Ugly Kid Joe

Ugly Kid Joe

Ugly Kid Joe is an American rock band from Isla Vista, California, formed in 1989 and active to the present. The group’s name is a parody of Pretty Boy Floyd. Its sound combines hard rock and metal with satire, and it is associated with alternative metal, alternative rock, funk metal and hard rock.

Early success

The band makes its name in the early 1990s with two worldwide top ten singles: “Everything About You” from 1992 and a 1993 cover of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle”. During this period it releases three albums: America’s Least Wanted in 1992, Menace to Sobriety in 1995 and Motel California in 1996.

Break-up and reunion

Ugly Kid Joe disbands in 1997, then reunites in 2010. After returning, it plays several festivals in 2010 and 2011 and appears at Download Festival in 2012. The band later works with Skid Row on a co-headlining European tour, beginning in Southampton in 2013.

Later releases and activities

The group issues Stairway to Hell in 2013. In 2015 it uses crowdfunding to help finance recording for its next album, Uglier Than They Used ta Be. By 2021, it is working on a follow-up to that record. The line-up associated with the band includes Whitfield Crane, Mark Davis, Klaus Eichstadt, Roger Lahr, Cordell Crockett, Dave Fortman and Shannon Larkin. It releases material on UKJ Records.