Alter Bridge is an American heavy metal band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former band Creed became inactive in 2003, Tremonti and Phillips formed a new band with former bandmate Marshall and new member Kennedy; Alter Bridge was formally unveiled in January 2004, months before Creed's official breakup in June.
After signing with Wind-up Records, Alter Bridge released their debut album One Day Remains in August 2004, much of which was written by Tremonti the previous year. The album received mixed reviews but reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in November 2004. The band's second album followed in 2007 with the more positively-reviewed Blackbird, which marked the beginning of a long partnership between the band and producer Michael Baskette. The album reached No. 13 in the U.S. and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry.
Following continued activities with the members' other bands and side projects, Alter Bridge released AB III in 2010. It received critical acclaim and commercial success on Roadrunner Records, with its lead single "Isolation" topping the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Alter Bridge released Fortress to further acclaim in 2013, as the band's members continued splitting their time between various projects. The Last Hero followed on Napalm Records in 2016, becoming the band's first album since its debut to reach the top ten of the Billboard 200, and its first to reach the top five of the UK Albums Chart. Their sixth studio album, Walk the Sky, was released in 2019, and was followed by Walk the Sky 2.0 in 2020. Alter Bridge's seventh album Pawns & Kings was released on October 14, 2022. The band's eighth studio album Alter Bridge was released on January 9, 2026.
As of 2023, Alter Bridge has sold over 5 million records worldwide.
History
2004–2005: One Day Remains
Before forming Alter Bridge, Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips were members of the rock band Creed together with lead vocalist Scott Stapp. They achieved mainstream success in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the albums, My Own Prison (1997) and Human Clay (1999). Marshall left Creed in 2000, which was followed by the release of their third album, Weathered in 2001. The band became inactive in 2003 following the conclusion of a controversial tour. That same year, Tremonti began writing new material with plans of forming a new band with Phillips and Marshall. Being fans of Myles Kennedy's former band, The Mayfield Four, they invited him to join as their new lead vocalist. They named the new band Alter Bridge, after an actual bridge near Tremonti's home on Alter Road in Detroit, and subsequently began recording their debut album.
Citing creative differences and increasing tension between Stapp and the other band members, Creed officially broke up in June 2004. Coincidentally, Alter Bridge released their debut single "Open Your Eyes" on June 11, 2004. The band members felt as if Creed had "run their course" and were determined to focus on their future with their new singer. Alter Bridge's debut album, One Day Remains, was released on August 10, 2004, by Wind-up Records and received mixed reviews. Produced by Ben Grosse (who has also produced albums by artists such as Filter, Fuel, and Sevendust), the album sold 750,000 copies worldwide and achieved gold status. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts for fourteen weeks. After "Open Your Eyes", two more singles were released from the album in 2005: "Find the Real" and "Broken Wings". As the album was near completion by the time Kennedy joined the band, he does not feature as a guitarist, but did co-write some of the lyrics.
Several songs from One Day Remains established an affiliation with WWE. Most notably, "Metalingus" was adopted by wrestler and Hall of Famer "The Rated R Superstar" Edge as his entrance theme in 2004, along with continuing to use the theme in AEW under the ring name Cope. In 2022, Edge used "The Other Side" for a brief while, and that song was later used for the Judgment Day faction up until 2024 Alter Bridge would later appear with Edge in a backstage segment on an episode of WWE Raw in 2005. An edited version of "Open Your Eyes" was used in the video game Madden NFL 2005. Alter Bridge released a rare instrumental song called "Ahavo Rabo Taco Salad" for Total Guitar magazine in 2005. Originally, it was solely a Mark Tremonti song, but the rest of Alter Bridge soon got involved. A song called "Save Me" was included on the soundtrack for the 2005 Marvel film Elektra. The soundtrack for another 2005 Marvel film, Fantastic Four, also featured an Alter Bridge song, "Shed My Skin". That same year, the band released a four-song EP called Fan EP as a promotional CD in Europe.
Alter Bridge's relationship with Wind-up Records, who did not share the band's vision, began to deteriorate when band members began hearing rumors of the record label deciding not to release singles or promote the album as promised. The band had been asking to be released from the label shortly after the release of One Day Remains, but their request was consistently declined. Sometime before 2006, Alter Bridge & Wind-up Records were "finally able to negotiate terms acceptable to both sides". All recording, publishing, and merchandising agreements were finally terminated. The true nature of the agreement was later described by Mark Tremonti in a LoudWire interview as "being screwed over", where he revealed that Alter Bridge had to “buy out” their agreement for an undisclosed sum, for which they were still paying off. However, Alter Bridge continued to face difficulties, including criticism for disbanding Creed, pressure to reform Creed, and numerous false reports of a Creed reunion, in addition to some critics describing Alter Bridge's music as sounding like "Creed with a different singer." Despite Creed later reforming in early 2009, Tremonti responded to these claims by stating that "Creed will never exist as a band again."
