Skillet

Band history

Early years (1996–2001)

Skillet formed in 1996 with two members: John Cooper, former vocalist for Tennessee progressive rock band Seraph, and Ken Steorts, former guitarist for Urgent Cry. The two bands met through touring together, but they disbanded soon after, so John and Ken's pastor encouraged them to form their own band as a side project. They decided to name the experiment "Skillet". After, Trey McClurkin joined the band as a temporary drummer. Skillet was only together for a month when they received interest from major Christian record label ForeFront Records. In 1996, they released their demo album Right Upside Your Head. On October 29 of the same year, they released a self-titled debut Skillet. It was well received, and the trio continued to write new material as they toured the United States.

Cooper has said the band's name was meant to be humorous, as the other founding members had already been in other bands, each with a different sound and style. The pastor of Covenant Community Church in Memphis—where the band was formed as a worship band side project—gave them their name as he felt they were like "southern cooking, where you just toss a bunch of different things into a big ol' skillet and see what it turns out like".

Skillet recorded their follow-up album throughout 1997, titled Hey You, I Love Your Soul, which was released in April 1998. Their second effort was a change in style from the band's first release. With this release, Skillet abandoned their grunge approach for a lighter industrial alternative rock and style. Cooper's wife Korey was enlisted soon after to play keyboards live in order to alleviate his performance duties.

Shortly before the band began recording for their third album, Invincible, Korey Cooper joined the band permanently on keyboards. Not long after, Steorts left to be with his family and launch Visible Music College, although he would run their website for the next few years. He played his final show with the band on August 29, 1999. The band also announced that drummer Trey McClurkin would be leaving the band at the end of the year. Scottish guitarist Allister Kelly would fill in for Steorts on the band's Worship Tour, and soon after they choose Kevin Haaland as the official replacement. All of these changes lead to a musical shift on Invincible, with the album taking on a more electronic sound. On January 18, 2000, McClurkin played his final show with the band, and Lori Peters took over. Invincible was released on February 1, 2000.

Ardent and breakthrough (2003–2010)

In 2003, Collide, the band's fifth studio album, was released by Ardent Records and contained the singles "Savior" and "Collide". In 2004, the rights to Collide were bought by Lava Records, an imprint of Atlantic Records. On May 25, 2004, Collide was re-released by Lava Records, with "Open Wounds" as an added track. The album was nominated for "Best Rock Gospel Album" in 2005.

Citing P.O.D. as inspiration for the musical shift on Collide, Cooper said, "Well I'm one of these song writers, everything I hear goes through my John Cooper filter of what I like and what I don't like. ... All these things ... have been an influence on me."

Skillet's album Comatose was released on October 3, 2006. It features the singles "Rebirthing", "Whispers in the Dark", "Comatose", "The Older I Get", "Those Nights", "The Last Night" and "Better Than Drugs". The album debuted at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 and No. 4 on the US Top Christian Albums chart.

In January 2008, Skillet announced that their drummer, Lori Peters, was retiring from the band, feeling that "it's time for her to come off of the road and start a new chapter in her life". Peters' last concert with Skillet was on December 31, 2007. However, during the 2007 Christmas season, she took the time to train Skillet's next drummer, Jen Ledger.

On October 21, 2008, Comatose Comes Alive was released; a CD/DVD combo featuring live recordings of the band's May 9, 2008, concert in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was shown on the Gospel Music Channel on December 5, 2008. Skillet's Comatose Comes Alive CD also had a B-side with "Live Free or Let Me Die" as a single, also with five acoustic tracks which purchasers could download by inserting the CD in their computer.

The Comatose album was certified Gold and Platinum in sales by the RIAA on November 3, 2009, and May 20, 2016, respectively.

Skillet's seventh album, Awake, contains twelve songs and was released on August 25, 2009. It charted at No. 2 on the Billboard top 200 selling around 68,000 units in its first week. "Monster" was released as a single on July 14, 2009. Contrary to popular belief, John Cooper stated that "Hero" was not the album's lead single. It was, however, released as a single in March 2010. They also released a deluxe version with the extra songs "Dead Inside" and "Would It Matter", along with the original, radio edit of "Monster" that does not have the distorted growl as in the single and in the CD. A remix on "Monster" was featured on one of their popular podcasts. The song "Hero" was used in the publicizing of the first football game of the 2009 NFL season between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, and the song "Monster" was used in the episode "Jason: The Pretty-Boy Bully" on MTV's Bully Beatdown.

