See Deftones at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, April 3rd!

Formed in Sacramento, California in 1988, Deftones is one of the most unique bands in metal today. With influences like Bad Brains, Anthrax, and Depeche Mode, the band slowly grew, starting in their home area of Sacramento but slowly expanding to San Franciso and Los Angeles and playing with other then-growing bands like Korn. Eventually, Deftones got their break and signed a deal that allowed them to release their debut album, Adrenaline in 1995. While the album wasn’t an overnight smash hit, the band toured extensively, pushing themselves more and more into the public eye. The touring paid off as the album eventually peaked at 23 on the Heatseekers chart. Shortly after the release of Adrenaline came Around the Fur (1997) which contains two of Deftones’ biggest songs in “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Awar)”. This album did considerably better than its predecessor now that the band cemented their signature alternative and experimental metal style, with the album reaching number 29 on the Billboard 200 chart. Around the Fur’s success, along with that of its predecessor, led to the band appearing on the Warped Tour both in the US and on its Australia and New Zealand leg, as well as festivals like Pinkpop and Ozzfest. In 2000, Deftones released one of, if not their most iconic albums in White Pony. The album featured guest vocals from both Tool’s Maynard James Keenan on “Passenger” and the late great Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots on “Rx Queen”. The album is the band’s best-selling to date, becoming their first platinum album and received critical acclaim since its release, being named to many “best albums of” lists and even winning the band the Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the album’s track “Elite”. That’s without mentioning the hits “Knife Prty”, “Digital Bath”, and “Change (In the House of Flies)” that come from the album. Deftones followed up their landmark White Pony with the release of their self-titled album in 2003. Deftones topped its predecessor on the charts, making it to number 2 on the Billboard 200, falling just short to Staind’s 14 Shades of Grey, and was met with similar positive reactions from fans and critics alike. Their follow up, 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist, didn’t perform as well charts wise, just breaking the top 10 of the charts, but that didn’t stop the band from touring the world and booking slots on festival tours like Taste of Chaos and Family Values. Shortly after the release of Saturday Night Wrist, Deftones began working on what was supposed to be their sixth album Eros, however tragedy struck when bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured in a car crash, halting, and eventually shelving, Eros. Members of Korn, Sevendust, Slipknot and more all joined in to release “A Song for Chi” to help Cheng’s family deal with his medical expenses, and two benefit shows took place in 2009. Unfortunately, after a very long four years of a slow recovery, Chi passed away in 2013. The band chose to continue following the accident and brought in Sergio Vega from the band Quicksand to fill in, and eventually take over on bass. Their new sixth album, Diamond Eyes was released in 2010 and gave Deftones a much-needed boost, debuting at number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album contains two more of the band’s bigger hits in the title track “Diamond Eyes” and “Rocket Skates”, and is another album often mentioned in “best albums of” lists. Their next album, Koi No Yokan (2012) was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and fans alike, even earning Album of the Year at Revolver’s Golden God Awards. On the anniversary of Chi Cheng’s passing, Deftones released “Smile” on YouTube, making it the only track publicly available from Eros. Less than a year later, the band would announce they are nearing the completion of their next album, which was eventually pushed back to April of 2016. Gore received extremely high praise, meeting the bar Deftones set with the number 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, and is the band’s third contender for “best albums of” lists. In 2020, Deftones released their most recent album, Ohms, which did very well on the charts and in sales. Ohms was not only yet another album claiming spots on “best albums of” lists, but it topped three of metal’s biggest publications lists in Loudwire, Metal Hammer, and Revolver. As of April 2024, the band has been working on their tenth album, with the vocals being the only part of the puzzle left to be recorded.