1998-Benjamin BurnleyVocals, rhythm guitar1998-
Aaron FinkLead guitar1998, 2001–2011
Nick HooverBass1998–1999
Jonathan "Bug" PriceBass, vocals1999–2001
Chris LightcapDrums1998–1999
Jeremy HummelDrums2001–2004
Mark KlepaskiBass2001–2011
Chad SzeligaDrums2005–2013
Keith WallenGuitar2014-
Jasen RauchGuitar2014-
Aaron BruchBass2014-
Shaun FoistDrums2014-
Hollywood Records signed Breaking Benjamin in 2002. The band had already released a self-titled EP and had sold all 2,000 copies that were produced. The label then released Breaking Benjamin's full length debut album Saturate in August 2002, which peaked at #2 on Billboard's Top Heat Seekers chart.
From the beginning, Breaking Benjamin had a close relationship with the WWE. Their song "Polyamorous" was featured on the video game Smackdown vs. Raw and in the pay-per-view special WWE Day of Reckoning.
In late 2002, Breaking Benjamin recorded a cover of Depeche Mode's "
Enjoy The Silence" that was intended to be on released on the European version of
Saturate. Unfortunately, the European version was never released. Another song called "Lady Bug" was also recorded for this version and was eventually released on the
So Cold EP.
Drummer Jeremy Hummel took an indefinite hiatus from Breaking Benjamin in 2004 due to the birth of his son. When Hummel returned to the band the following year, he was promptly fired. Hummel later sued for $8 million dollars, claiming he was never paid royalties on songs he helped write for their 2002 album Saturate.
In December 2003, Breaking Benjamin singer/guitarist Benjamin Burnley wrote three songs with rock legend Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins. The songs "Rain," "Forget It," and "Follow" appeared on Breaking Benjamin's album We Are Not Alone the following year. Burnley admitted that he was nervous about working with Corgan at first but that he felt more comfortable as time went on. He also called it "one of the highlights of my career."
At the time it was released, Breaking Benjamin's 2006 single "
The Diary Of Jane" became the fastest added single ever in Hollywood Records history. The song is said to be written about '30s and '40s film star Jane Bryan, who starred in a movie called
We Are Not Alone (which the band also chose as an album title.) The video for "The Diary of Jane" featured Sarah Mather from
American Idol season 4 in the role of Jane.
Breaking Benjamin went on hiatus in 2010 when frontman Benjamin Burnley couldn't record or tour due to an unspecified illness. The band didn't return to action until 2014.
Several reports indicated that Burnley had suffered permanent liver damage after bouts of alcoholism at a young age. He addressed this in a talk with The Pulse of Radio in 2015: "I used to drink a lot, and I think it must have something to do with that because back in 2007, I stayed up drinking for three days straight - this is after already months and months of drinking heavily - and I woke up and I just felt really sick, like alcohol poisoned, and I was like, I should've probably gone to the hospital but I didn't, and I went onstage and when I went onstage I almost collapsed from being just so sick. And basically that was 2007 and it hasn't gone away."
Following the release of a greatest-hits album by the band's label and a new remix of "Blow Me Away," Burnley accused bassist Mark Klepaski and guitarist Aaron Fink of approving the material without his permission. A legal battle ensued, in which Burnley went to court against Fink and Klepaski over who had the rights to the band's name. On April 19, 2013, it was announced that the legal issues had finally ended, with Burnley winning the rights to the name of the band.
Drummer Chad Szeligag left the band in April 2013, due to creative differences, leaving Burnley as the only original member. He was joined for the recording of Dark Before Dawn by drummer Shaun Foist, previously of the band Picture Me Broken, bassist Aaron Bruch (formerly of Forever Oeuvre), who played a couple of acoustics shows with Burnley in 2010, former Red guitarist Jasen Rauch, who had previously collaborated with the band on four tracks off Dear Agony and ex Adelitas Way guitarist Keith Wallen.
Breaking Benjamin use a studio in Benjamin Burnley's hometown of Ocean City, New Jersey, which used to be a law office. The frontman told Billboard magazine: "People still come to the door looking for legal assistance. I'm like, 'Sorry, can't help you out.'"
