Dave Matthews Band

Songwriter David John Matthews, working in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a bartender at Miller's bar in November 1990, became a friend of a lawyer named Ross Hoffman. Hoffman convinced Matthews to record a demo of the few songs he had written, and encouraged him to approach Carter Beauford, a local drummer on the Charlottesville music scene. Beauford had been in several bands and was then playing on a jazz show on BET.

After hearing Matthews's demo, Carter agreed to spend some time playing the drums, both inside and outside the studio. Matthews also approached LeRoi Moore, another local jazz musician who often performed with the John D'earth Quintet, to join them. The trio began working on Matthews's songs in 1991. Matthews recollects that, "...the reason I went to Carter was not because I needed a drummer, but because I thought he was the baddest thing I'd ever seen and LeRoi, it wasn't because I desperately wanted a saxophone, it was because this guy just blew my mind. At this jazz place I used to bartend at Miller's, I would just sit back and watch him. I would be serving the musicians fat whiskeys and they'd be getting more and more hosed, but no matter how much, he used to still blow my mind. And it was the sense that everyone played from their heart. And when we got together and they asked, 'What do you want the music to sound like?' I said, 'I know this is a song I wrote and I like what you guys play, so I want you to play the way you react to my song.' There was a lot of breaking of our inhibitions."[4]

Matthews later said in an interview with Michael Krugman,[5] "In a way, initially it was just the three of us and I approached them with this tape and they said 'Sure,' cause they had time on their hands. They were both working on other things, but they had some afternoon time."[5]

The beginning stages of this new band proved to be, in the words of Morgan Delancey, "a time of trial and incubation."[6] Beauford would later recall that, "It started out as a three-piece thing with Dave and Leroi...working on some of Dave's songs. He only had four songs at the time..And it didn't work out with the three of us."[6] Matthews said, "The first time we played together...we were awful. Not just kind of bad, I mean heinously bad. We tried a couple of different songs and they were all terrible...Sometimes it amazes me that we ever had a second rehearsal."[6]

Miller's Bar on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville

Their limited instrumentals, however, did not provide the full sound they desired, and more musicians were needed. Upon the recommendation of John D'earth, conductor of the University of Virginia orchestra and a local musician, Stefan Lessard, a junior bassist at the time, joined the band. In 1991, Miller's waiter Peter Griesar became the band's first keyboardist. Because of other commitments, violinist Boyd Tinsley did not become a full-time member until 1992. Matthews later admitted,[5] "We had no plans of adding a violinist. We just wanted some fiddle tracked on this one song "Tripping Billies", and Boyd was a friend of Leroi. He came in and it just clicked. That completely solidified the band, gave it a lot more power."[5]

The band's first in-studio demo was recorded in February or March 1991 prior to Tinsley joining as a full-time band member and consisted of "Song That Jane Likes", "Recently", "Best of What's Around", and "I'll Back You Up."[7]

For years, it was believed that the band's first public show was at Charlottesville's 1991 Earth Day Festival.[6] On October 9, 2010, Stefan Lessard reported, via Twitter, the discovery of an earlier show, taped March 14, 1991, at TRAX, a local music venue. The show was a benefit for the Middle East Children's Alliance and, according to Lessard, included the following songs: "Typical Situation", "Best of What's Around", "I'll Back You Up", "Song That Jane Likes", "Warehouse", "Cry Freedom", and "Recently". The show included only Dave, Stefan, Carter, and LeRoi.[8] Local weekly appearances soon followed, and within a short time word of the band's sound spread.[9]

The band considered calling itself "Dumwelah", which is the Tswana word for "hello",[10] but there was little enthusiasm for the name and they decided against it.[11] One story is that Moore reportedly telephoned a place they were booked and said to write "Dave Matthews." The person receiving the call wrote "band" after the name, and the name stayed Dave Matthews Band from that point on.[6] Matthews told Robert Trott of AP, "Boyd [Tinsley], if memory serves, wrote 'Dave Matthews Band' [on this flyer for the show]. There was no time when we said, 'Let's call this band the Dave Matthews Band.' It just became that, and it sort of was too late to change when we started thinking that this could focus unfairly on me. People sort of made that association, but it's really not like that."[5]

