Rebelution was formed in the college town of Isla Vista, California, in 2004. The five original band members were Eric Rachmany, Matt Velasquez, Rory Carey, Marley D. Williams, and Wesley Finley, who were all University of California, Santa Barbara students. Throughout 2004-2005, Rebelution began to build momentum through consistently playing local shows and by independently releasing an EP. All four current members graduated from UC Santa Barbara, getting degrees in religious studies, anthropology, film studies, and business economics. Rebelution released their first full-length album Courage to Grow in June 2007, which would become the breakthrough album for the band. The album was praised for its crafty melodies, socially conscious lyrics, and savvy musicianship. Courage to Grow went on to garner mass downloads and radio play on stations such as San Francisco's Live 105 where their single "Safe and Sound" was played on heavy rotation, with spins on San Diego's 91X and Los Angeles's KROQ. The album was selected as iTunes Editor's Choice for Best Reggae Album of 2007. In addition, Courage to Grow peaked at No. 4 on the BillboardTop Reggae Albums chart. Velasquez, one of the two vocalists, left after the release of Courage to Grow and left Rebelution as a four-member band.
''Bright Side of Life''
Two years after their first album, Rebelution released their second full-length album Bright Side of Life. On 4 August 2009 Bright Side of Life was officially released and dominated the iTunes charts, reaching the #1 spot on iTunes in the Reggae music genre, and the no. 3 spot for Top Albums Downloaded in the United States in all genres of music. The album reached no. 1 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums chart and no. 34 on Billboards top 200. The release of Bright Side of Life marks the first release under Rebelution's newly founded record label "87 Music" (named after their address while attending college at UCSB: 6587 Del Playa Drive. The band also played at the Rothbury Music Festival, in summer 2009. The band performed at the 2010 Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California along with other well-known acts such as The Expendables, Slightly Stoopid and Lauryn Hill. They also performed at All Good Music Festival, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Wakarusa music festivals in 2010.
''Peace of Mind''
On January 10, 2012, Rebelution released their third studio album, Peace Of Mind, through their own label 87 Music. Peace of Mind: Acoustic features all twelve original album tracks stripped-down acoustic as well as Peace of Mind: Dub remixed by Easy Star's Michael Goldwasser. The album debuted at no. 13 on the Billboard 200 charts, no. 1 Independent and no. 1 Reggae, and the no. 4 iTunes album overall, selling 16,000 copies its first week, despite giving away half the album free to their fans over the six weeks prior to release. In May 2014, Rebelution performed as a headlining act at the California Roots Music and Arts Festival in Monterey, California. In September 2014, the band performed as a headlining act at California Roots and The Carolina Sessions Festival, as well as The Reggae Rise Up Festival in Tampa, Florida. RRU has quickly become one of the largest and respected Reggae festivals in the country.
''Count Me In''
The band partnered with Easy Star Records to release their fourth album Count Me In features contributions from Don Carlos and Collie Buddz on June 10, 2014. It debuted as the #14 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart and the #1 Billboard Reggae album. Following the album's release, Rebelution went on the Count Me In tour with supporting acts Iration, The Green, and Stick Figure. In December 2014, Count Me In was named as the best-selling reggae album of the year by Billboard. An acoustic version of the album was released in 2015 and again topped the Billboard Reggae chart.
''Falling Into Place''
In 2016, the band released their fifth studio album Falling Into Place as a joint venture with Easy Star Records. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae chart, and remained on the chart for more than 60 weeks.
''Free Rein''
On June 15, 2018, the band released their sixth studio album Free Rein which included collaborations with acclaimed Jamaican producers Don Corleon and Winta James. Free Rein, and their 2019 Vinyl Box Set both topped the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.
Other projects
Rebelution worked with Florida-based breweries Rock Brothers Brewing and Cigar City Brewing to create Rebelution IPA in Summer 2016. In 2018 the band partnered with Lost Abby & The Hop Concept to create “Take On Anything ™” IPA, which is available in stores across California and online. In addition, Rebelution teamed up with FlavRx to release all-natural cannabis oil cartridges in two strains – Sour Tsunami Sativa and Cali-O Indica, as well as a customized oil battery pen and herb vaporizer. These are available in select dispensaries in California which carry Flavrx products, with distribution growing to other legal states shortly. The band will be donating a portion of all proceeds towards Cannabis related medical research and legalization organizations.
Awards and honors
After its debut album was one of the most downloaded reggae albums on iTunes, Rebelution's Courage to Grow was named the iTunes Editors Choice: Best Reggae Album 2007. Rebelution received their first Grammy nomination in 2017 when their album Falling Into Place was nominated for the "Best Reggae Album" award.
