Sick Puppies are an Australian Rock music band formed in Sydney in 1997. After releasing their debut album Welcome to the Real World in 2001, the band rose to prominence in 2006 when their song "All the Same" was uploaded, along with a video, to YouTube. The video supported the Free Hugs Campaign, which was launched in Sydney by Juan Mann, and has since received over 78 million views on the website. This success was followed up with their second studio album, Dressed Up as Life, in 2007, which entered the Billboard 200 at number 181. Their third studio album, Tri-Polar, came out in 2009. The band's fourth studio album, Connect, was released in 2013. They released their fifth studio album, Fury, in 2016 with new vocalist Bryan Scott after Shimon Moore was fired from the band in October 2014.
There are two stories as to how the band name originated. The official version is that Shimon Moore thought of the name himself when the band members were brainstorming, and then came home a few days later to find his father Phil reading the book Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen. The alternate version is that a neighbour's dog entered the garage during a rehearsal and vomited on their equipment. An early fan made the comment, "That's one sick puppy", and the name stuck.
Emma Anzai took up a job as a Telemarketing and Shimon took a job holding a sandwich board in the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney. Through their own financing and with help from Shimon's father (a musician and producer), the band released their debut Extended play Dog's Breakfast.
In 2007, Sick Puppies released their second album, Dressed Up As Life. The album came after the huge success of the "Free Hugs Campaign", and featured their breakout single "All the Same". The song reached number eight on the U.S. Modern Rock chart and is also featured in the video for the Free Hugs Campaign, which won YouTube video of the year in 2006. They followed up the single with "My World", which peaked at No. 20. The band also released "Pitiful" and "What Are You Looking For" as singles in 2008.
On 14 August 2009, Sick Puppies made their film debut in Rock Prophecies, a documentary about the career of acclaimed music photographer Robert Knight. This award-winning film features his life as he started out filming music greats such as Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, and his current mission to find today's up-and-coming bands and help them become tomorrow's top rock acts. This includes him convincing Sick Puppies to leave their homes to pursue success in the American music industry in Los Angeles.
According to bassist Emma Anzai, "(Robert Knight) was like, 'Hey I want to put you in my film', so we were like, 'All right, cool.' So now it's two years later and he documented when we did the first album, the first show, all that kind of stuff. It was really cool. He wanted a new band to . . . develop." During the process, the band was filmed for a few days at a time, and said that they would forget the cameras were there and act accordingly, so this film captures them and their true interactions out of the spotlight. It was partly due to their involvement in this project and Mr. Knight's endorsement that they were able to acquire their first American record deal with RMR/Virgin/EMI. This record deal then led to the first U.S album, Dressed Up as Life. Rock Prophecies was nationally aired on PBS and became available on DVD on 14 September 2010.
On 7 April 2010, Sick Puppies released an acoustic EP titled Live & Unplugged, featuring three tracks from their Tri-Polar album and one B-Side from that album. The versions of "Odd One", "So What I Lied", and "The Pretender" were recorded in a studio, while "You're Going Down" was recorded live in a Chicago radio station during an interview. To promote the EP, Sick Puppies offered a merchandise package that included Tri-Polar and Live & Unplugged with a limited edition lithograph; this package was sold at their concerts. On 1 March 2011, Sick Puppies released their all-acoustic seven-track EP Polar Opposite, which includes acoustic versions of "Riptide", "Don't Walk Away", and more. It was recorded in studio, along with string ensemble accompaniment. Anzai also contributes more major lead vocals on the record.
On 20 October 2014, it was announced that frontman Shimon Moore had left the band and that the remaining two members would continue on without him. This left bassist Emma Anzai as the only original member remaining in the band. The remaining members of Sick Puppies released a statement alleging that Moore was fired after he attempted to dissolve the band through a lawyer. Moore stated he was kicked out while out of town and he had no knowledge of it beforehand. He said he was sad and that he wished the band well.
On 15 December 2015, the band teased their upcoming music. They also signed on to play tours including Rock on the Range. On 8 February 2016, they revealed their new vocalist, Bryan Scott, who previously performed with Glass Intrepid and Dev Electric and briefly toured as a vocalist for Emphatic in 2011, while previewing a new single called "Stick to Your Guns". On 31 March 2016, Sick Puppies released their single "Stick to Your Guns". The album Fury was released in May 2016.
In May 2022, Anzai joined Evanescence as the band's full-time bassist while also remaining with Sick Puppies.
Sick Puppies released the song "There Goes the Neighborhood" on 26 July 2024 as the first single from their sixth album, Wave the Bull. The album was released in 28 March 2025.
Past
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