Beauford seemed to agree with Matthews's analysis of the band name when he said to Modern Drummer magazine that, "As a matter of fact, that's one of the things about this band that everybody likes: There isn't a leader. Each one of us can express ourselves musically without being choked by a leader. Everybody can offer what they feel is gonna enhance the music. So, yeah, that's the main thing that all the guys — especially me — feel make this band happen. It's the freedom that we have to speak with our instruments."[12]

By the summer of 1991, they were playing at Eastern Standard with Charles Newman as their manager for a brief time.[12] They also continued to play at fraternity functions; the last such show was at UVa at the DKE house on September 11, 1992. Thereafter the band began playing a regular Tuesday night show at the popular Charlottesville club Trax. Tapings of shows at Trax are some of the most widely shared among DMB fans. After Newman, Coran Capshaw, owner of the Flood Zone where the band often played, took the helm of the Dave Matthews Band.[5]

For a variety of reasons, like sensing that the band was on the verge of making it big and not wanting to have his life ruled by the grueling schedule that touring musicians often face, difficulties communicating with Matthews, and maintaining the mortgage on his new home, Peter Griesar decided to leave the band after a show at Trax nightclub on March 23, 1993, a night known as "Big League Chew".[13][14]

On November 9, 1993, DMB released its first official release, Remember Two Things, on its Bama Rags label,[15][16] later re-released by RCA in 1997.[17] Live songs on the album were recorded at Trax in Charlottesville, Virginia The Flood Zone in Richmond, Virginia, and The Muse Music Club on Nantucket Island.[18] The album debuted on college charts as the highest independent entry, and went on to be certified platinum by the RIAA in 2002.[19]

Toots and the Maytals with Dave Matthews when performing together in 1998

Members from Toots & the Maytals and Dave Matthews Band when performing together in 1998. Paul Douglas (left), Carter Beauford (back), LeRoi Moore (front), Toots Hibbert (right).

The band released their first live EP, entitled Recently, in 1994. The album's five tracks were taken from shows performed at The Birchmere, in Alexandria, Virginia, and from Trax, in Charlottesville. Recently was re-released by RCA Records in 1997.

On September 20, 1994, DMB released their debut studio album, Under the Table and Dreaming, featuring their first commercial hits "What Would You Say" (featuring John Popper of Blues Traveler fame on harmonica), "Satellite", and "Ants Marching". The album was dedicated "In memory of Anne" for Matthews's older sister Anne, who was killed by her husband in 1994 in a murder–suicide. Under the Table and Dreaming brought the band worldwide fame and was eventually certified six times platinum.[20]

Under the Table and Dreaming and its follow-up album, Crash, brought the band a Grammy Award and four additional Grammy nominations. The band won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group for "So Much to Say". In addition, the band was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form for "What Would You Say", and was nominated for the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Album for Crash and the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song for "Too Much".[21] The band achieved hits with "Crash into Me", "Too Much", and "Tripping Billies".[22]

By 1997, DMB reached unparalleled levels of popularity across the United States and, to some degree, the world. On October 28, 1997, the band released their first full-length live album, Live at Red Rocks 8.15.95. The album, which was recorded at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, featured popular songs from the band's first three albums and included longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds on electric guitar.

In late 1997, the band returned to the studio with producer Steve Lillywhite and an array of guest collaborators, including Reynolds, banjoist Béla Fleck, vocalist Alanis Morissette, future touring band member Butch Taylor, Chapman Stick player Greg Howard, and the Kronos Quartet. They composed and recorded Before These Crowded Streets, their third album with RCA, which was released on April 28, 1998. The album represented a great change in direction for the band as they did not rely on upbeat hit singles to carry the album. "Stay (Wasting Time)", an uplifting gospel number, and "Crush", a love ballad, became very popular tracks along with the lead single, "Don't Drink the Water". Dave Matthews has commented that the inspiration for this song came from the treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. Before These Crowded Streets was an instant commercial success with over 900,000 albums sold worldwide in the first week. As of 2018, there have been over 21,000,000 copies sold worldwide.

