Billy Talent is the name of a Canadian alternative rock band. Originally from Mississauga, they are now based in downtown Toronto and Los Angeles.
The group originally performed under the stage name Pezz, under which they released their first album entitled Watoosh in 1998. The group soon rechristened themselves Billy Talent, after failing to convince Memphis, TN punk band Pezz to change their name. Despite threats of legal action from the Canadian Pezz's management, the U.S.-based Pezz, who released their first album under that name in 1990, kept their name.
On 13th September 2005 the 'Watoosh' album was re-released and is available at http://www.werkshop.com, as well as on the iTunes Music Store .
None of the actual band members are named Billy Talent. The name was inspired by the name of a guitarist in the film and novel Hard Core Logo (written by Michael Turner).
Billy Talent won the award for Best New Group at the 2004 Juno Awards and also for Group of the Year and Album of the Year at the 2005 Juno Awards.
At the 2005 MuchMusic Video Awards, Billy Talent gained nine nominations. They won 'Best Video' (for "River Below") and MuchLoud Best Rock Video (for "River Below")
A demo of an unreleased song entitled Red Flag is rotating around the internet, and is rumoured to appear on their next album. Red Flag appears on the soundtracks to Burnout Revenge, Burnout Legends, SSX On Tour and EA Sports' NHL 2006.
Red Flag also appears on an upcoming music compilation. A new album is reportedly scheduled for late spring or early summer 2006.
Another song, entitled "Devil in a Midnight Mass", was availible to be streamed from their MySpace Website on and only on Christmas Day 2005. Even though it's been removed from the site, a copy of the song is also availible on the internet. The track is expected to appear on their new album. In Addition to "Devil in a Midnight Mass", another track that will appear on their upcoming album, "Surrender", was available for streaming - once again on their Myspace profile as well as PureVolume - exclusively on Valentine's Day 2006.
