Formation: 1984–1989 The first incarnation of the band, "Mr. Crowe's Garden", named after
Leonard Leslie Brooke's
children's book ''Johnny Crow's Garden'', formed in 1984 in
Atlanta, Georgia. Influenced by contemporary local acts like
R.E.M., as well as 1960s
psychedelic pop and classic
Southern rock, they gradually evolved into a
revivalist band dedicated to 1970s-era
blues rock. Although the band has had a high turnover rate throughout their history, the driving force behind the band has always been brothers
Chris and
Rich Robinson, who initially formed the band while attending
Walton High School. The first professional demo the Robinson brothers did was for
A&M Records in 1987. The band's manager at the time, Dave Macias, got in touch with A&M rep Aaron Jacoves, from Los Angeles, who offered the band a 'demo' deal and arranged the band's first of several demo sessions. It was held at Steve Gronback's studio in Carrboro, North Carolina. They were paid $2,000 by Jacoves to cover production costs. Jeff Sullivan (of
Drivin N Cryin fame) played drums on the first demo, Drakoulias turned the band on to music it had not heard before like
The Faces and
Humble Pie. Under Drakoulias' influence, the band began covering
the Rolling Stones and Rich began playing in open-G tunings for Mr. Crowe's Garden songs. At this point, the band also changed their name, and considered ideas such as "The Heartless Crowes" and "The Stone Mountain Crowes", before settling on "The Black Crowes".
Height of fame: 1990–1995 The Black Crowes released their first studio album,
Shake Your Money Maker, in 1990. Their cover of
Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle", In 1994, the now six-piece band released
Amorica, after scrapping the unreleased album
Tall the previous year. As some stores would not carry the album because of the cover, a different version was released simultaneously with a solid black background, showing only the triangle featuring the flag.
Middle era: 1996–2001 Three Snakes and One Charm was released in July 1996. Guitarist Marc Ford was fired and bassist Johnny Colt subsequently left the group, dissolving the Crowes' line-up for the previous three albums. before heading back to the studio to record the band's sixth studio album. In May 2001, the band released
Lions on
Virgin mogul
Richard Branson's V2 record label; the album peaked at number 20 on the charts. The band launched its support of the album with the month-long
Tour of Brotherly Love with
Oasis and
Spacehog in May and June 2001. Throughout the rest of 2001, the band embarked on the "Listen Massive" headlining tour in support of
Lions, which spanned Europe and Japan before concluding with 36 U.S. shows. The band effectively dissolved in January 2002 with the departure of drummer Steve Gorman and an announcement that the band was "taking a hiatus."
First hiatus and reunion: 2002–2005 , 2005 A live album pieced together from two 2001 shows performed at Boston's Orpheum Theatre was released in August 2002. In 2004, some members of the band did reunite to play "Sometimes Salvation" with
Gov't Mule at the 2004 Jammy Awards. During the hiatus, Chris Robinson released albums
New Earth Mud in 2002 and
This Magnificent Distance in 2004. Meanwhile, Rich Robinson formed a short-lived band called Hookah Brown before releasing his own solo album,
Paper, in 2004. In early 2005, the Robinson brothers and
Eddie Harsch reassembled the band, bringing Marc Ford and
Sven Pipien back into the fold and in the absence of founding member Steve Gorman, recruited drummer
Bill Dobrow, from Rich's solo band. Dobrow's tenure was short-lived, however, as Gorman rejoined the band during a four-night stand at the
Tabernacle in Atlanta. The reinvigorated band continued to tour throughout 2005, including a summer tour opening for
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and five nights at
The Fillmore in San Francisco. The second show at The Fillmore was filmed in high definition and released later in 2006 as ''
Freak 'n' Roll into the Fog'' on DVD,
Blu-ray and audio CD.
