Darlington (singer)

Christy Darlington
Darlington with his Gretsch 6120 guitar "Dolly", named after Dolly Parton
Background information
Born	December 1, 1972 Dallas Texas
Genres	Power pop, Sweater Rock, alt-pop, Rock-n-Roll, Punk rock, pop punk
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Broadway Recording Company
Associated acts	T.B.A. The Voyeurs Mess Darlington Sunglasses & Sugar
Notable instruments
Vocals guitar bass

Christy Brigitte Darlington, commonly known by his stage name of Darlington, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, published author and visual artist. He has performed multiple American and European concert tours, and has had music played on hundreds of radio stations across North America and Europe, as well as featured in television shows on MTV.

Darlington was endorsed by Daisy Rock Guitars in 2003.

Christy Brigitte Darlington was born Chris Edward Zoys, on December 1, 1972, in Dallas, Texas. He attended private Christian schools such as Heritage Christian Academy, Trinity Christian Academy, and Episcopal School of Dallas, and would later thank “his Lord and savior Jesus Christ” in the liner notes for the album Louder than Morrissey.

Darlington eventually graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1991.

From 1991 to 1993 Darlington was singing and writing songs for a punk rock band called "T.B.A.", which performed a few shows and made a live recording and two studio recordings. In 1994 he joined a punk rock band called The Voyeurs (which opened up for The Offspring), but Darlington quit the band six months later.

In 1995, Christy Darlington formed a punk rock band called "Mess" with drummer Steven Visneau and bassist Ron Malippa. Christy was responsible for writing and arranging almost all the songs for the band as well as maintaining a role as the lead singer and guitarist. The band's first single Sugar Fix was featured on a compilation released by Clear Channel Communications Rock FM radio station KDGE entitled Tales from the Edge Volume 11., followed by another single, Butt-in-ski, on the Dallas Observer compilation CD Scene, Heard Vol. 2. The band featured four second guitarists, most notably Phil Karnats of Tripping Daisy fame and Dylan Silvers who went on to other bands, including The Polyphonic Spree. On Mess releases, Darlington was listed as "Cris Mess", a stage name. He did not use that as a legal name at the time and was still using his original birth name. The band achieved local notoriety resulting in being featured with The Mullens on a split vinyl EP released by Direct Hit Records and the band subsequently signed to Dallas indie label Last Beat Records and released their first and only full-length album Pretty Ugly in 1997 as well as a vinyl EP with Los Angeles band 22 Jacks. Two songs on the album were named after Jim beam and Goldschlager. Mess also recorded a cover version of the Mötley Crüe song Red Hot for a compilation, and the song Brain Dead was featured on pro skateboarder Duane Peters' Disaster Records compilation Old Skars and upstarts. Many of the "mess-era" recordings would later be reissued under the Darlington name. In late 1997, the band was notified a Chicago-area band called "The Mess" had the name copyrighted and was threatening legal action if the name was not changed. Starting in late 1996 thru late 1997, Mess played its first out of town concert opening for the band Fastball and performed multiple U.S. tours between January and September 1997, including opening slots for major label bands NY Loose, The Reverend Horton Heat, Keanu Reeves' group Dogstar, Radish, Funland, Hagfish, Tripping Daisy, Fluffy, 22 Jacks, The Queers, Swingin Utters, Agent Orange, At the Drive-in, Showcase Showdown, Furious George and The U.S. Bombs. Mess also performed at the Texas State Mental Hospital in Terrell, Texas to a crowd of around 100 patients, eclipsing The Cramps who had previously been the only rock and roll band known to have performed in a mental hospital. although no video was allowed, a photo of the band sitting on the entrance sign was featured on a split vinyl EP they shared with 22 Jacks. The band also recorded a live concert at the famed CBGB rock venue in New York City, although this would only be released later under the Darlington name.