Train

Train is an American rock band from San Francisco, formed in 1993. The band currently consists of Patrick Monahan (lead vocals), Luis Maldonado (guitar), Hector Maldonado (bass, vocals), Drew Shoals (drums), Jerry Becker (keyboards, guitar), Sakai Smith (backup vocals), and Nikita Houston (backup vocals).

With a lineup that included original members Monahan, Rob Hotchkiss, Jimmy Stafford, Scott Underwood, and Charlie Colin, the band achieved mainstream success with their debut album Train, which was released in 1998 with the hit “Meet Virginia”. Train’s 2001 album, Drops of Jupiter contained the lead single “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)”, which won two Grammy Awards in 2002. The album was certified double platinum in the United States and Canada and remains the band’s best-selling album to date.

Train’s third studio album, My Private Nation, released in 2003, was certified platinum in the United States with the hit “Calling All Angels”. Following the departures of Hotchkiss and Colin, the band released their fourth album, For Me, It’s You in 2006, with Brandon Bush (keyboards) and Johnny Colt (bass). Despite a generally positive reception from critics, the album was commercially unsuccessful. Because of this, Train went on a two-year hiatus from recording any new music.

In late 2009, Train released the album Save Me, San Francisco, from which the album’s three singles—the RIAA 6x Platinum-certified international hit “Hey, Soul Sister”, “If It’s Love” and “Marry Me"—reached high positions on the Billboard Hot 100 at numbers 3, 34, and 34, respectively. The album itself has been certified gold by both the RIAA and ARIA and has sold 954,000 units. Since 2008, Jerry Becker (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Hector Maldonado (bass, guitar, percussion, backing vocals) have been touring and recording with the group around the world. In May 2012, Nikita Houston (backing vocals, percussion) and Sakai Smith (backing vocals, percussion) also became touring members of Train.

In April 2012, Train released their sixth studio album titled California 37. The first single from the album entitled “Drive By” reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a Top 10 hit in the UK, their first Top 20 single since 2009. In June 2014, Scott Underwood left the band, and was replaced by Drew Shoals.

Train released their seventh studio album titled Bulletproof Picasso in September. It reached number 5 on the Billboard Top 200 and received positive reviews from critics, but only the single “Angel in Blue Jeans” entered the Billboard Top 100.

Shortly after the band’s tour for Bulletproof Picasso, Train released a Christmas album exclusively on Amazon Music titled Christmas in Tahoe in November 2015. The album features 15 songs, which included covers of classic holiday hits and three original songs.

In June 2016, Train released the album Train Does Led Zeppelin II, in which they covered rock band Led Zeppelin’s second album in its entirety. The band’s tenth studio album, titled A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat, was released in January 2017. Guitarist Jimmy Stafford was not featured on the new album, as he decided to leave the band in late 2016. Luis Maldonaldo replaced Stafford as lead guitarist of the band.