Alien Ant Farm

Alien Ant Farm
Alien Ant Farm in 2001
Background information
Origin	Riverside, California, United States
Genres	Alternative metal nu metal alternative rock punk rock pop punk
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Universal Executive Music
Associated acts	Powerman 5000 Spiderworks Inside Out Chain of Strength Excel Send the Sages Ghost in the Flesh Mystery Schools Valora
Website	alienantfarm.com
Members	Dryden Mitchell Terry Corso Tim Peugh Mike Cosgrove
Past members	Tye Zamora Joe Hill Alex Barreto

Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California, United States, in 1996. Their name comes from an idea original guitarist Terry Corso had about aliens and the Earth: "it was just my daydream about our planet being seeded by entities from other dimensions." They have released five studio albums, and have sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band is best known for their Michael Jackson cover "Smooth Criminal."

The band was formed in the middle of the 1990s by Dryden Mitchell (vocals), Terry Corso (guitars), Mike Cosgrove (drums) and Tye Zamora (bass). In 1996 they recorded a demo tape entitled the $100 EP containing five songs, and in 1998 they recorded a second demo tape Love Songs, featuring four songs.

In 1999, Alien Ant Farm released their debut album, titled Greatest Hits that featured a first version of "Smooth Criminal". It went on to win Best Independent Album in the L.A. Music Awards that year.

In 2000, after forging a friendship with the band Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm signed with DreamWorks SKG for their second studio album, Anthology.

In 2001, their cover of Michael Jackson's song, "Smooth Criminal", was a No. 1 single in Australia and New Zealand, a No. 3 single in the UK, and No. 1 on the US Modern Rock charts. The music video features numerous homages to Michael Jackson and his videos. Terry Corso, the band's guitarist, addressed this in an MTV interview on the set of the music video, saying, "We want to pay homage to Michael Jackson, but on our level. Obviously we're not that glitzy, so we just want to tastefully take the stuff that's cool in his videos and apply it in our own dirty little backyard way."

The song was featured on the soundtrack of the first season of WWE Tough Enough and in the film American Pie 2. Their following single "Movies" was a Top 5 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in New Zealand. The band began touring in promotion of these two singles and their album, which later went platinum.