Black Country Communion

Black Country Communion is an English-American hard rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2009, the band is a supergroup composed of bassist and lead vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and second vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian.Hughes and Bonamassa started the side project in November 2009 after an impromptu performance together. From the advice of their producer, Kevin Shirley, they recruited Bonham and Sherinian to finalize the band's lineup. The name Black Country Communion is derived from the term Black Country, which refers to an area of the West Midlands of England where Hughes and Bonham grew up. The group's sound is intentionally reminiscent of popular classic rock groups of the 1970s, reflecting the previous work of frontman Hughes (in bands such as Trapeze and Deep Purple) as well as the link between Bonham and his father John's band Led Zeppelin.After playing together for a while, the group released its self-titled debut album in 2010. Black Country Communion 2 followed the next year, which was promoted on the group's first concert tour of the US and Europe. The band released its third album Afterglow in 2012. Early the next year, Bonamassa left and Black Country Communion subsequently broke up, with Hughes and Bonham forming California Breed shortly thereafter. In 2016, Hughes and Bonamassa reconciled and the band returned, with BCCIV released the following year. In 2024, the group released its fifth album, V.Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa first met at the 2006 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, after which they jammed together at Hughes' studio in Hollywood with the idea to make music together in the future. Bonamassa also worked with Jason Bonham that year, when the drummer performed on the guitarist's fifth studio album You & Me on the recommendation of producer and mutual friend Kevin Shirley. Hughes and Bonamassa reunited three years later in November 2009, performing together at the House of Blues in Los Angeles for Guitar Center. It was at this point that the two decided to form a new band. The idea of enlisting Bonham and keyboardist Derek Sherinian to complete the band's lineup was suggested by Shirley, after a second guitarist was briefly considered instead of a keyboardist.The completed quartet first performed together during the encore at one of Bonamassa's solo shows in Riverside, California on March 17, 2010, playing "One Last Soul" and a cover version of the Deep Purple song "Mistreated". The name Black Country Communion was not finalised until May 2010, after the threat of legal action from another band prevented the group from using the name Black Country. Hughes later revealed that the band in question, from Baltimore, Maryland, reportedly demanded $500,000 for the right to use the name Black Country, a move which he quickly condemned as "just rude". The bassist later elaborated on the situation in a 2016 interview, explaining that his group had successfully bought the name Black Country from the Baltimore-based band (for less than the initially touted $500,000), although by the time the case was settled it was too late to use the name and they instead had to continue using the longer moniker Black Country Communion.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.