Billy Talent is a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock band formed in 1993. They performed and recorded together for about a decade before finding a wide mainstream following. Originally called Pezz, the group originates from Streetsville, in Mississauga, Ontario, but now hail from Toronto, Ontario.
The name is inspired by a character named “Billy Tallent” in the 1993 book “Hard Core Logo” by Michael Turner (filmed in 1996) and it has been the name of the band since 2001, after a dispute with the American Pezz.
To date, the band have released five studio albums, the first under the name Pezz named “Watoosh!”, the second under the Billy Talent name is called “Billy Talent” with the third called “Billy Talent II”. The fourth album,”Billy Talent III”, released in 2009, was produced by Brendan O’Brien, who previously worked with AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam and The Offspring, among others.
The fifth album called “Dead Silence” was released in september 2012.
