Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995 by frontman Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson — two men who were introduced not by a mutual friend or a jam session, but by their tattoo artist. Todd, born in Los Angeles and raised in Anaheim Hills, had spent his early years fronting a glam-punk outfit called Slamhound before getting sober in 1994 and starting fresh. Nelson brought the guitar chops and the songwriting instincts. Together they built a band that deliberately planted its flag in the tradition of the Sunset Strip — Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, AC/DC — at a moment when grunge had made that kind of unashamed sleaze rock deeply unfashionable. The band originally performed under the name Sparrow before a cease-and-desist letter from a Christian music label of the same name forced the change to Buckcherry.
Their self-titled debut album, released in 1999 on DreamWorks Records, was the label's first album to go gold. It produced "Lit Up," which spent three consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and became the signature song of their early career. The band toured relentlessly, opening for AC/DC and Lenny Kravitz and building a fanbase the hard way. Time Bomb followed in 2001, but internal tensions came to a head in mid-2002 when Todd unexpectedly quit the band, effectively dissolving it. During the hiatus, Todd briefly worked with Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum on what would eventually become Velvet Revolver — recording roughly ten songs before Slash parted ways with him, a near-miss that became one of rock's more famous what-ifs.
Todd and Nelson reunited in 2005, rebuilding the lineup with guitarist Stevie D., bassist Jimmy Ashhurst, and drummer Xavier Muriel. The comeback album, 15, was recorded in just 15 days — a fact that gave the record its name — and released in 2006. It became the defining moment of the band's career. The lead single "Crazy Bitch," inspired by the Paris Hilton cultural moment, was Grammy-nominated and has since been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA with over four million units sold. The album's fifth single, "Sorry," became the band's highest-charting Hot 100 hit, cracking the top 10 and earning double platinum certification. The album itself has been certified double platinum, spent 98 weeks on the Billboard 200, and remains one of the most commercially successful hard rock comebacks of the 2000s.
The albums that followed — Black Butterfly (2008), All Night Long (2010), Confessions (2013), Rock 'n' Roll (2015), Warpaint (2019), Hellbound (2021), Vol. 10 (2023), and Roar Like Thunder (2025) — kept Buckcherry a working, touring band through multiple lineup changes. Keith Nelson departed in 2017 amid disagreements over touring, leaving Todd as the sole remaining original member and the constant thread through every chapter of the band's story. Stevie D. has remained a long-term presence on guitar, and the band has continued recording with producers including Marti Frederiksen, known for his work with Aerosmith and Def Leppard.
Wayne Dennon photographed Buckcherry as part of an archive built around bands who lived rock and roll rather than just performing it. Todd's shirtless, tattooed presence at the front of the stage and the band's commitment to high-energy, no-apologies hard rock made them exactly the kind of subject Wayne's lens was made for — loud, kinetic, and completely in the moment.
