Beginnings of the Hives (1993–1999) The Hives was formed in 1993 by brothers
Per "Pelle" Almqvist (Howlin' Pelle Almqvist) and
Niklas Almqvist (Nicholaus Arson) in
Fagersta. Friends of the brothers,
Mikael Karlsson (Vigilante Carlstroem),
Mattias Bernvall (Dr. Matt Destruction) and
Christian Grahn (Chris Dangerous), soon joined the band and took stage names like the brothers. The band's early releases would be marked by the influence of such bands as
Rancid,
New Bomb Turks,
Turbonegro, and
Dead Kennedys. In 1998, the band released their second EP,
A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T. Burning Heart signed a deal with
Epitaph Records to distribute the band's material in the United States during that same year.
Veni Vidi Vicious and Your New Favourite Band (2000–2002) The Hives released their second studio album,
Veni Vidi Vicious, in April 2000 through Burning Heart Records. The band members described the album as being like "a velvet glove with brass knuckles, both brutal and sophisticated at the same time". The album yielded the singles "
Hate to Say I Told You So", "
Main Offender", "Die, All Right!", and "Supply and Demand". The album track "The Hives – Introduce the Metric System in Time" was included on the punk rock compilation album
Punk-O-Rama Volume 5 from Epitaph later that year. "Hate To Say I Told You So" was later included on the soundtrack for
Spider-Man, and also featured in the video game
Forza Horizon . The track "Main Offender" was featured in the video game
Rock Band while "Die, All Right!" was released as downloadable content in the game's digital music store. After seeing the video for "Hate to Say I Told You So" on German television, industry executive
Alan McGee decided to sign the band to his newly formed
Poptones label. Poptones released the 'best of' compilation
Your New Favourite Band in 2001, which proved to be the band's breakthrough record, reaching number seven on the
UK album charts. Following the success of the album, the band re-released the singles "Hate to Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender", which reached number 23 and 24 respectively on the
UK Singles Chart. The band also re-released
Veni Vidi Vicious in the US. During the promotion of
Veni Vidi Vicious and
Your New Favourite Band, the Hives signed a record deal with
Universal Music, reportedly worth $10 million. The signing was a result of Epitaph selling the rights to the band's material in the US to
Warner Bros. Records without informing the members beforehand.
The Black and White Album (2007–2011) The Hives announced their new album in August 2007 along with the album's first single, "
Tick Tick Boom".
The Black and White Album was released on 15 October in the UK and on 13 November in the US. It was mostly recorded in
Oxford, Mississippi, Miami, and Sweden. The bonus track "Fall Is Just Something Grownups Invented" was used as the theme for
Cartoon Network's fall season while the band performed in commercials featuring the song. "Return The Favour" was featured in a
Nike commercial, while "Tick Tick Boom" was used in the films
Jumper,
Taken,
MacGruber, and
Get Smart, as the theme song for
WWE Survivor Series 2007, in advertisements for the 2007 season of the
NFL Network and
Finish Line, and included in the video games
Lego: Rock Band,
Madden NFL 07,
Madden NFL 11 and
MotorStorm: Arctic Edge. The track "Try It Again" was later used in the trailer for the film
Get Him to the Greek. In 2008, specific songs from the band's catalog was remixed and compiled into a track titled "Black, White and Run" for the
Nike+ Original Run series. In January 2008, the band received the "Best Live Act" award at the Swedish Grammis and performed at the
2008 NHL All-Star Game in
Atlanta, performing "Tick Tick Boom" during the players' presentation. In July 2010, the band released an EP titled
Tarred and Feathered, which consisted of the cover songs "Civilization's Dying" by
Zero Boys, "Nasty Secretary" by Joy Rider & Avis Davis and "Early Morning Wake Up Call" by
Flash and the Pan. "Nasty Secretary" was later included on the video game
Gran Turismo 5's soundtrack. In January 2011, guitarist Arson wrote a short diary entry on the band's website stating that they had recorded some new songs before Christmas, and were planning to continue recording throughout month.
