Papa Roach is a rock/ nu metal band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993 and consisting of Jacoby Shaddix, Jerry Horton, Dave Buckner, and Tobin Esperance. They had mostly regional success until their breakthrough with the hit singles "Last Resort", "Broken Home" and "Between Angels And Insects" from their first major label album, Infest.
Their first four works, the EPs Potatoes for Christmas ( 1994), Caca Bonita ( 1995), and Let 'Em Know ( 1999) and the full-length Old Friends from Young Years ( 1997) sounded very different from their current sound and were much more weird and funky. As of 2004, Jacoby Shaddix has given up rapping, mainly due to the decline of rap-metal in the early 2000s, and has focused on just heavy metal, as he stated to the Dallas Music Guide .
On June 18th 2002, Papa Roach released their second major album lovehatetragedy. Although overall less successful in terms of sales than their previous album, it managed a higher chart position than Infest.
In late 2003, Papa Roach hit the studio again to write and record their 3rd major album, tenatively named Dancing in the Ashes. This was a temporary name soon replaced by Getting Away with Murder. The band worked for months with Producer Howard Benson, writing such songs as "Take Me" and " Scars". After completion, the band filmed the video for the title track, "Getting Away with Murder" and went on a small summer club tour to warm-up for the new album and touring.
August of 2004 saw the release of this third album. While some long-time Papa Roach fans found the album to be softer than that of their previous albums such as Infest, it still managed to receive manic raves from new fans. Touring on the immense popularity of the album's second single, "Scars", Papa Roach have currently sold more than 1 million albums and have reached platinum status. 2005 saw continuous touring, including a full United States and European tour.