Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach celebrates his birthday on July 28. He was born in 1976 in Mariposa, California, a small town about five hours northeast of Los Angeles.
In 1993, he formed the band with drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and guitarist Ben Luther. After a few demos and line-up changes, Papa Roach released their debut album, Old Friends from Young Years, via their own, now defunct, indie label Onion Hardcore.
They took the name from the local onion farmers, who were prominent in Papa Roach’s hometown of Vacaville, California. Bassist Tobin Esperance’s father co-produced the album. He also included an extra audio recording of his son Tobin as a child as a bonus track on the album.
Between Angels and Insects
Papa Roach’s sophomore album, Infest, was released in April of 2000. The album proved to be a massive success selling over three million copies in the United States. It spawned the hit singles “Last Resort,” “Broken Home,” “Between Angels and Insects,” and “Dead Cell” — all killer tunes!
Since the release of Infest, Jacoby and Papa Roach have released 9 albums, including their most recent, 2022’s Ego Trip. Every album Papa Roach has ever released has produced hit song after hit song, and they’ve all been commercially successful.
In addition to his work with Papa Roach, Shaddix has also collaborated with a number of artists including The Black Eyed Peas on “Anxiety,” Carlos Santana on “Smoke on the Water,” The Hu on “Wolf Totem,” and most recently Apocalyptica on their cover of Cream’s “White Room.” He has also dabbled in the acting ring, hosting the MTV show Scarred and most recently appearing in the 2022 horror film The Retaliators.
Jacoby has been a friend of WMMR for almost 25 years now, including performing at a couple of our MMR*B*Q’s with Papa Roach.
A bit of advice: if you’ve never seen Papa Roach before, you need to make it a point to do so! They are killer live, and the amount of energy that Jacoby has in his pinky finger, could fill the whole room.
Shaddix is a vocal advocate for mental health awareness. He has spoken openly about his own struggles with depression and addiction, and he has encouraged others to seek help if they are struggling. It’s ok to ask for help 988.
No Apologies (Acoustic)
Papa Roach hits the road in September for a month-long trek with Shinedown and Spirit Box on the latest leg of the Revolution’s Live tour. You can find tickets and info on the tour here.
Happy Birthday Jacoby! From all of us at WMMR!
As a bonus, check out Ronnie Radke from Falling in Reverse with his reimagined version of Papa Roach’s Last Resort
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