Puddle of Mudd — American post-grunge hard rock band
Puddle of Mudd was created by Wesley Reid Scantlin on 13 September 1991 in Kansas City.
In 1994, the band released its debut LP, Stuck. The album came out under two labels, Mudd Dog and V&R Records. The LP featured the song “Drift or Die”, which was re-released in 2002 and became a hit.
In 1997, Puddle of Mudd presented their first studio album, Abrasive. All songs were written by the band members. Many years later, the album became a rarity since it was a limited edition release. When the band earned popularity, many fans tried to find copies of this album.
The band often suffered through lineup changes. In 1999, everyone except for the leader left the band. By a lucky accident, the group’s demo album made it into the hands of Fred Durst, who helped Scantlin move to California and find new band members.
In June 2001, the new lineup of Puddle of Mudd presented the lead single “Control” from their upcoming album. The song became a hit. It reached the 3rd spot on Mainstream Rock and settled on the 68th position on Billboard Hot 100. The single also appeared on TV screens in Survivor Series. The band became even more famous. Many event organizers were hoping to book Puddle of Mudd, but it wasn’t always possible.
The new LP Come Clean came out on 28 August. In Billboard 200, the album reached the 9th position. It became an international hit and reached high spots on the charts of many countries, including Austria and New Zealand. In October, the band released another single, "Blurry", featured in Come Clean. The song became the group’s most successful release. It topped Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks for nine weeks. The song spent nine more weeks on the top of Hot Modern Rock Tracks. The single also reached the 5th spot on Billboard Hot 100. It was very popular in the UK. The 8th spot on UK Singles Chart was the best result the band managed to achieve in the UK to date.
"Blurry" brought the band prizes at ASCAP for "Song of the Year" and "Pop Song of the Year". In 2002, it received two Billboard Awards as "Modern Rock Track of the Year" and "Rock Track of the Year".
One more single from that album, "She Hates Me", was slightly less popular than “Blurry” but achieved impressive results. It topped Mainstream Rock Chart and climbed to the 13th place on Billboard 200. The song entered the charts of 11 countries. In 2004, the single brought Puddle of Mudd a prize at ASCAP Pop Music Award. After the song came out, the band went on a tour to America and Europe.
The next LP, Life on Display, came out in 2003. It settled on the 20th position on Billboard 200 but the sales weren’t as impressive as before. Nevertheless, the LP earned gold certificates in the USA and Canada.
Puddle of Mudd’s next album, Famous, appeared in October 2007. It reached the 27th spot on Billboard 200. The second single featured in the LP, “Psycho” topped Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts.
In December 2009, the band released its fifth LP, Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate, which made it into the charts but didn’t become as successful as the band’s previous albums. In 2011, the group released a cover album re:(disc)overed (2011).
Puddle of Mudd is promising to release the 6th album in the nearest future.
