Good Times, Rad Times

JOHN NOTTO TELLS THE STORY OF DIRTY HONEY, THE LITTLE BAND THAT COULD (BECOME THE FIRST UNSIGNED BAND-EVER-TO HIT NUMBER 1 ON BILLBOARD'S MAINSTREAM ROCK SONGS CHART)

- Brad Angle

DIRTY HONEY HAD no label and had never released a full-length — but that didn’t stop them from making rock history. In early 2019, the Los Angeles band self-released their self-titled EP, which contained the powerhouse, classic-rock-inspired single “When I’m Gone.” And in October, Billboard announced that the track hit Number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs Chart — the first time that’s ever been achieved by an unsigned band.

The accomplishment was the culmination of a whirlwind couple of years for Dirty Honey, whose music channels the heavy Seventies-era rock of Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. Since 2017, the quartet signed on with a big-time management team, recorded with a hotshot producer in Australia and landed coveted spots opening for Slash, The Who, Alter Bridge and Guns N’ Roses.