The Midnight Riders
The Midnight Riders are a fictional American rockband featured in the computer game Left 4 Dead 2.
Band Members
- Ox (Drums)
- Smitty (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dusty (Lead Guitar)
- Jake Thorne (Bass, Keyboard)
- Riggs Donner (Bass, dead 1985)
Story of the band
In 1983, four young men from Galveston, Texas became the most popular band in America. That band was Love Supply. One fateful day in 1983, their opening act, the Midnight Riders, beat them so bad onstage that they became instantly famous.
The Riders spent the next two years working on their first album, enjoying a little time away from the spotlight while serving eight to ten years for aggravated assault in the federal correctional facility at Fort Worth. Luckily for Riders fans the world over, they accidentally hadn’t killed any of Love Supply and, due to an over-crowding problem in the joint, all non-murderers were released in January, 1985. Upon release of their debut album We’re Coming For You, Love Supply three months later, the band Love Supply immediately retired, passing the mantle of Greatest Southern Rock Supergroup of All Time to The Midnight Riders. That same year, bass player Riggs Donner was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident and was replaced by provisional temporary band member Jake Thorne.
Since then, the Riders have released over 23 albums.
In 1989, the Riders’ first ever love ballad, ‘This Man Loves You’, written and performed on piano by provisional temporary band member Jake Thorne and released as a B-side to the single ‘Midnight Ride’ from our album Born Yesterday, became the band’s first ever #1 hit song. To this day, the band refuses to play the song live.
In 1993 the Midnight Riders finally got their long-overdue recognition from the music industry, winning the Grammy for Most Pyrotechnics in a Single Concert.
The Midnight Riders are currently on the road for their No Salvation fairgrounds tour, as part of their promotion of the just-released Greatest Hits album, High Heels and Brushed Steel.