This melodic US hard rock band was originally known as the Nothing, at which point the line-up included founding members Ed Sloan (b. Edward Michael Sloan, 13 March 1973, Columbia, South Carolina, USA; vocals/guitar), Mitch James (bass/vocals) and Brian Geiger (drums). Formed in the late 90s in their native Columbia, South Carolina, the trio's sound began to blossom with the addition of vocalist/turntablist Tony Byroads (b. Buffalo, New York, USA). The newly expanded line-up changed their name to Sugardaddy Superstar and began recording demo material at Sloan's home studio. After venturing across the country to play in Los Angeles, the quartet returned to their Columbia base and completed the recording of their debut album. This self-released set, entitled Cold, emerged on the local market at the end of 2002, with the swaggering title track enjoying particular success on rock radio. The album came to the attention of A&R men at the Columbia Records' subsidiary Earshot, who signed the band after they completed a showcase set at the company's New York offices. The quartet opted for another change of name, this time to Crossfade, and worked with Columbia on remixing tracks from their self-released debut. Featuring most of the tracks originally found on Cold, the band's self-titled debut for Columbia was released in early 2004. The single "Cold" extended its local popularity as it shot up the listings at national rock radio, and the album eventually went on to chalk up sales of over a million in the US alone.
James Branham replaced Geiger shortly after the album's release, and in 2005 further personnel changes saw the departure of Byroads. The remaining members carried on as a trio and released their new album, Falling Away, the following August.
DISCOGRAPHY: as Sugardaddy Superstar Cold (Own Label 2002)***, Crossfade (Earshot/Columbia 2004)***, Falling Away (Earshot/Columbia 2006)***.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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