Seether

Seether formed in Pretoria, South Africa in May 1999, initially performing under the name Saron Gas. The lineup consisted of frontman, vocalist, and guitarist Shaun Morgan, bassist Tyronne Morris (who left the band in December 1999 and was replaced by Dale Stewart in January 2000), drummer Dave Cohoe, and guitarist Johan Greyling. Formed in May 1999, Saron Gas emerged onto the South African rock scene and rapidly established themselves as one of South Africa's top emerging bands, drawing on influences from Black Sabbath, The Deftones, Creed and Silverchair. The band's earliest days saw public appearances at parties, nightclubs, large-scale concerts, and university venues, and as Saron Gas they released their first album, Fragile, on Musketeer Records in South Africa in 2000. That debut found real traction at home, and success on the South African charts caught the attention of American label Wind-up Records.

The band's breakthrough came in 2002, when they changed their name to Seether, coinciding with the release of their second album and major-label debut, Disclaimer , having been asked to drop the Saron Gas name because it was a homophone of sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent . As Seether's debut single that launched their American career in 2002, "Fine Again" introduced the world to Shaun Morgan's distinctive gravelly vocals, climbing to number one on the US Active Rock chart. Their profile rose further in 2004 when their success was sustained with the single "Broken," which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 , a reworked duet featuring Amy Lee of Evanescence that appeared on the Disclaimer II reissue. The 2005 follow-up Karma and Effect was the band's first all-new, full-length album under the Seether name performed as a full-fledged band, and was the only such album to feature guitarist Pat Callahan before his 2006 departure. Its lead single "Remedy" held the top spot on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for eight weeks, and the album has sold upwards of a million units in the United States, going platinum domestically and gold in Canada and New Zealand. The band's rhythm section stabilized during this era, with bassist Dale Stewart joining shortly after formation while drummer John Humphrey joined for the band's second album .

Seether's momentum continued through the late 2000s and beyond, marked by lineup shifts, awards, and steady touring. Their 2007 album Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces featured introspective lyrics addressing loss and resilience, with the lead single "Fake It" becoming a major hit, topping the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart for a record-tying 14 weeks and also reaching No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart. The album's follow-up single, "Rise Above This," released in 2008, was written as a tribute to Morgan's late brother and peaked at No. 5 on the Mainstream Rock chart while raising awareness for suicide prevention. That year the band also brought guitarist Troy McLawhorn, formerly of Evanescence, into the touring lineup, and their success was formally recognized when Seether won the South African Music Award for Best Rock: English for Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces in 2008, and claimed the MTV Africa Music Award for Best Alternative Artist at the inaugural event held in Abuja, Nigeria that same year. The band kept releasing chart-topping rock radio singles in the years that followed, including number one hits on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart such as "Remedy", "Fake It", "Country Song", "Words as Weapons", and "Let You Down" , while guitarist Corey Lowery joined the fold in later years alongside longtime members Morgan, Stewart, and Humphrey.

Seether remains an active recording and touring act today. More recent studio work includes Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum and 2024's The Surface Seems So Far , continuing a run that also included 2011's Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray and 2014's Isolate and Medicate, both of which reached the Top Five in the U.S. Over a career spanning more than two decades, Seether has become one of the most successful hard rock bands in the world, with a chart history spanning two decades that includes three platinum and two gold albums and 15 number-one singles, resulting in US singles sales topping 17 million. Their durability and consistent presence on rock radio have cemented their reputation as one of the defining post-grunge acts to emerge from the early-2000s hard rock boom, a legacy built on Morgan's raw, confessional songwriting and the band's refusal to chase passing trends.

It is fitting that a band with such staying power occupies a substantial place in this archive. Wayne photographed Seether at 15 shows between 2003 and 2010, capturing the band across nine different cities in four states during a stretch that took in their rise from Disclaimer-era newcomers to arena-level headliners. The 603 photographs from those nights, viewed by