Artist Of The Week: Skillet

Current Members:
John Cooper (lead vocals, bass; 1996-present)
Korey Cooper (rhythm guitar, keyboard, backing vocals, synthesizer; 1999-present)
Ben Kasica (lead guitar; 2001-present)
Jen Ledger (drums, backing vocals; 2008-present)
Former Members:
Ken Steorts (lead guitar; 1996-1999)
Trey McClurkin (drums, backing vocals; 1996-2000)
Kevin Haaland (lead guitar; 1999-2001)
Lori Peters (drums; 2000-2007)
Studio Albums:
Skillet (1996)
Hey You, I Love Your Soul (1998)
Invinsible (2000)
Alien Youth (2001)
Collide (2003)
Comatose (2006)
Awake (2009)
Live Albums:
Ardent Worship (2000)
Comatose Comes Alive CD/DVD (2008)

*Skillet was formed in 1996 by John Cooper and Ken Steorts
*Trey McClurkin joined Skillet as a temporary drummer
*Skillet was together for only a month when they were noticed by a major Christain record label, ForeFront Records
*In 1996 Skillet released their first album which was self-titled Skillet
*They recorded their second album Hey You, I Love Your Soul throughout 1997
*Korey Cooper started plaing keyboard for the bands live shows after they released Hey You, I Love Your Soul
*Not long after Skillet began recording Invisible Ken Steorts left the band and was replaced by Kevin Haaland
*Korey started playing permanently during the recording of Invisible
*Shortly after Invisible was released in 2000 Trey McClurkin left and was replaced by Lori Peters
*The band released Ardent Worship which was their first worship album in Fall 2000
*Before the release of their next album Kevin Haaland left the band
*Alien Youth was released on August 28, 2001
*Alien Youth was the first album John produced
*In 2003 Collide was released by Ardent Records
*In 2004 Lava Records bought the rights to Collide and re-released it with an extra track "Open Wounds"
*Comatose was released on October 3, 2006
*Comatose debuted at #55 on the Billboard Top 200 and at #4 on the US Top Christian Albums chart
*In January 2008 Skillet announced that Lori was retiring
*Lori's last concert was on December 31, 2007 (During the Christmas season Lori began to train Jen Ledger, Skillets current drummer)
*On October 21, 2008 Comatose Comes Alive, which is a CD/DVD combo, was released
*Comatose was certified Gold in sales by the RIAA on November 3, 2009
*Awake was released on August 25, 2009 and charted #2 on the Billboard Top 200
*Hero (off of the album Awake) was used to publisize the first football game of the 2009 NFL season
*In the first week of April 2010 Awake was released for the rock band music store in Rock Band 2
*Awake tied the record for the highest charting Christian album on the Billboard 200
*Skillet was nominated for 6 Dove awards on February 18, 2010
*Skillet has been nominated for 2 Grammy's, one for Collide and one for Comatose
*As of March 2010 they have sold 1.6 million albums worldwide
Fun Facts
*John Cooper and Korey Cooper are married and have 2 children, Alexandria and Xavier
*Jen Ledger is 20
*Ben Kasica is 26
*John Cooper is 35
*Korey Cooper is 37
*Jen Ledger is from the United Kingdom
*Ben is a co-owner of the clothing line LifeLoveMusic
*John did vocals for !Hero: The Rock Opera (However he did not tour with the rock opera)
*John co-wrote the song "Best I Can" by Desyfer Down
*John hates feet
*John loves the '80s and Dr. Pepper

Information from:
http://www.skillet.com/
http://www.wikipedia.com/
http://www.skilletfan.com/