Dulli formed the Afghan Whigs in late 1986 with bassist John Curley, who had also been a member of the Black Republicans, Rick McCollum, a guitarist who Dulli bonded with over their shared love of R&B, and later drummer Steve Earle.[8][9] The band independently released their debut album Big Top Halloween in 1988,[10] which had been recorded in Curley's home studio.[8] The release caught the attention of Jonathan Poneman, the co-founder of Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop, who signed the band in 1989.[7] The band released their first album with Sub Pop, Up in It, in 1990, and a follow-up in 1992, Congregation.[8]
The band's success led to a contract with major label Elektra Records in 1992,[7] where they released Gentlemen (1993) and Black Love (1996).[8] In 1994, Dulli was featured in Backbeat, a film detailing the pre-fame years of the Beatles, where he portrayed John Lennon's singing voice.[8] Dulli also appeared on Foo Fighters' debut album in 1995, as the only credited musician other than Dave Grohl.[11] In 1997, Dulli moved to New Orleans, renting R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck's house.[12] Dulli also worked with directors Ted Demme and Joel Stillerman to produce a film script based on author Ann Imbrie's novel Spoken in Darkness (1993), which Elektra agreed to finance as a part of the band's 1992 contract, but the film was never made.[13]
Disappointed with the management and lack of promotion through Elektra, the band signed with Columbia Records (who had to pay out Elektra for the contract), and in 1998 the group released 1965,[8] which happened at the same time Dulli was receiving treatment for depression.[14][15] While touring in support of 1965, Dulli was beaten by an employee of a Texas club until he had a fractured skull, sending him into a coma.[16] However, he recovered and returned to touring in just two months.[17]
The band did not perform together from September 1999 until announcing their split in February 2001, blaming the difficulties of working together with each member living in different US states.[18][19] Dulli co-purchased Short Stop, a bar in Los Angeles, soon after the announcement.[20]
Dulli and Mark Lanegan formed a group named the Gutter Twins, and signed to Sub Pop in 2008, releasing their debut album Saturnalia on the label,[24][25] as well as an extended playAdorata in the same year.[26] Dulli first met Lanegan in the early 1990s, and had been close friends and collaborators since the year 2000.[27] Later that year, Dulli released a solo live album, featuring content he had recorded at The Triple Door in Seattle, for the A Drink for the Kids fundraising effort by The Vera Project.[28] Dulli released a solo single in 2009, covering the Eddie Hinton tracks "Hard Luck Guy" and "Cover Me", as a part of Shake It Records' series vinyl single tributes to Hinton.[29]
In October 2010, for the first time in his career Greg Dulli embarked on a solo tour, which saw him perform twenty-nine shows in five different countries.[30]
2011 onward: The Afghan Whigs revival, solo debut
In 2011 the Afghan Whigs announced that they were reuniting, the first time the band had been together since recording two songs in 2006 for the Afghan Whigs compilation album Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990–2006.[31][19] The band toured internationally for their 2012 reunion tour, reaching sixteen countries,[19] and in the following year Dulli teamed up with Steve Kilbey of The Church for several live performances in Los Angeles.[32]
In 2014, the band released their first album in 16 years, Do to the Beast, which debuted at number 32 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums and the #8 spot and #7 spot on the rock albums and alternative albums charts respectively.[33][34] This was followed with a second revival album in 2017, titled In Spades.[25]
After the release of In Spades and the death of Afghan Whigs' guitarist Dave Rosser, Dulli began to work on his first solo album.[35][25] The album, Random Desire (2020), took influence from Prince and Todd Rundgren's methods of writing and performing almost every instrument on their records.[25] Dulli's tour for the album was originally meant to be an international tour held from March to May, however this was postponed due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[36]
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