Lex Hives and Destruction's departure (2012–2023) In March 2012, the band announced their fifth studio album,
Lex Hives, and released the first single from the album "
Go Right Ahead". The song was performed live during an appearance at the Norwegian-Swedish talk show
Skavlan on 30 March. After a run of live shows in California and two weekend shows at
Coachella, the band performed on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 23 April.
Lex Hives was released on the band's own label, Disque Hives, in June and included twelve self-produced tracks, with a deluxe version containing two bonus tracks produced by
Queens of the Stone Age frontman
Josh Homme. The album track "Come On!" was used as the theme for
Xbox One's "Invitation" commercials, and featured in an episode of
Workaholics and the documentary
The Crash Reel, while the song "1000 Answers," was included on the soundtrack of the video game
FIFA 12. Due to health reasons, Dr. Matt Destruction left the band in late 2013 and was replaced by
Randy bassist Johan Gustafsson, who took the stage name The Johan and Only. On 13 February 2015, the band released the stand-alone single "Blood Red Moon". The band's activity became limited between 2015 and 2019, with appearances largely reduced to occasional festival appearances. These included
Riot Fest,
Rock am Ring,
Lollapalooza Paris and
Download Festival. In May 2019, the band released the single "I'm Alive" and followed it up with another single titled "Good Samaritan" a month later. The band toured the US in 2019 alongside fellow Swedish band
Refused, with the run of dates dubbed the Scream Team Tour. Drummer Dangerous took a hiatus from the band during this period to recover from surgery and was replaced on the tour by former Queens of the Stone Age drummer
Joey Castillo. While on tour, the Hives recorded their first live album,
Live at Third Man Records, which was later released on 25 September 2020. After being unable to tour in 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the band created a virtual world tour in January 2021 titled the World's First World Wide Web World Tour which saw them perform live-streamed sets at country-specific times, with "shows" in
Berlin, London, New York City,
Sydney, São Paulo and
Stockholm. The band returned to real-life touring later in 2021, serving as the opener on
The Offspring's UK and European tour dates.
The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons and The Hives Forever Forever the Hives (2023–present) in July 2024 In January 2023, the band shared a series of photos in which Howlin' Pelle held up protest signs on
Hollywood Boulevard that read "The Hives Must Album Now!" and "Honk If You Want a New The Hives Album". A new series of merch was also shared, featuring both the former slogan and one that read "The Hives! Make Records or Go Home!" A second set of photos was shared in early February, with Almqvist now holding a sign that read "Where Is the New The Hives Album". The campaign continued with photos of Arson, Carlstroem and Dangerous "joining the protest" and wearing the new merch. In May 2023, the band confirmed that their sixth studio album,
The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, would be released on 11 August 2023. The band also shared the album's lead single "Bogus Operandi", marking their first new release in four years. That same month, the band began a tour of the UK and Ireland in support of
Arctic Monkeys. A second single from the album, "Countdown to Shutdown", followed in June 2023. Its music video featured a cameo from the band's former bassist Dr. Matt Destruction, who played an office worker. Prior to the release of the album, the Hives released a further three singles: "Rigor Mortis Radio", "Trapdoor Solution", and "The Bomb". The Hives later embarked on a global tour in support of the album throughout Europe and America that concluded in 2024. On 1 April 2025, the band released their lead single, "Enough Is Enough", and announced that their seventh studio album titled
The Hives Forever Forever the Hives would be released 29 August 2025, followed by a world tour. The album was produced by
Pelle Gunnerfeldt and
Mike D at
Yung Lean and
Benny Andersson's studios and involved
Queens of the Stone Age bandleader
Josh Homme in an advisory role. On 10 June 2025, the band announced on social media that a new single, "Paint A Picture", would be released on 17 June 2025. On 4 July 2025, the band announced the release of a third single on social media, "Legalize Living", to be released on 7 July 2025. ==Collaborations==