Changing lineup and renewed success: 2006–2009 In fall 2006, Eddie Harsch and Marc Ford left the band. Replacing Harsch and Ford were
Rob Clores and
Paul Stacey, respectively. In August 2007, the band replaced Clores with
Adam MacDougall. Stacey's tenure was never intended to be permanent and when the band invited guitar player
Luther Dickinson from
North Mississippi Allstars to perform on their upcoming record, entitled
Warpaint Dickinson officially replaced Stacey as guitarist. Stacey continued to work with the band, however, as producer of
Warpaint. A live album entitled
Live at the Roxy, culled from the 2006 Brothers of a Feather performances (featuring Chris and Rich Robinson performing mostly acoustic sets) was released on July 10, 2007. The album featured performances of old and new Black Crowes material mixed with covers, taken from a three-night run at The Roxy in Los Angeles in early 2006. The Black Crowes' first album since reforming,
Warpaint was released on March 3, 2008.
Warpaint was critically acclaimed and the album landed at number 5 on the
Billboard 200, the band's best debut since
The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion topped the charts. In April 2009, the band released a two-disc live album entitled
Warpaint Live. The first disc consists of the
Warpaint album played in its entirety, while the second disc is made up of catalog classics and cover selections. The entire performance contained on the set was recorded on March 20, 2008, at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. A DVD of the same performance was released on June 30, 2009. The band released its eighth studio album,
Before the Frost...Until the Freeze, later that year. A CD purchase of the album is accompanied with a download code to receive the album's companion release,
...Until the Freeze. The vinyl version is a double album that includes all of the songs but in a different running order. These albums resulted from four days of recording (a fifth performance was described by Chris Robinson as a "victory lap") at
Levon Helms Studio in
Woodstock, and present a combination of new material and a few new cover songs recorded live in front of an audience. Continuing the trend set with
Warpaint, the Crowes incorporated more of their
country and
bluegrass roots in these recordings as well as venturing into new avenues such as disco in the song "I Ain't Hidin'". A DVD of these sessions, including some interview and backstage segments, was released named
Cabin Fever.
"Final" years: 2010–2015 On April 21, 2010, the Black Crowes announced an August 3 release date for a double, all-acoustic album
Croweology, as well as tour dates for the "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys" tour, which featured two 90-minute sets at the majority of shows: one acoustic and one electric. After the tour, the band went on another "indefinite" hiatus. On November 26, 2010, the Black Crowes released a special edition
Record Store Day Black Friday 10" vinyl picture disc with download card, called
Say Goodnight to The Bad Guys/Remedy (acoustic live) for independent record stores. The band was also inducted into the
Georgia Music Hall of Fame, performing
Georgia on My Mind with Chuck Leavell at the 2010 ceremony. After ending the U.S. tour at
The Fillmore in December 2010, the Crowes played nine
Goodnight to the Bad Guys shows in Europe in July 2011. These included festivals in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as a few headlining shows where, comparable to the U.S. tour, they played a 90-minute acoustic and 90-minute electric set. The final four shows included two in London (the second of which featured a
Jimmy Page-led encore), followed by two that saw them return to
Amsterdam's
Paradiso. On December 25, 2012, it was announced that the Crowes would embark on a five-show UK trek in March 2013, followed by a 21-date U.S. tour from April to early May. Instead of
Luther Dickinson,
Jackie Greene would play guitar and provide backup vocals. On March 19, 2013, the band released its fourth live album,
Wiser for the Time. It was released as a digital download and as a four-record vinyl set. The album was recorded during the band's 2010 series of concerts in New York City. On April 23, 2013, the Black Crowes returned to Atlanta and played at The Tabernacle in front of a capacity crowd. In July 2013, the band kicked off a tour with the
Tedeschi Trucks Band. They returned to hiatus in December that year, but played a show in
Boston the following February (a benefit event for the Big Brothers association). On January 15, 2015, Rich Robinson announced the final breakup of the band due to a disagreement with his brother Chris Robinson over an alleged proposal regarding ownership of the band. In an interview, drummer Steve Gorman indicated that prior to the breakup, the Black Crowes had been discussing a tour.
