Lit (band)

Lit
Lit performing at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut in 2005
Background information
Origin	Orange County, California
Genres	Pop punk alternative rock post-grunge
Years active	1995–present
Labels	RCA DRT Megaforce
Website	litband.com
Members	A. Jay Popoff Jeremy Popoff Kevin Baldes Terry Stirling Jr.
Past members	Allen Shellenberger Nathan Walker Ryan Gillmor

Lit is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Fullerton, California. They are best known for their hit song "My Own Worst Enemy".

In 1986, guitarist Jeremy Popoff and bassist Kevin Baldes met, and soon after, began playing music together. Later on, Baldes (16 at the time) and Popoff's brother, A. Jay (14 at the time), formed the pop metal band Razzle in 1988 with Sean Holland. The lineup included Kevin Baldes (bass, lead vocals), Sean Holland (guitar), and A. Jay Popoff (drums, percussion). They performed their first show on June 26, 1988, at The Troubadour. In 1989, A. Jay switched from drums to lead vocals, and the band added guitarist Jeremy Popoff and drummer Allen Shellenberger. Things began to come together in 1990, when the group released a demo tape and an EP entitled New Vibe Revolution in 1993. Razzle dissolved in 1993 and became Stain in 1994, which had a much harder and heavier sound. They released a demo tape in 1995 and eventually signed with Malicious Vinyl in 1995. After finding out the name "Stain" was already owned, the band changed their name to Lit.

On April 1, 1997 the group released Tripping the Light Fantastic on the Malicious Vinyl record label. Malicious Vinyl went out of business shortly after Tripping the Light Fantastic was released, which left the band unsigned once again. They spent their time writing a new batch of songs and showcasing for various record labels until they signed with RCA Records in 1998.

The group shot to stardom started with their second album titled A Place in the Sun, released in February 1999. A Place in the Sun yielded the hit single, "My Own Worst Enemy," which reached mainstream popularity by peaking at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, topping the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for a total of 12 weeks, and receiving a Billboard Music Award for the biggest modern rock song of 1999. It was followed by "Zip-Lock" (which featured Blink-182 in the video) and "Miserable", the latter of which was among the top ten most played songs of 2000 and featured Pamela Anderson in the video. Shortly after the album went platinum in the USA and gold in Canada becoming the band's best selling album of all time. The band performed over 286 shows and toured worldwide in support of A Place in the Sun. In addition to the Vans Warped Tour and a slot on , the band toured with The Offspring, Garbage, and No Doubt. The band's tracks also appeared in soundtracks of Ready to Rumble and The Replacements.