During the summer, the band took part in the Woodstock '99 concert and then released their third live album, Listener Supported, in the fall. The album, a live recording, used a show performed at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey on September 11, 1999 for a PBS television special. The album was also released as the band's first DVD. The year also provided two more Grammy nominations. From their recent album, they earned another Grammy Award for Best Rock Album nomination for "Before These Crowded Streets", and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals nomination for the song "Crush".

Dave Matthews, Boyd Tinsley, and Butch Taylor in Melbourne during their first tour of Australia

During 2000, DMB set up their own recording studio at a large countryside home outside Charlottesville. With longtime producer Lillywhite at the helm, the band began work on a fourth studio album. The songs were heavily influenced by personal conflicts, notably the death of Matthews's uncle from alcoholism.

In October 2000, an energized Matthews began writing with Glen Ballard, most famous for his work with Alanis Morissette. The rest of DMB (along with special guest Carlos Santana) soon joined Matthews in a Los Angeles studio and quickly recorded Everyday. While the album gave the band a fresh start, Ballard's production, which featured a pop-rock music sound and no songs over 4:43, was very different from the acoustic sound and long jams that the albums produced by Steve Lillywhite featured (only 8 of the 35 tracks on the previous three albums were under 4:43). Carter Beauford has said that the album was a product of Matthews and Ballard and that it did not showcase the rest of the band. The February 27, 2001 release of Everyday was a huge commercial success. The singles "I Did It", "Everyday", and "The Space Between" all charted on many Billboard charts, including the Hot 100.[23]

In "Everyday" the main guitar lick is derived from that of the song "#36."[24]

In March 2001, the Lillywhite studio sessions from the previous year were leaked over the Internet. The tracks spread quickly over established Internet channels such as Napster. Collectively known as The Lillywhite Sessions, these tracks were lauded by both the fan base and the popular press. After critical comparison of the two simultaneous albums, fans who were less than pleased with Everyday's more electric sound were frustrated with the band's decision to scrap the work in exchange for Everyday.

Many of the songs from The Lillywhite Sessions would, however, eventually be officially released. In response to overwhelming fan support, coupled with a popular and widely publicized online campaign known as the Release Lillywhite Recordings Campaign, DMB returned to the studio in 2002 to record Busted Stuff. Produced by Stephen Harris, the recording engineer who worked under Lillywhite on previous albums, the resulting CD provided new treatments of much of the Lillywhite Sessions' material, along with newly written songs "You Never Know" and the single "Where Are You Going" which was subsequently used in the movie Mr. Deeds. Busted Stuff hit the shelves on July 16, 2002.

During these two years the band released two live albums. The first, Live in Chicago 12.19.98, features Tim Reynolds on guitar as well as many other special guests such as bassist Victor Wooten, guitarist Mitch Rutman, and saxophonist Maceo Parker.[25] The second, Live at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colorado, highlights songs from both Everyday and Busted Stuff and was released as both a CD and a DVD.[26]

The Gorge, a combination 2-CD/1-DVD set with highlights from their 3-night 2002 tour closer at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington was released on June 29, 2004.

In August 2004, DMB was at the center of a controversy when about 800 pounds of liquid human waste was dumped from band member Boyd Tinsley's tour bus through the grate in the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicago onto passengers aboard a sightseeing boat on the Chicago River below.[27] On March 9, 2005, the band's tour bus driver, Stefan Wohl, pleaded guilty to dumping the bus's waste tank into the Chicago River,[28][29] and the band has donated $50,000 to the Friends of the Chicago River and $50,000 to the Chicago Park District.[30] In April 2005, the band paid $200,000 to settle the civil lawsuit that followed.[31]