Post breakup: 2015–2018 Following the Crowes' breakup, band members moved on to other musical projects, some of which were active prior to the band's disbandment. Chris Robinson continued performing with the
Chris Robinson Brotherhood, a band he formed in 2011 which also includes Adam MacDougall. He released his third studio album with them,
Any Way You Love, We Know How You Feel, in 2016, followed by the EP
If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home By Now later the same year. In 2017, the CRB released
Barefoot in the Head. The CRB also released four live albums: ''Betty's Blends Volumes 1, 2, 3
, and Betty's Midwestern Magic Blends''. Chris Robinson performed a few solo acoustic shows during which he played several Black Crowes songs, including "Hotel Illness" and "Bad Luck, Blue Eyes Goodbye". In 2018, Chris Robinson formed the band As the Crow Flies, which performed songs from the Black Crowes catalogue. Robinson noted, "I'm not out to redo the Black Crowes or outdo the Black Crowes or anything like that. I just want to sing the music." The band includes former Crowes Audley Freed and Adam MacDougall and Andy Hess as well as Marcus King and Tony Leone. Rich Robinson continued his solo career, recording his fourth solo album,
Flux, in 2016. In late 2016, he announced the formation of
The Magpie Salute which also included former Black Crowes members Marc Ford and Sven Pipien. The band performed original songs, Black Crowes songs, covers, and selections from Robinson and Ford's solo careers. The band released a live album,
The Magpie Salute, in 2017, and their debut studio album,
High Water I, was released on August 10, 2018.
High Water II was released in 2019. Steve Gorman continued to perform with
Trigger Hippy, a band he co-founded in 2009 (which also featured Jackie Greene until late 2015 when he left to focus on his solo career). His memoir of his time in the band,
Hard to Handle, was published on September 24, 2019. Former keyboardist
Eddie Harsch died November 4, 2016, at the age of 59.
Third reunion: 2019–present In late 2019, during an interview on
The Howard Stern Show, Chris and Rich Robinson announced that they had resolved their differences (the brothers had not spoken in the years since the band's 2015 split) and were planning a 2020 tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of
Shake Your Money Maker. The reunion was greeted with mixed reaction from fans, as the 46-date tour featured no former band members apart from the brothers and, instead, was to feature an entirely new backing band, including guitarist Isaiah Mitchell (from the bands
Earthless and
Golden Void), bassist
Tim Lefebvre (formerly of the
Tedeschi Trucks Band), keyboardist
Joel Robinow, and drummer Raj Ojha. This line-up premiered at
The Bowery Ballroom in
New York City on November 11, 2019, where they played the entire
Shake Your Money Maker album. Chris had tested out several of the new members with his As the Crow Flies project. Ultimately, the tour was disrupted by the
COVID-19 pandemic. The dates were eventually rescheduled for summer and fall of 2021. In May 2021, the Crowes announced their rescheduled tour dates and revealed that Sven Pipien would be returning on bass. In June 2021, it was announced that the band had already written at least 20 songs for an upcoming album but had no plans to record them until after the tour. It was also announced that Brian Griffin is the new drummer. He has toured with
Brandi Carlile,
Richard Marx,
Patti Smith and others. On January 8, 2021, The Black Crowes announced a 30th Anniversary multi-format re-issue of
Shake Your Money Maker, releasing a previously unheard track "Charming Mess" in conjunction. In May 2022, the band released their first newly recorded material since the reunion,
1972, an EP consisting of covers of famous tracks released in 1972. On March 17, 2023, the band released a double live album on CD and vinyl called
Shake Your Money Maker Live, a live album with the first disc being their first album played in its entirety in concert and a second disk consisting of live Black Crowes classics plus a cover of the Rolling Stones', "
It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)". The band released the Grammy nominated
Happiness Bastards on March 15, 2024. Besides Chris and Rich, the lineup for this release consists of Sven Pipien, Nico Bereciartua,
Erik Deutsch and Brian Griffin (who left the band before release). In 2025, the Black Crowes were nominated for induction into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. The members included in the nomination were Chris Robinson, Steve Gorman, Eddie Harsch, Marc Ford, Johnny Colt, Jeff Cease, and Rich Robinson. On January 9, 2026, The Black Crowes announced their tenth studio album, titled
A Pound of Feathers, along with two tracks from the album available for streaming. The album was released on March 13, 2026. On February 26, 2026, the band was nominated for the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for a second time. ==Band members==