The plethora of punk-meets-goth-meets-hardcore bands winning the hearts of angular-fringed teens everywhere owe everything to AFI. Before anybody knew or cared what ‘emo’ was, AFI were working hard to establish themselves in the Californian punk and hardcore scene.

Iconic frontman Davey Havok formed the band with Mark Stopholese (guitar), Vic Chalker (bass) and drummer Adam Carson. Though the band went through countless lineup changes as they finished high school and moved on to college, the current AFI lineup came together in 1998, when Havok, Carson and bassist Hunter Burgan joined guitarist Jade Puget.

Black Sails in the Sunset, widely regarded as a major turning point for the band, was released in 1999 and The Art of Drowning followed in 2000. By the time The Art of Drowning hit number 174 on the US Billboard album charts, AFI were fast becoming one of the most talked about bands on the west coast.

In 2002, AFI signed to Dreamworks Records, ahead of the 2003 release of commercial breakthrough LP Sing the Sorrow. As well as taking the band into the American mainstream, the album broke AFI to international audiences, with hit singles Girl’s Not Grey and The Leaving Song, Pt II charting in Europe.

The follow-up release came in the form of Decemberunderground, and by the time it was released in May 2006, emo was ‘in’ and AFI sat rightfully at the top of the pile. Miss Murder quickly became a hit around the world, while the four-piece performed countless TV appearances and toured the globe.