedier and complex side of Dulli's persona, passionately taking his obsession with murder and paranoia to their logical ends. Dulli himself noted that the songs had a conceptual framework that reflected the structure of a film, influenced by noir-influenced writer
James Ellroy and violent neo-noir films like
Blood Simple. Other influences included pulp fiction novels, Kenneth Anger's
Hollywood Babylon and the crime photographs of
Weegee. The album opener, "Crime Scene Part One", was allegedly influenced by the story of then-unproduced screenplay for the film
The Million Dollar Hotel. its lush yet funky musicality garnered comparisons to the
Rolling Stones in their 1970s-era prime and standing out once again from the day's more conventional alternative rock in its distinctive embrace of black-music idioms. The Whigs promoted
Black Love with extensive touring, including a jaunt of large venues opening for a
Neil Young tour that also featured
Jewel.
Legal dispute with Elektra and signing to Sony/Columbia for 1965 (1998) In the wake of
Black Love's commercial disappointment, The Afghan Whigs said they suffered neglect and dishonest business dealings with their label, Elektra. In addition to their headlining dates, The Afghan Whigs went on tour with
Aerosmith as the classic-rock group's opening act.
Break up (2001) In 2001, The Afghan Whigs broke up by circulating a press release announcement which was picked up by the major music press. In it, the band claimed their geographic disparity and family obligations of its core members made it impossible for them to create new material together. In further interviews, Dulli clarified that theirs was an amicable split, and did not necessarily represent an "official breakup." The lineup recorded two new tracks ("I'm A Soldier" and "Magazine") featured on their retrospective titled
Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990–2006, released on June 5, 2007, through
Rhino Records, which critics noted rated on a par with the band's material released during its prime. A week later it was announced that the band would also be performing at both
Primavera Sound festivals in 2012. In April of that year, it was revealed that the revitalized The Afghan Whigs would be playing the 2012 edition of
Lollapalooza. Dulli clarified in interviews that playing The Afghan Whigs with Curley on a 2010 solo tour and meeting with McCollum anew during that period directly led to plans of reforming for live performance. The reunited Whigs played their first full concert the next night at Manhattan venue The
Bowery Ballroom, receiving critical accolades from the major media. "Regardless of how the surprising reunion of The Afghan Whigs turns out, their show last night at the Bowery Ballroom will go down as the '90s alt-rock heroes' greatest concert ever," Glenn Gamboa wrote in Newsday; meanwhile, Steve Kandell noted in a
SPIN review that "their first show together since then, at New York's Bowery Ballroom last night, felt less like an easy nostalgia trip than a reminder of problems we, perhaps selectively, forgot we ever had. …Leader Greg Dulli was leaner, meaner, fitter, and in better voice at 47 than even during the band's heyday… From the opening strains of "Crime Scene, Part One," all the old drama and menace and hurt feelings and failings were right there, palpable and visceral, all couched in the equally palpable sense of relief that none of us are that fucked up anymore." The Afghan Whigs' first new recording released during the 2012 reformation, "See and Don't See," also received considerable airplay on influential stations such as
Sirius XMU, KEXP, XPN, and KCRW. On July 16, the band released their second new recording, a cover of
Frank Ocean's "Lovecrimes." Like the previous release, the song was made available as a free download from the band's website. In 2013 at
South by Southwest (SXSW), The Afghan Whigs headlined The FADER FORT and played a collaborative set with surprise guest Usher. John Curly claims that moment solidified the probability that the band would record together again and that following their SXSW performance they began compiling ideas for new material. On January 27, 2014, the band's official mailing list announced an April release date for the first album of new The Afghan Whigs material in 16 years, a return to the Sub Pop roster titled
Do to the Beast. On February 18, 2014, the band announced that Rick McCollum was no longer a member of the group. Guitar parts on
Do to the Beast were performed by numerous musicians including
Dave Rosser, Jon Skibic, and Mark McGuire among others. The band added drummer
Patrick Keeler of
The Raconteurs and
The Greenhornes in 2014. The band released its eighth album,
In Spades on May 5, 2017. Guitarist Dave Rosser, a band member since 2014 who played on both of their reunion albums, died on June 28, 2017, following a long battle with colon cancer. In February 2022, the band released their first single in five years, "'I'll Make You See God," which was featured on the
Gran Turismo 7 soundtrack.
How Do You Burn? their ninth studio album, was released Sept. 9, 2022, through
BMG Rights Management, their first album since 1998's
1965 to not be released under
Sub Pop. ==Legacy==