2011–2020

On February 14, 2011, Skillet officially announced that longtime lead guitarist Ben Kasica would be leaving the band. Kasica was with the band for 10 years, contributing to the albums Alien Youth, Collide, Comatose, and Awake as well as the live album Comatose Comes Alive. He played what was planned to be his last concert with the band on March 20, but returned and continued touring until a new guitarist was trained. On April 16, Seth Morrison replaced Kasica as the lead guitarist, and now tours full-time with Skillet.

Skillet announced the release of Awake and Remixed EP in early March 2011. The remixes were mainly done by Korey Cooper and Ben Kasica. On March 2, 2011, Skillet unveiled the album artwork for the album. John Cooper says the idea was conceived when Korey Cooper and Ben Kasica remixed the song Monster for their popular podcast. The four-song EP was released on March 22.

Awake was nominated for and won the "Top Christian Album" Award at the Billboard Music Awards 2011, and the song "Awake and Alive" was announced to be on the Transformers: Dark of the Moon Soundtrack in May 2011.

On June 21, 2011, Cooper posted to his Twitter account that the band rehearsed new music for the first time and that they are getting ready for a new album. At a question and answer session before a concert, John Cooper said that they would be recording a new record in January/February 2012. However, the band was then scheduled to headline the Winter Jam Tour. They planned to enter the studio at the conclusion of the Winter Jam eastern tour, approximately in May, for a release in late 2012.

In an interview with CCM Magazine, John Cooper described the new album as "a roller coaster ride". He stated: "We have aggressive tracks, artsy and musical tracks, which is new territory for Skillet. A couple songs are classic American heartland anthems, and a couple songs are signature symphonic-classical rock Skillet. Guitars are dirty and edgier, with absolute shredding solos by Seth." One of the songs mentioned in the interview was titled "Salvation".

In an interview on January 26, 2013, in Beaumont, Texas, John Cooper announced that the new album, Rise, would be coming out in May 2013, but was later scheduled for a June 25, 2013, release. In an interview with NoiseCreep, John Cooper stated the first single and music video is scheduled to be released in late April. The first single from the album, "Sick of It", released to US Rock radio on April 23, 2013. It was later confirmed that the first single, "Sick of It", would be released on April 9, 2013. The album debuted at No.4 on the Billboard 200 and No.1 on the Top Rock Chart and Christian Album charts selling 60,000 copies in US alone during the first week of the release. On July 12, 2016, Rise was certified Gold by the RIAA. On June 21, 2013, the band released a deluxe version of the album.

2020–present

Victorious: The Aftermath, the deluxe edition of the album, was released on September 11, 2020. This edition included all 12 original tracks from Victorious (2019), plus 8 additional tracks: 3 new unreleased songs ("Dead Man Walking", "Sick and Empty" and “Dreaming of Eden”), 5 reimagined versions (e.g., "Save Me", "Terrify the Dark"), and alternate mixes ("Legendary - Destiny Remix").

In March 2021, John Cooper received backlash concerning comments he made on the 2021 Grammys, particularly the live performance of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion and their song "WAP". He argued that this exemplified society "redefining good as evil". He cited historical dictators like Hitler who "claimed liberation while committing atrocities". Cooper later clarified that he "did not compare Cardi B to Hitler", emphasizing that his intent was to critique moral relativism in culture.

"Surviving the Game", Skillet's first single in a year, was released on September 15, 2021, The band also announced their eleventh studio album, Dominion, which was released on January 14, 2022, and was Skillet's final album with Atlantic Records after a 20-year partnership. Produced by Kane Churko, Kevin Churko, and Seth Mosley, it blended hard rock with lyrical themes of resilience (e.g., Surviving the Game) and spiritual warfare (White Horse). This was followed by the release of three other singles: "Standing in the Storm" on November 12, 2021, "Refuge" on December 10, 2021, and the title track, "Dominion", on January 7, 2022. The album debuted at #38 on the Billboard 200, #2 on US Christian Albums, and #4 on US Top Rock Albums. Internationally, it reached #18 in Switzerland and #36 in Germany. On December 9, 2022, Skillet released the fourth single from the album, "Psycho in My Head", and announced the deluxe edition of the album, Dominion: Day of Destiny, which was released on February 17, 2023, and added 5 tracks, including "Finish Line" (featuring Adam Gontier). On February 3, 2023, it was announced that "Psycho in My Head" was the theme song for WWE's Elimination Chamber 2023.

On August 9, 2024, Skillet released the lead single "Unpopular" and announced their twelfth album Revolution. It was released independently on November 1, 2024, under Skillet's label Hear It Loud. The album debuted at #100 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on Top Rock Albums, marking their lowest-charting main album since 2003's Collide.

On November 14, 2025, Skillet released their first Christmas single, a cover of the song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". The song debuted leading five Billboard charts, both in the United States and internationally, additionally hitting No. 3 on the Digital Song Sales chart; alternatively, it was deemed by critics to be "demonic".

