Pop Evil

North Muskegon, and the long way round

Pop Evil started in North Muskegon, Michigan, in 2001, put together by singer Leigh Kakaty from the wreckage of a late-1990s local band called TenFive — a group that had included Kakaty alongside guitarist Jason Reed, Tom Grasman, bassist James Schaap and drummer Dylan Allison. The first release under the new name, War of the Roses, came out independently in 2004 and did the job such records usually do: it got them out of Muskegon County and onto the regional circuit.

The first proper studio album, Lipstick on the Mirror, arrived on 12 August 2008 through Universal Republic. Its single "100 in a 55" — still the song that closes most of their shows — reached the top ten on Active Rock. That was the template for everything that followed: a band whose commercial engine has always been American rock radio rather than critical favour or festival-bill prestige.

AllMusic files the sound as an amalgam of heavy metal, grunge and modern rock, which is about right. Hard-edged guitars, large choruses, drums mixed to sound enormous — post-grunge with metal showmanship bolted on.

Eight number ones, and a rhythm section that keeps changing

The chart run began properly with War of Angels on 5 July 2011, which reached number 43 on the Billboard 200. Onyx followed on 14 May 2013, peaked at 39, and produced the band's first two Mainstream Rock number ones, "Trenches" and "Deal with the Devil". "Torn to Pieces" topped the same chart in 2014. Up, released on 21 August 2015, remains their highest-charting album at number 25 and delivered another number one in "Footsteps".

The self-titled record of 16 February 2018 reached 63 and put "Waking Lions" on top. Versatile arrived on 21 May 2021 with two more chart-toppers, "Breathe Again" and "Survivor". Skeletons, released on 17 March 2023 through MNRK Music Group, produced their eighth Mainstream Rock number one. Few bands of their generation have that many.

The line-up around Kakaty has been less settled than the chart record suggests. Rhythm guitarist Dave Grahs has been there since 2001. Nick Fuelling took over on lead guitar in 2012 after Tony Greve left. Bassist Matt DiRito departed once Versatile was out, and Joey Walser came in during 2021. Drummer Hayley Cramer announced her exit on 11 December 2023, saying she was looking for new paths, and Blake Allison became the permanent drummer in 2024. That is the band currently on the road.

What Remains — the record that reset them

What Remains, their eighth studio album, came out on 21 March 2025 on MNRK. It is the heaviest thing they have made, and it was made deliberately that way. Kakaty said the album "pulls no punches and takes no prisoners", and framed the writing as personal maintenance rather than career strategy: "a lot of things I wanted to get out for my own mental well-being".

The Rockpit's Leslie Phillips called it "a faultless collection of arena-ready modern rock and metal" and "another banger from Pop Evil to rival their catalogue so far". The review picks out the industrial metallic push of opener "The Bullet That Missed", the slow crawl of "Deathwalk", the stop-start contrasts of the title track, the more relaxed sweep of "Wishful Thinking", the riff and drum work on "Criminal", the semi-rapped vocal on "Knife For the Butcher", and the melodic close of "Overkill".

Four of those songs — "Deathwalk", "What Remains", "Wishful Thinking" and "Let the Chaos Reign" — now sit in the first half of the live set, which tells its own story about how the band rate the record against the back catalogue.

The Decay, and a Simple Minds cover

Rather than move straight on, the band extended the album. "The Decay" was premiered on SiriusXM Octane and released on 23 January 2026, described by MNRK as a riff-forward modern rock track. The band's framing of the lyric was blunter: "In a world full of pain, lies, distractions, and half-truths, how easy is it to swallow venom dressed up as medicine without recognizing the damage being done?" They called the song raw, uncomfortable and honest. The visualiser was directed by Sam Shapiro with CGI by VSRL Company, and the label went out of its way to state that no AI was used in making it.

What Remains (Midnight Edition) landed on 27 March 2026, timed to the album's first anniversary. Alongside "The Decay" it carries a studio version of Simple Minds' 1985 single "Don't You (Forget About Me)", rebuilt in the band's own register — an unusual choice for a record otherwise pitched as their most abrasive, and one that has become a reliable moment in the set.

Where they stand in September 2026

The touring year did not go to plan, through no fault of theirs. Sabaton announced their Legends On Tour North American run on 15 September 2025, a 31-date arena trek with Pop Evil and Wings of Steel in support, originally scheduled from 9 February to 20 April 2026 between Fort Lauderdale and Vancouver, with general on-sale on 19 September 2025. On 5 March 2026 those dates were rescheduled after Sabaton bassist Pär Sundström needed time to recover from inflammation in his arms. The revised run now stretches from 23 September to 12 December 2026, opening in Halifax and Laval and finishing in Fort Lauderdale. Tampa, Greensboro and Pittsburgh fell off the schedule; Orlando was added and Winnipeg gained a second night on demand.

In the meantime Pop Evil ran their own headline What Remains Tour, which opened on 6 February 2026 in Destin, Florida, and worked across the United States and Canada, with the Sabaton dates folded in.

Two things happened in the past few months that matter. At Sonic Temple in Columbus, Ohio, in mid-May 2026, Kakaty told Ronni Hunter of 99.7 The Blitz that the band were about to start writing material for their ninth studio album. Then, on 17 September 2026, he walked out unannounced during Sabaton's set at Louder Than Life in Louisville to sing a rebuilt version of "Templars"; the studio recording was released the following day through Better Noise Music. Joakim Brodén said the band had wanted to do something different with a song that had introduced their album Legends, and Pär Sundström noted that "Leigh's take on the track brings a different attitude". Kakaty's own line was simpler: he had always appreciated Sabaton's ability to bring history to life.