Los Angeles hard rock outfit
Badflower brought grit and swagger inspired by the Sunset Strip when they made their debut in 2013. Armed with dark anthems that often grappled with themes like addiction, pain, and mental illness, they earned their first modern rock radio hit with "Ghost" in 2018. Their debut,
OK, I'm Sick, arrived in early 2019 on Big Machine, topping the U.S. Heatseekers chart. Two years later, they returned with their sophomore effort This Is How the World Ends.
The group initially got together in 2008 under another moniker, later changing bassists and their band name. The re-formed lineup -- vocalist/guitarist Josh Cole Katz, guitarist Joseph Paul Morrow, drummer Anthony Sonetti, and bassist Alex Espiritu -- released the
Temper EP in 2015 on Hundred Handed Records. The blistering set included the arena-ready single "Animal" in addition to four other raw tracks that condensed the sounds of contemporaries like
Royal Blood and
Aeges with the fury of early
Silverchair. Hit single "Ghost" -- which dealt with depression and self-harm -- arrived in 2018, rising to number two on the U.S. mainstream rock chart. That track, along with additional singles "x ANA x" and "Heroin," landed on their official debut
OK, I'm Sick, which was released in early 2019. The album charted on the Billboard 200 and rose to number ten on the Alternative Albums chart. The following year,
Badflower issued the tortured single "30" on Katz's 30th birthday. Another standalone track, the lurching, grunge-inspired "F*ck the World" arrived soon after.
In 2021, the band kicked off a new album era with the single "Family," from their sophomore effort This Is How the World Ends. ~ Neil Z. Yeung