Musical style

The band's style has been described as Christian rock, Christian metal, alternative rock, hard rock, nu metal, post-grunge, and symphonic metal. The band's eponymous debut album was characterized by its grunge influences, while their follow-up album, Hey You, I Love Your Soul, was noted for "its electronic elements and industrial feel".

Their music can also be described as an aspiration; according to Cooper's idea for a perfect music is to "unite" individuals spiritually and socially.

Allmusic reviewer James Christopher Monger described the band's musical style as a fusion of "alt-metal, hard rock, post-grunge, and soaring alternative rock", in his review for the band's 2013 album, Rise.

Touring

In the middle of 2005, Korey Cooper took a break from performing, due to her pregnancy with their second child. Her rhythm guitar and keyboard roles were temporarily filled by two people: Andrea Winchell (who would later become the Coopers' nanny) on keys and Chris Marvin (lead singer/guitar of The Spark) on guitar.

Skillet toured with Ron Luce and Teen Mania Ministries on their Acquire The Fire Tour across the United States and Canada in 2007. When they returned, Skillet had plans to co-headline the Justice & Mercy Tour with Flyleaf, but the tour was postponed and ultimately canceled after a number of shows due to Flyleaf lead vocalist Lacey Mosley's vocal problems. They then toured with Luce's Global Expeditions program on a summer missions trip with teenagers to Mexico. In 2008, they joined Teen Mania Ministries and toured with Acquire the Fire.

Skillet joined Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and Seether on the first half of their tour in fall 2007. Then Skillet headlined their own Comatose Tour alongside Thousand Foot Krutch and traveled to approximately 30 cities. The tour started on March 28 and ran through May 11, 2008. Skillet toured again from April 2009 through June 2009 with Decyfer Down and Disciple. This tour was called Comatose Tour 2009 (essentially a second branch of the 2008 Comatose Tour). In fall of 2009, Skillet began touring with Hawk Nelson, Decyfer Down, and The Letter Black to promote Skillet's album Awake. The Awake & Alive Tour encompassed 52 cities from October through January.

Skillet appeared at the 2009 Night of Joy Christian rock festival at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. This marked the band's first absence from Universal Studios Orlando's Rock the Universe in five years due to conflicting schedules. However, they were able to perform the following year, in 2010. On September 26, 2009, Skillet appeared at Awakening Music Festival in Leesburg, Virginia, alongside Jeremy Camp, Kutless, Hawk Nelson, Disciple, Decyfer Down, and others. Skillet also played at the Super Dome in New Orleans for the ELCA National Youth Gathering in 2009.

In January 2010, they toured with Puddle of Mudd and Shinedown through the East Coast of the United States. They also announced on their live chat with fans on December 5, 2009, that they would be touring with TobyMac in March and April 2010. This was later expanded upon as the "Awake Tonight Tour" named after both artists' new albums. House of Heroes joined them on the tour as the opening act. In April and May, the band continued on a second branch of their Awake and Alive tour with The Letter Black and Red. In April, it was also announced that the band would be touring with Creed and Theft in August and September 2010. In October, the band would be co-headlining the "Monsters of Annihilation Tour" with Papa Roach. Trapt and My Darkest Days were supporting acts. They toured again with TobyMac in November and December as the 2010 version of the Winter Wonder Slam tour. On July 4, Skillet played at Creation Festival East, and John Cooper called it the best show of Skillet's career.

Other projects

In April 2018, Jen Ledger began pursuit of her solo career by joining with Korey Cooper. They formed as Ledger and released a self-titled EP, along with a new single "Not Dead Yet".

In September 2018, John Cooper and Seth Morrison formed a new side project, Fight the Fury. Alongside John Panzer III and Jared Ward, they released an EP, Still Breathing, with a new single, "My Demons".

Band members

Discography

Studio albums

Skillet (1996)

Hey You, I Love Your Soul (1998)

Invincible (2000)

Alien Youth (2001)

Collide (2003)

Comatose (2006)

Awake (2009)

Rise (2013)

Unleashed (2016)

Victorious (2019)

Dominion (2022)

Revolution (2024)

Awards and recognition

Skillet was recognized on February 1, 2016, as having recorded the biggest digital single in the history of Christian music since their song "Monster" had garnered over 2.6 million sales. It was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA, was the number one streaming Christian song of 2015, and was the number eight streaming rock song of 2015. On their site in 2019, Skillet announced the RIAA had certified "Monster" 3× Platinum and "Hero" 2× Platinum. The article also stated that "Monster" had over 3 billion global audio streams, while "Hero" hit more than 1 billion.