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Early years
Finger Eleven has achieved a devoted Canadian following throughout their time as a band. Their first album, Letters from Chutney (1995) was recorded under the name The Rainbow Butt Monkeys, with money won from a rock band search contest on 97.7 CHTZ (Hits) HTZ FM's "Southern Ontario's Best Rock". The lead singer, Scott Anderson, started to compose songs at the age of 16.
The group found a new management team in Coalition Entertainment (Rob Lanni & Eric Lawrence with Sarah Parham) in 1996. Once they had realized their music changed and wanted to be taken more seriously, "The Rainbow Butt Monkeys" became "Finger Eleven". The name Finger Eleven comes from an earlier version of the song "Michelle's Song" from the album Tip. Scott Anderson explains: "when everything is pushing you in one direction and your instinct drives you in another--that’s finger eleven, I couldn't get it out of my head."
Their breakthrough album, Tip, was released on Mercury Records in Canada in 1997 and re-released by Wind-up Records in the United States in 1998. This also marked a change in the band's sound. Tip was produced by Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace). By then, they managed to tour along sides with bands such as Creed & Fuel.
The Greyest of Blue Skies
Following the release of Tip, drummer Rob Gommerman left the band and was replaced by Rich Beddoe whom James Black had met coincidently at an Alice in Chains concert several years earlier in Toronto.
In 2000, Finger Eleven released The Greyest of Blue Skies, again produced by Arnold Lanni. They had success in their home country with this album going gold (50,000 units sold).
Finger Eleven
Their 2003 release, self-titled album Finger Eleven was produced by Johnny K. This album includes the sleeper hit single "One Thing" which pushed the band into the mainstream. The song was a hit on rock, pop, and adult radio charts; the success of the single earned the band its first US Gold Album (500,000 copies) and Canadian Platinum (100,000 copies). "One Thing" reached #16 in the U.S., and had exposure on TV series such as Smallville and Scrubs. In 2007, the song had also been sung with Amy Lee of Evanescence.
Them vs You vs Me
The band toured throughout Europe, Australia and North America from 2003 to 2005. They have also won a Much Music Video Award.
Finger Eleven's most recent album titled Them vs. You vs. Me was released on March 6, 2007, again produced by Johnny K. The first single was "Paralyzer", which slowly became the band's most successful single to date, becoming their first-career Top-Ten hit on the U.S. Hot 100 in November 2007, as well as reaching #1 in Canada, and both U.S. rock charts. The second single is "Falling On".
The band played "Paralyzer" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 14, 2007. They also played at the 2007 NHL awards show on June 14, 2007.
They have released their DVD Us-vs-Then-vs-Now on December 4th, 2007.
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