Placebo is a band that was formed in 1994. In Latin 'Placebo' menas ' I shall please'. The members of the band are Brian Molko (vocals, guitar), Stefan Olsdal (bass, guitar) and Steve Hewitt (drums). Like the guys often said, Placebo is a 50 % homosexual band; Stefan is gay, Brian is bisexual and Steve is straight.

The band initially began to take shape in 1994 after a chance meeting between Stefan Olsdal and Brian Molko outside of a South Kensington tube station. They had gone to the same school in their youth, but they had never been friends. Shortly after the meeting, Brian and Stefan discoverd that they had a lot more in common that either of them could ever have imagined and the two of them formed a band called Ashtray Hear (after a Captain Beefheart song). Althoug Steven Hewitt was to play drums on the original Placebo demos, he was unable to become a permanent member of the group due to other commitments at the time. Therefor Stefan introduced Brian to his friend Robert Schultzberg. These 3 went on to form the first line up of Placebo.

On January 23rd, 1995 Placebo played their first official gig at the Rock Garden, Convent Garden. 51 weeks after this performance they were signed to Hut Recordings. Placebo released their first album, the self titled 'Placebo' in 1996. Shortly after releasing the debut album, Placebo reached the UK Top Five with the single 'Nancy Boy' and also performed at David Bowie's 50th birthday party. After replacing Robert Schultzberg with Steve Hewitt, Placebo returned in 1998 with a new album 'Without You I'm Nothing'. In 2000 their third album 'Black Market Music' saw the light of day...

Some facts
>> Placebo owns a records label, Elevator Records, but so far no one else has been signed to it.
>> They each have 1 older brother.
>> All of the bands lyrics are written by Brian, the music is written by all three of them.
>> Their debut album Placebo was produced by Brad Wood and recorded Westland Studios, Dublin. Without You I´.m Nothing was produced by Steve Osborne, (With the exception of Pure Morning, which was produced by Phil Vinall) and recorded at Peter Gabriel´s Real World Studios, Bath. Black Market Music was produced by Paul Corkett at Olympic Studios.
>> Every You Every Me is co-written by Paul Campion. He is the lead singer of the group AC Acoustics and a very good friend of Brians.
>> Who is Levi from the song Commercial for Levi? Levi Tecofski is placebo's production manager and front of house sound engineer, one time tour manager and one of the longest standing members of the placebo crew.
>> Slave to the Wage was dedicated to the memory of Scott Piering, Placebo´s tv and radio plugger (also the KLF´s). He died of Cancer on Jan 24th 2000. Infact the Black Market Music album is dedicated to his memory.
>> Placebo have been supported by Deus, Scarfo, Ultrasound, Idlewild, Flick and Six by Seven. Other bands that they have supported include: Bush, Garbage, U2, Silverchair and Stabbing Westward.