2007–2008: Blackbird
In 2007, Alter Bridge signed a record deal with Universal Republic Records. Tremonti said of the band's new material, "I think it's the best work we've ever done." Alter Bridge's second album, Blackbird, featuring the successful singles "Rise Today" and "Watch Over You", was released on October 9, 2007. "Watch Over You" was featured in VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008 and its music video featured clips from the series. Another version of the song featuring Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil is available in the United Kingdom. Blackbird received very positive reviews from critics, and currently holds an average of 9.4 out of 10 on Ultimate Guitar Archive. The album also featured the critically acclaimed title track, the guitar solo of which would later be lauded by Guitarist by reaching No. 1 on their 2011 list of the greatest guitar solos of all time.
The band embarked on a successful world tour in support of Blackbird, recording their December 7, 2008 show at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands, for a live DVD titled Live from Amsterdam. A single disc version was sold exclusively at venues during the Creed reunion tour in 2009 and on Amazon.com. Released to extremely positive reviews, the DVD sold "thousands and thousands" of copies as opposed to the projected "hundreds" that Amazon expected to sell, reached No. 1 on Amazon's "Bestsellers in Music Videos & Concerts", and remained there for several weeks. A Blu-ray Disc version and a deluxe edition released in stores in North America on January 11, 2011.
Alter Bridge took a break in 2009 following Creed's reunion tour and new album. While Tremonti, Marshall, and Phillips were touring with Scott Stapp as Creed, Kennedy worked on his first solo album and began working extensively with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver lead guitarist Slash, and later touring with Slash throughout 2010 and 2011 as his lead vocalist.
2010–2012: AB III
Alter Bridge began the recording process of their third album from February through May 2010. On July 17, 2010, Billboard reported that Alter Bridge had signed with Roadrunner Records and that the band would embark on a spring tour with Godsmack in 2011. While the latter report was later denied by the band, Alter Bridge revealed the title of their new album, AB III, along with the track listing on their official website in early August. Roadrunner Records confirmed that the band had signed with them and gave the release date of their new album as October 8, 2010. The first single "Isolation" was released on Roadrunner's website on September 6, 2010. The song became the band's most successful song, reaching No. 1 on active rock radio and on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, a first for Alter Bridge. AB III was released in Australia and Germany on October 8, 2010, and in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2010, by Roadrunner Records and in North America on November 9, 2010, on the band's own vanity label, Alter Bridge Recordings, via EMI. The album debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard 200. The music video for "Isolation" premiered on Noisecreep on December 6, 2010. On January 11, 2011, the band finally released its long-awaited live album and concert film, Live from Amsterdam, in stores. Also, "I Know It Hurts" was later released as the second single, in Australia only, on January 21, 2011. "Ghost of Days Gone By" was released as the next single on April 18, 2011, followed by "Wonderful Life" on June 5, 2011, in the United Kingdom.
The band advertised that AB III would be much "darker" than and a lyrical departure from their previous albums, and the album was confirmed to be constructed as a loose concept album. AB III was met with "overwhelming critical acclaim" from professional reviewers upon its release, with MusicRadar calling it "one of the guitar albums of the year." Artistdirect gave AB III a perfect score and called it a "masterpiece". Also, a tribute album to Alter Bridge titled String Tribute to Alter Bridge, which features instrumental classical arrangements of various Alter Bridge songs, was made available on March 8, 2011. On October 25, 2011, Alter Bridge released a special edition of AB III titled AB III.5, which includes three bonus tracks and an hour-long documentary titled One by One.
The band started touring in support of AB III in the fall of 2010 in the United Kingdom with Slaves to Gravity appearing, followed by a tour of the United States with Taddy Porter and Like a Storm. In the spring of 2011, Alter Bridge toured the United States again, this time with Black Stone Cherry and Like a Storm. Alter Bridge performed at several European festivals in the summer of 2011, including the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals, the Nova Rock Festival, the 2011 Download Festival, the 2011 Hellfest Summer Open Air, and several others. Alter Bridge performed a free concert on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the ABC television network on April 25, 2011. The band also co-headlined the second annual Carnival of Madness Tour in summer 2011 with Theory of a Deadman, with supporting acts Black Stone Cherry, Adelitas Way, and Emphatic. The tour was extended until January 2012, when the band played select dates in Australia, including the Soundwave Festival. The band released a series of webisodes produced by DC3 Music Group detailing their tour. In addition, a second concert film titled Live at Wembley was recorded on November 29, 2011, at Wembley Arena, the band's largest headline show up to that point. It was released worldwide on March 26, 2012, and it will later be released in 3D.
2013–2014: Fortress