Finger Eleven

Letters from Chutney (1990–96)

Finger Eleven first formed at Lester B. Pearson High School^[7] in Burlington, Ontario as "Rainbow Butt Monkeys." One of their first shows was at a school Christmas concert in 1990. They released the album Letters from Chutney (1995) with money won from a rock band search contest on 97.7 CHTZ (Hits) HTZ FM's "Rocksearch" competition.

Tip, and Rob Gommerman's departure (1997–99)

The group found a new management team in Coalition Entertainment in 1996. Wanting to be taken more seriously, the band changed their name to "Finger Eleven" on August 26, 1997. The name Finger Eleven came from a demo of their song "Thin Spirits". Scott Anderson explained: "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 debut album, Tip, was released on Mercury Records in 1997 and re-released by Windup Records the following year. Tip was produced by Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace). The band then gained a large enough following to become opening acts for Creed and Fuel.

Following the release of Tip, drummer Rob Gommerman left the band. He was replaced by Rich Beddoe, whom James Black had met coincidentally at an Alice in Chains concert several years earlier in Toronto.

The Greyest of Blue Skies (2000–02)

In 2000, Finger Eleven released The Greyest of Blue Skies, again produced by Arnold Lanni. The album was commercially successful in Canada, and was certified gold.

In 2002, they covered and remixed the entrance theme for Kane as his entrance music in the form of "Slow Chemical", which he used from 2002 to 2008. It was recorded and mixed at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Ontario and was re-released on future wrestling compilations, as well as the soundtrack for 2004's film The Punisher.

Finger Eleven (2003–06)

Their 2003 self-titled album Finger Eleven was produced by Johnny K. This album included the hit "One Thing", which elevated the band into the mainstream. The success of the single earned them their first US Gold and Canadian Platinum albums. "One Thing" reached No.16 on the U.S charts. and received exposure on TV shows such as Scrubs, Smallville and Third Watch. It was later used on World Wrestling Entertainment's 2007 edition of Raw during a tribute video for Chris Benoit, who had killed himself on June 25. A duet version with Amy Lee of Evanescence was also recorded that year.

The band toured throughout Europe, Australia and North America from 2003 to 2005 in support of the album and single.. They won a MuchMusic Video Award for "One Thing" during that time period.

Them vs. You vs. Me (2007–09)

Scott Anderson performing with Finger Eleven in 2007.

Finger Eleven's fifth studio album, Them vs. You vs. Me was released on March 6, 2007, with Johnny K returning as producer. The lead single "Paralyzer" became the band's biggest hit. It reached No. 6 on the U.S. Hot 100 in November 2007, as well as reaching No. 1 in Canada, and on U.S. rock charts. The album also featured the singles "Falling On", "I'll Keep Your Memory Vague" and "Talking to the Walls".

In December 2007 the DVD Us-vs-Then-vs-Now was released, with footage spanning their career up to that point.

Them vs. You vs. Me was certified Gold in the U.S. in March 2008. The album also won the 2008 Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year. The band performed live on national television with the Calgary Youth Orchestra at the ceremony.

Finger Eleven had planned a summer European tour, including a slot at Download Festival 2008, Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park. However, the tour was canceled after Anderson sprained his neck.

In December 2008, the band returned to touring, opening for Kid Rock in Europe.

Life Turns Electric (2010–12)

In early 2010, the band entered the studio to begin work on their sixth studio album.^[8] On July 30, the band announced that it was titled Life Turns Electric which was released on October 5, 2010. The first single from the album, "Living in a Dream", was released on iTunes on July 20, 2010.^[9] The band announced on November 30, 2010 that the second single was "Whatever Doesn't Kill Me". A music video for the song was released on January 13, 2011.^[10] The video was directed by Alon Isocianu and art directed by Rachelle Scarfo. The remaining singles "Stone Soul" and "Pieces Fit" were released without music videos.

Finger Eleven toured in support of the album throughout 2011 and 2012.

Rich Beddoe's departure and Five Crooked Lines (2013–2016)

On April 5, 2013 they posted on Twitter "The official inertia of our new album is growing".^[11]

At the end of 2013, drummer Rich Beddoe left the band. Steve Mollela joined the band the following year as his replacement. In November, the band announced via their Facebook page that Chris Powell had performed drums on the upcoming album.^[12]

They recorded the album between November 8, 2014^[13] and November 28, 2014.^[14] An update on January 29, 2015 indicated that preparations were in the final stages of production and promised new details and artwork in the near future.^[15]

The band toured during the summer of 2015 with Three Days Grace.^[16] Then on April 25, 2015, the band announced an open casting call for the filming of the video for the new album's first single.^[17]

The band released their seventh album Five Crooked Lines July 31, 2015, and released the lead single "Wolves and Doors" to Canadian radio. They recently set upon the Fall of the Hammer Tour in support of the release.^[18] The " Fall of the Hammer" tour took place across Canada; the band teamed up with radio stations and media partners to launch a contest to allow local bands to enter for the chance to perform as the opening act in their hometown.^[19] The band most recently released a video for "Not Going to be Afraid" off the Five Crooked Lines album.^[20] The band also performed at the 2016 CASBY Awards on October 20 in Toronto.^[21]

the 20th anniversary of Tip and Rainbow Butt Monkeys' reunion (2017–present)

On February 1, 2017 the band announced on their Facebook page that they would play 3 shows in southern Ontario to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Canadian release of Tip.^[22][23][24] The shows were soon scheduled to take place on March 23 in Burlington, March 24 in St. Catharines, and March 31 in Toronto.^[25] All three of these shows had a similar format. There was an exclusive acoustic set, with Q & A before the show. For the main event, the band played Tip in its entirety from beginning to end. This was followed by a special encore of 'Best Of The Rest' which was a selection of band favorites from their other albums.

On June 9, 2018, the band performed as "Rainbow Butt Monkeys" for the first time since 1997. They performed at the Sound of Music Festival in Burlington, CN where they play their songs from the Letters From Chutney album.^[26]

As Rainbow Butt Monkeys

• Letters from Chutney (1995)

As Finger Eleven

• Tip (1997 and re-released in 1998)
• The Greyest of Blue Skies (2000)
• Finger Eleven (2003)
• Them vs. You vs. Me (2007)
• Life Turns Electric (2010)
• Five Crooked Lines (2015)