In Fall 2004, DMB returned to their studio in Charlottesville, Virginia with a new producer. The band decided they wanted to take some chances and pursue a funkier side to their music.[32] To help achieve it, A&R Bruce Flohr tracked down producer/songwriter Mark Batson.[32] According to Flohr in an interview with HitQuarters, "When the band and him got together it was instant creative karma. Things took off like a bat out of hell."[32]

The resultant album, Stand Up, was released on May 10, 2005, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts with sales of 465,000. Stand Up spawned the singles "American Baby", "Dreamgirl", and "Everybody Wake Up". The band also released a video for "Dreamgirl", featuring Julia Roberts, a long-time fan of the band.[33] Another song from the album – "Steady As We Go" – was featured in an episode of Everwood and was cited by former campaign aide Andrew Young to be a favorite song of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter during their much-publicized affair.[34]

During March 2005, Dave Matthews Band arrived on Australian shores for the first time, playing shows at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Byron Bay East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival.

The band supported the album with a 54 show, summer-long tour culminating in a four-night stand at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The 2005 summer tour also marked the first time Rashawn Ross played with the band. DMB also played a short, 13 show tour in the fall. This fall tour featured the return of Christmas Song, Minarets (both first played since 2003) and Linus and Lucy (last played in 2000).[35]

Dave Matthews Band performing "Last Stop" at The Pavilion on July 5, 2006

On April 25, 2006, Dave Matthews Band announced a $1.5 million challenge grant to help build the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village. The band returned to the studio along with producer Mark Batson in March 2006 (with the resultant album slated for release in winter.[36]) The band's annual summer tour featured the debut of new songs such as "The Idea of You", "Shotgun", "Break Free", "Kill the King", and "Can't Stop".[37]

The band worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for their 2006 summer tour.[38] Their Labor Day concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre drew a crowd of 64,468, the largest ever for that venue[39]

In early 2007, the band once again entered the studio with producers Mark Batson and Steven Miller[40] to begin recording their seventh studio album.[41]

Dave Matthews Band performing at Vodafone Arena in Melbourne on May 1, 2007, starting their second tour of Australia.

According to Billboard magazine, the band's new studio album had been scheduled to be released in July by RCA Records,[42] but in an interview with the Brisbane Times on May 4, 2007, Stefan Lessard stated, "We're on a bit of a creative break as far as working in the studio – we've been in pre-production for a long time, but we'll get more serious later in the year."[43]

On July 7, 2007, Dave Matthews Band performed on the American Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium.[44]

On August 1, 2007, the band kicked off their annual summer tour in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The tour was shorter than most Dave Matthews Band summer tours, with only 37 shows. This tour saw the live debut of songs that the band had been working on in the studio earlier in the year with Mark Batson, including "#27", "Cornbread", as well as the dark and unique "A Dream So Real."[45] "A Dream So Real" would only be played once after the 2007 Summer Tour, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on June 21, 2008, featuring Matthews playing keyboard.[46] Supporting acts for the tour included Toots and the Maytals, The Roots, and Robert Randolph and the Family Band.[47]

On September 6, 2007, Dave Matthews Band performed a free concert for the Virginia Tech student body and faculty. The show was entitled "A Concert for Virginia Tech" and was done in memory of the shootings that took place on April 16, 2007. John Mayer, Phil Vassar, and Nas joined them. There were over 50,000 people in attendance.[48] Two days later, they performed a benefit show at Atlanta's Piedmont Park with the Allman Brothers Band opening. Though only 75,000 tickets were sold (50,000 originally, then a second block of 15,000) nearly 20,000 people sneaked into the show, making it the largest one-day concert in Atlanta history. The show raised money for the Piedmont Park Conservancy Association.[49] It was released as a CD/DVD called Live at Piedmont Park'.

