Editing Breaking Benjamin (section)

{{short description|American rock band}}
{{good article}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Breaking Benjamin
| image             = Breaking Benjamin 2-14-15.jpg
| image_upright     = 1.2
| caption           = Breaking Benjamin performing in 2015. From left to right, [[Keith Wallen]], Shaun Foist, [[Benjamin Burnley]], Aaron Bruch, and [[Jasen Rauch]].
| alias             = Plan 9
| origin            = [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| genre             = {{flatlist|<!-- See [[Talk:Breaking Benjamin#July 11, 2015]] -->
* [[Hard rock]]
* [[post-grunge]]
* [[alternative metal]]
* <!-- Please do not remove these genres. They are all sourced in the article.-->{{nowrap|[[alternative rock]]}}<!-- Please do not remove these genres. They are all sourced in the article.-->
}}
| years_active      = {{flatlist|
* 1999–2010
* 2014–present
}}
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[Hollywood Records|Hollywood]]
* [[BMG Rights Management|BMG]]
}}
| website           = {{URL|breakingbenjamin.com}}
| module            = {{Infobox
| child           = yes
| header1         =
| headerstyle     = background:#b0c4de
| data2           = [[File:Breaking Benjamin wordmark.svg|class=skin-invert|200px]]
}}
| current_members   = {{plainlist| 
* [[Benjamin Burnley]]
* Aaron Bruch
* Shaun Foist
* [[Jasen Rauch]]
* [[Keith Wallen]]
}}
| past_members      = {{plainlist| <!-- listed by order of leave -->
* Jason Davoli
* Jonathan "Bug" Price
* Jeremy Hummel
* Aaron Fink
* Mark James Klepaski
* [[Chad Szeliga]]
}}
}}

'''Breaking Benjamin''' is an American [[Rock music|rock]] band from [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania]], formed in 1999 by lead singer and guitarist [[Benjamin Burnley]] and drummer Jeremy Hummel. The first lineup of the band also included guitarist Aaron Fink and bassist Mark James Klepaski. This lineup released two albums, ''[[Saturate (Breaking Benjamin album)|Saturate]]'' (2002) and ''[[We Are Not Alone (Breaking Benjamin album)|We Are Not Alone]]'' (2004), before Hummel was replaced by [[Chad Szeliga]] in 2005. The band released two more studio albums, ''[[Phobia (Breaking Benjamin album)|Phobia]]'' (2006) and ''[[Dear Agony]]'' (2009), before entering an extended hiatus in early 2010 due to Burnley's recurring illnesses.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/breaking-benjamin-battle-mystery-illness-on-painful-road-to-number-one-40812/|title = Breaking Benjamin Frontman Pushes Through Pain to Number One| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date = July 2015}}</ref>

Amid the hiatus, the release of a compilation album, ''[[Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin]]'' (2011), unauthorized by Burnley, brought about legal trouble within the band resulting in the dismissal of Fink and Klepaski. Szeliga later announced his departure in 2013 citing creative differences. Burnley remained the sole member of the band until late 2014, when the current lineup was announced, including bassist and backing vocalist Aaron Bruch, guitarist and backing vocalist [[Keith Wallen]], guitarist [[Jasen Rauch]], and drummer Shaun Foist. The band afterward released ''[[Dark Before Dawn]]'' (2015) and ''[[Ember (album)|Ember]]'' (2018), which debuted at number one and three on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], respectively.<ref name="wsj">{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122234917/https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-chart-topping-rock-band-youve-never-heard-of-11579528801 |last1=Kornelis |first1=Chris |title=The Chart-Topping Rock Band You've Never Heard Of |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-chart-topping-rock-band-youve-never-heard-of-11579528801 |access-date=January 23, 2020 |publisher=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=January 20, 2020 |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Following these albums, the band released another compilation, ''[[Aurora (Breaking Benjamin album)|Aurora]]'' (2020), featuring reworked acoustic versions of past songs along with one original new song.

Despite significant lineup changes, the band's musical style and lyrical content have remained consistent, with Burnley serving as the primary composer and lead vocalist since the band's inception. The band has commonly been noted for its formulaic [[hard rock]] tendencies with angst-heavy lyrics, swelling choruses, and "crunching" guitars. In the United States alone, the band has sold more than 19 million units{{sfn|Monacelli|2015}} and yielded three [[RIAA certification#Records|RIAA-certified]] platinum records, two gold records, and several certified singles, including three multi-platinum, three platinum, and six gold.