 Three bands use this name. The first is an English rock band often mistaken for being glam rock by the general public, while touting themselves as classic hard rock. Their highly retro style of music seems to be influenced by 1970s and '80s rock bands such as AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Cinderella, and Whitesnake.
Originally from Lowestoft in Suffolk, brothers Justin Hawkins and Dan Hawkins found themselves in London where they met up with childhood friends, Ed Graham (also from Lowestoft) and Frankie Poullain (hailing from Scotland). The Darkness was born. Playing at first only in pubs, Justin's catsuits, the pyrotechnic guitar solos, and over the top attitude soon brought them to fame.
Achieving major success in the UK in 2003, The Darkness received considerable radio airplay of their singles, including The Darkness – I Believe in a Thing Called Love and the Christmas hit The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End). Their debut album, The Darkness - Permission to Land, reached number one in the UK charts and went on to sell one and a half million copies in the UK alone. The success of this album led to heavy touring for the band, which included headlining the Carling Festivals in 2004. The band won three Brit Awards in the same year, including Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. They also won two Kerrang! awards for Best Live Act and Best British Band.
By late 2004 the band's huge success had led to a public backlash, and people claiming that the band were more a joke than a 'real' band became more common. The band responded to this criticism by touring the UK's top arenas on the "Winter-National Tour" tour with the Irish group Ash supporting them. One part of the show included Justin climbing upon a life-sized white tiger during "Love on the Rocks with No Ice" and being elevated around the audience whilst still playing guitar. The majority of the shows on the tour sold out.
On May 23, 2005 original bass player Frankie Poullain left the band during the recording of their second album, apparently due to "musical differences" with Justin Hawkins. Frankie has disputed this version of events, claiming he was "frozen out" and forced to leave the band by Justin and his longterm girlfriend (and the band's manager) Sue Whitehouse. On June 13 2005, The Darkness announced that Richie Edwards, formerly Dan's guitar technician, had replaced Frankie as bass player.
The Darkness – One Way Ticket, the first single from their second album, was released on 14 November 2005, debuting and peaking at number 8 on the UK Singles chart. The Darkness followed this with their second album The Darkness - One Way Ticket To Hell...And Back on November 28, 2005 to mixed reviews despite it having been produced by the well known Roy Thomas Baker whom has worked with bands such as Queen. Although it has been made platinum its sales do not come close to their debut's five-times-platinum rating and its chart peak at number eleven is a weak showing compared to Permission To Land's number one. The second single release from this album was The Darkness – Is It Just Me?, released on 20th February 2006 and charted at number eight. Soon afterwards Justin announced while performing live that the third single to be released from the album would be The Darkness – Girlfriend; and gained a mixed response. Released on 22nd May 2006, it charted at a disappointing number thirty-nine.
After having disappeared for quite some time the band announced that singer Justin Hawkins had left the band on 11th October 2006, after a battle against drugs. The future of The Darkness is yet to be decided.
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The second band is a German thrash metal band named "Darkness".
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The third band: Polish alternative band.Links The Darkness, muslib.ru (рус.)Version Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:32:18 +0300
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