Maria Brink (born December 18, 1977) is an American singer and songwriter, best known as the frontwoman of the metal band The band has gone on to release seven studio albums and receive four nominations, two from

Alternative Press Music Awards The Alternative Press Music Awards was an annual music awards show in the United States, founded by the music magazine ''Alternative Press''. History On April 24, 2014, ''Alternative Press'' announced they were organizing an award show to be h ...

, one from

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, and one from

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

Music Awards. Brink has been awarded "Rock Goddess of the Year" in the third (2013) and fifth (2015) Annual Loudwire Music Awards, "Hottest Chick in Metal" in 2010, one of eleven women in heavy metal who matter by Yell! Magazine in 2012, and was recognized by

Revolver Magazine ''Revolver'' is an American heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published by Project M Group. It was originally launched under Harris Publications in the spring of 2000 by Tom Beaujour and Brad Tolinski, who envisioned it as an American ...

as one of the "25 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock & Metal".

Early life

Brink was born on December 18, 1977, in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

; her father left the family when she was young. She was moved around to various parts of Schenectady including low income housing because the family had little money. Brink's mother introduced her to bands and artists such as

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

, and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. Brink became interested in performing at the age of 5.

Career

Brink performing at Fort Rock Festival 2013

Early career

The first band Brink was ever in was an Albany-based band called Pulse, before moving to California. In 2002, when she was 25, she moved to Los Angeles to find a band to work with. Before finding a band, she worked in stores, and sang in coffee shops and bars. In 2004, she met now-band member Chris Howorth at an audition. At first, Howorth rejected Brink for being a woman. Two weeks later, Howorth apologized and hired Brink as the singer. They formed the band Dying Star with drummer Jeff Fabb. They were later joined by guitarist Blake Bunzel and bassist Josh Newell. Soon after, the band changed their name to In This Moment.

In This Moment

Along with her band, she has released eight studio albums. They released their debut album, ''

Beautiful Tragedy ''Beautiful Tragedy'' is the debut studio album by American rock band In This Moment. The album was promoted largely in part by an interview conducted on Sirius Satellite Radio's Hard Attack station, which performed several songs off ''Beautifu ...

'', on March 20, 2007. Their second studio album, ''

The Dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dream may also refer to: Art Paintings * ''The Dream'' (Detaille), an 1888 painting by Édouard D ...

'', was released on September 30, 2008. The band's third album, ''

A Star-Crossed Wasteland ''A Star-Crossed Wasteland'' is the third studio album by American rock band In This Moment. The album was first released in Germany on July 9, 2010, and later in the United States by Century Media. It was named by Alternative Press as one of the ...

'' was released July 9, 2010. The band's fourth album titled ''

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

'' was released on August 14, 2012. Their fifth studio album titled '' Black Widow'' was released on November 17, 2014. Their sixth studio album, ''

Ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

'', was released on July 21, 2017. Their seventh studio album, ''

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'' was released on March 27, 2020. Their most recent, ''

Godmode ''Godmode'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band In This Moment. The album was released on October 27, 2023, through BMG Rights Management. It is the band's first album to not be produced by Kevin Churko since '' Beautiful Tragedy'' ...

'', was released on October 27, 2023. Brink has been awarded "Rock Goddess of the Year" in the third (2013) and fifth (2015) Annual

Music Awards, "Hottest Chick in Metal" in 2010, one of eleven women in heavy metal who matter by Yell! Magazine in 2012, and was recognized by

as one of the "25 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock & Metal".

Personal life

At age 15, Brink gave birth to a son, Davion. She worked to support herself and her son as well as helping her mother to overcome a drug addiction. She is also an aspiring artist/painter going by the alias of 'Maria Brink's Wonderland'. Brink was in a relationship with

DevilDriver DevilDriver is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara, California, formed in 2002, consisting of vocalist Dez Fafara, bassist Jon Miller, guitarist Alex Lee and drummer Davier Pérez. The b ...

bassist, Jonathan Miller. Brink was reported in 2020 in a relationship with Ded vocalist Joe Cotela.

Influences

Brink has cited

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

, M83 as some of her favorite bands. She was inspired by vocalists

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...

and

Phil Anselmo Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American musician best known as the lead singer for groove metal band Pantera, southern metal supergroup Down (band), Down, and Hardcore punk, hardcore band Superjoint, amongst other musical proj ...

. Outside of music, Brink has cited

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

, and her two mothers as the women that influenced her the most.

Discography

Brink performing at With Full Force 2018

In This Moment

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2012) * '' Black Widow'' (2014) * ''

'' (2017) * ''

'' (2020) * ''

'' (2023)

Live albums

* '' Blood at the Orpheum'' (2014)

Compilation albums

* '' Rise of the Blood Legion: Greatest Hits (Chapter 1)'' (2015)

Songs featured on

* "Here's to Us" (Guest Version) –

Halestorm Halestorm is an American Rock music, rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. Siblings Lzzy and Arejay founded the band in ...

* "Heaven's a Lie" –

Manntis Manntis is an American metalcore band. History Manntis originally formed in 2000 as a four-piece group. The band gathered mainstream attention in 2004 when they were one of the contestants on MTV's Battle for Ozzfest. Their lead guitarist, Ad ...

* "Anywhere But Here" –

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead g ...

* "Big Mouth" – Red Dragon Cartel * "Contemptress" – Motionless in White * "

Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

" –

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American Rock music, rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, drummer Dave Buckner, guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luth ...

* "Criminal Conversations" –

P.O.D. P.O.D. (an initialism for Payable on Death) is an American nu metal band formed in 1992 and based in San Diego, California. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Paul Joshua "Sonny" Sandoval, bassist Mark "Traa" Daniels, lead guitarist Mar ...

* "New Devil" –

Asking Alexandria Asking Alexandria are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and now based in York, York, North Yorkshire, consisting of guitarist Cameron Liddell, drummer James Cassells, vocalist Danny Worsnop, and bas ...

* "Love Song" – Ded * "I Refuse" – Five Finger Death Punch

References

External links

Official website for In This Moment

Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brink, Maria 1977 births Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters American contraltos American women heavy metal singers American women singer-songwriters American rock songwriters People from Schenectady, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state) American heavy metal singers Metalcore singers