On March 6, 2008, it was revealed that the band had been working with Rob Cavallo on their next album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. It was also mentioned that guitarist and longtime friend Tim Reynolds would be recording with the band on the new studio album.[50]

On May 27, three days before the band embarked on their annual summer tour, it was announced that keyboardist Butch Taylor, who had toured with the band since 2001, had decided to leave the band.[51]

The Dave Matthews Band played their last show with all five original members on June 28 at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. Two days later, saxophonist LeRoi Moore was injured in an ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia.[52] On July 1, 2008 while in Charlottesville, Dave Matthews announced Moore's accident.[53] Béla Fleck and the Flecktones saxophonist Jeff Coffin filled in for Moore for the remainder of the tour.[54] Although he was expected to make a full recovery, Moore died suddenly of complications from the accident on August 19. In a statement released through their website, the band said:

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program.[55]

The band proceeded with a scheduled show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where Matthews announced the death of the band's "dear friend" to the crowd.[56]

Despite Moore's death, the band continued to play the rest of the tour, cancelling only two shows.[58] They concluded the tour with a benefit concert for lung cancer research (Stand Up for a Cure)[59] at Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 10, for which tickets were exclusive to members of the band's fan club, Warehouse.

The band's next album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, was released June 2, 2009, coinciding with a supporting summer tour, slated to run through early October.[60] The band named this album in honor of Moore.[61] Moore is said to be the "King" in the album title.[62] Tim Reynolds, Rashawn Ross, and Jeff Coffin performed with the band on both the spring and the summer tours of 2009 and 2010.[63]

The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, achieving platinum status. Three singles from the album were released: "Funny The Way It Is", "Why I Am", and "You and Me".

The album was nominated for two 2010 Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. It lost to Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown and to Taylor Swift's Fearless. During the awards telecast, the band played "You and Me" with accompaniment by live singers, percussionists, a string section, and an eight-piece horn section made up of teenagers from the Grammy Jazz Ensemble.

The year 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the Band. In March 2010, DMB announced that they would not tour in 2011, for the first time in 20 years. On January 19, 2011, the band announced on their website: "2011 is our 20th anniversary as a band and we want to celebrate by playing music together. While we are still taking the year off from touring, we have decided to plan four multi-day, multi-artist music events that will take place this summer. We will be sending out save the date emails and announcing more information soon but we wanted to share the news with our fans first." On February 22, the first show was announced as being at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey with David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, The Flaming Lips, O.A.R., and others, and would take place on June 26.[64]

The first show was hosted in Atlantic City at Bader Field on June 26, 2011. The Dave Matthews Band Caravan was largely successful. The short, 13-show tour saw the live return of many fan favorite songs. "Captain" was played for the first time since 2004, at the debut show of the Caravan tour on June 24, 2011. This show also saw the debut "cover" performances of Led Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times", and Morphine's "Buena". Features from the band's 2006 Summer Tour "Break Free" and "Kill the King" were also played for the first time since 2006. The unreleased song "Joyride" and hit single "American Baby" from Stand Up were also played for the first time since 2006. Tim Reynolds and Dave Matthews also played their own acoustic set, performing songs like "Oh" and "So Damn Lucky". The top three albums played on this tour (from most to least played) were Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, Cover Songs, and Crash.[65]

On December 16, 2011, the band released the Dave Matthews Band Caravan show that took place on June 26, 2011 as Live at Atlantic City.[66]

On February 14, 2012, DMB announced the dates for a summer tour.[67] The next day it was announced that they were recording a new studio album with producer Steve Lillywhite who worked with them on Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash and Before These Crowded Streets.[68]

Dave Matthews Band kicked off their 43-show 2012 summer tour at The Woodlands, Texas. This tour saw the live return of fan favorite songs such as "You Never Know" "Help Myself" and "Everybody Wake Up (Our Finest Hour Arrives)."[69] The tour also saw the full band, live debuts of all of the songs off of Away from the World (except for "Broken Things" "Belly Full" and "Drunken Soldier") which would be released later on in the year.[70]

The band released its eighth studio album, Away from the World, on September 11, 2012.[71] The album saw the return of producer Steve Lillywhite, who had not worked with the band since their collaboration on the never-released "The Lillywhite Sessions" in 2000. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, their sixth consecutive studio album to do so.

