Grey Daze was formed in 1993 by drummer Sean Dowdell alongside Chester Bennington, both previously members of Sean Dowdell and His Friends? in addition to guitarist Steve Mitchell and bassist Jonathan Krause. Although they saw several lineup changes, the band remained together for five years, releasing two full-length albums: Wake Me in 1994 and ...No Sun Today in 1997.[2] In 1998, Bennington and bassist Mace Beyers left the band due to internal conflicts, ultimately leading to Grey Daze disbanding altogether. In 1999, Bennington joined the band Xero, which later became Linkin Park.[3] The band's former guitarist, Bobby Benish, died on September 28, 2004 at the age of 36.[4]
The band remained inactive until a proposed reunion by Bennington in 2017.[5] Due to Bennington's death not long after, the reunion never took place. However, work soon began on what would become the album Amends. The album was eventually finalized and released in June 2020, using Bennington's original vocals on top of re-recorded instrumentation, consisting of original members bassist Mace Beyers and drummer Sean Dowdell, joined by Cristin Davis on guitar, in addition to a number of collaborations with Bennington's friends and family.[5][2] The album was met with positive reception upon its release and peaked at number 75 on the Billboard 200.[6][7][8]
In January 2021, a five-track EP titled Amends...Stripped was released, containing acoustic versions of songs from Amends.[9]
In June 2022, the band released their second full-length album since their return, titled The Phoenix. The album uses Bennington's original vocals similar to Amends. The album contains ten tracks, including singles "Saturation (Strange Love)" and "Starting to Fly" and featured guest appearances from Bennington's daughters Lily and Lila, as well as Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Richard Patrick of Filter.[10][11][12] The album received generally positive to mixed ratings.[13][11]
Members
Current members
Cristin Davis – guitar (2017–present)
Sean Dowdell – drums, backing vocals (1993–2001, 2017, 2019–present)
