Bio Full Biography »

A leading force in the Swedish "sleaze rock" scene of the 2000s -- a revival of the glam metal (or hair metal) of the 1980s, but with a more pronounced punk element, often rawer in sound and raunchier in style -- Crashdïet formed in 2000, taking inspiration from Skid Row, Guns N' Roses, Kiss, W.A.S.P., and G.G. Allin, and vowing to bring back the big shows and big songs of "unpredictable and dangerous" rock & roll. After several lineup changes, the group was signed by Universal in 2004 -- making them, by their reckoning, the first sleaze rock act on a major label in over ten years -- and released their debut, Rest in Sleaze, the following year. The album hit number 12 on the national charts and spawned the singles "Riot in Everyone," "Breaking the Chainz," "Knokk 'Em Down," and "It's a Miracle," and the band launched an auspicious tour of Sweden to support it in the fall of 2005. In January 2006, however, the band's lead singer and guiding light, 26-year-old Dave Lepard, committed suic...