Following the successful release of Away from the World, the band kicked off their 15-show, 2012 Winter Tour with a two-night show in East Rutherford, New Jersey on November 30 and December 1, 2012. The show that took place on November 30, featured the band playing every song off Away from the World. This marks the first time that the band has played an album in its entirety at a single show.[72]

DMB's 45-show 2013 summer tour kicked off at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Woodlands, Texas on May 17. The 2013 Summer Tour saw the highest number of different songs played out of any DMB tours: 110 unique songs were played, including the return of fan favorites such as True Reflections (first time played since 2003), Crazy Easy (first time played since 2004), and #34 (first time played since 2007).[73] The tour ended with a show in Mountain View, California on September 8, 2013 which featured the longest performance of any song played on that tour (a 23.5-minute version of the hit song "Two Step").[74] In September 2013, the group announced they would be touring in South Africa, the birthplace of Dave Matthews, for the first time.[75] On that tour, DMB would also be going back to South America performing in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.[76]

In April 2014, DMB performed five shows in Australia including the West Coast Blues N Roots Festival and the Byron Bay Bluesfest.[76]

After noticeably struggling at shows in Australia, Tinsley revealed via his Twitter page that he had developed arthritis in his right hand.[77] Tinsley underwent surgery to correct carpal tunnel syndrome. He stated that he would be fine and would be ready for the coming tour.[78] Tinsley later made a marked improvement, and began playing strongly again towards the beginning of the 2014 Summer Tour.

The Dave Matthews Band's 42-show, 2014 summer tour kicked off in The Woodlands, Texas. The shorter acoustic set is played before the longer electric set. The acoustic set features the band in numerous different arrangements.[79] The acoustic set also features Beauford on a smaller drum kit, bassist Lessard on acoustic and upright basses, Reynolds on acoustic guitar, and a more toned down horn section, featuring Coffin on flute. The acoustic set has also seen the return of many fan favorite songs, such as "I'll Back You Up", (played for the first time since 2010) "Pay For What You Get" and "Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd", (each being played for the first time since 2008), and the rare "Good Good Time", being played for the first time in its true, original format with Matthews using a capo since 2004.[80]

The band announced in November 2014 that they would be playing their first show ever in Mexico in 2015.[81] On January 13, 2015, the band announced that they would be going on a summer tour and performing two full sets each evening. The North American tour started in Austin, Texas on May 13 and concluded in Phoenix, Arizona on September 13.[82] Soon after this announcement, the band announced an extensive European tour for the fall of 2015. The tour would commence with the band's first-ever show in Abu Dhabi on October 8. After this show, the tour included stops in Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, 4 shows in Italy, 4 shows in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, 3 shows in the United Kingdom, and wrapped up in Ireland on November 13. The tour also included a stop in Poland, marking the first time the band had played there.[83]

In 2016, Dave Matthews Band reached its 25th anniversary and announced an anniversary tour.[84] The 2016 tour ran from May 11 to September 4 with 45 shows in the U.S. and one show in Canada.[85]

On January 16, 2018, Dave Matthews Band announced a summer 2018 tour along with their ninth studio LP.[86] The title of the album was announced, Come Tomorrow, as well as the release date of June 8, 2018.[87] In its first week of release, Come Tomorrow debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 292,000 album-equivalent units, making it the biggest sales week for a rock album in over four years and the biggest sales week for an album in 2018 (1,185,000 copies sold as of December). It was their best selling album since Big Whiskey and The Gru Grux King, which had 4,300,000 sales. It is also their seventh consecutive album to achieve the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200.

In February 2018, Boyd Tinsley took a leave of absence from the band to focus on his health. On May 18, 2018, the band announced that Tinsley had been fired from the band in response to a lawsuit filed by former Crystal Garden band member James Frost-Winn alleging sexual misconduct by Tinsley.[88]

On May 4, 2020, the band announced that all of its 2020 summer dates would be moved to 2021 in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic.