Halestorm is an American rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Elizabeth ‘Lzzy’ Hale, her drummer brother Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. In its earliest days, Halestorm was referred to as a Christian rock band, and the theme of their tours focused on encouraging teens to avoid drugs, sex, and violence. The teen siblings were joined on stage with their father, Roger Hale, playing bass, and their shows included Arejay playing a rotating drum kit that would flip upside down. They released two EP’s titled Forecast for the Future in 1997 and (Don’t Mess With The) Time Man in 1999.
In 2003, Joe Hottinger joined the band, and Josh Smith replaced Roger Hale in 2004. The group signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in June 2005, and released a live EP titled One and Done in April 2006. The EP, now out of print, featured an early live version of “It’s Not You.” Their debut album was released in April 28, 2009. The song “I Get Off” served as the album’s lead single. Both the song and video for their second single, “It’s Not You”, were released in late November 2009. Singles and videos for “Love/Hate Heartbreak” and “Familiar Taste of Poison” were released in 2010.
In January 2012, Halestorm released the EP Hello, It’s Mz. Hyde. Their second full-length album, ‘The Strange Case Of…’ was released in April 2012. Their song “Love Bites…(So Do I)” was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Hard Rock in 2012. They learned while performing a concert in Wisconsin and the crowd erupted in celebration when Lzzy announced the news from the stage. The entire event was recorded by a fan and posted on YouTube. Halestorm won the award, becoming the first female-fronted band to both be nominated and win in that category. In April 2013, Halestorm reached the top of the Billboard chart for the first time with their single “Freak Like Me”. In August 2013, the band premiered their video for “Here’s to Us”, and it had previously been performed by the cast on the television show Glee in 2012.
The band released its third studio album, Into the Wild Life, in April 2015. They had performed over 2,000 live shows together, and, in May 2015 released the photo book To Hale And Back in collaboration with photographer Rob Fenn, which documented the career of Halestorm so far. In May 2017, they released the official music video for the song “Dear Daughter”. By May 2018, Halestorm announced the release of their next album, Vicious in July 2018. The band released the first single from the album, “Uncomfortable” that same day. It was followed by “Black Vultures” in June and “Do Not Disturb” in July. The album came out at the end of July.
In August 2020, Halestorm released an EP called Reimagined. It features six songs recorded during the pandemic, with five reworked Halestorm songs, including “Break In”, featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence, and a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”. In January 2021, Hale announced that they had begun recording their next studio album, with a “socially distant” studio process. In August 2021, the first song from the new album, “Back from the Dead”, was released. The album Back from the Dead was released in May 2022. A deluxe edition of the album with seven new songs was released in December 2022.
