P.O.D. (Payable On Death) is an American heavy metal band formed in 1992. The band's line-up consists of vocalist Sonny Sandoval, drummer Wuv Bernardo, guitarist Marcos Curiel, and bassist Traa Daniels. Over the course of their career, the band have also received six Grammy Award nominations, made numerous motion picture soundtracks and toured internationally.

With their third studio album, The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, they achieved their initial mainstream success; the album was certified Platinum by the RIAA in 2000.Their following studio album, Satellite, continued the band's success with the hit singles, "Alive" and "Youth of the Nation", pushing it to go triple platinum

Early years (1992–1998)

While the exact date of the formation of P.O.D. is unknown, friends Marcos Curiel and Wuv Bernardo engaged in jam sessions in a band called Eschatos, without a vocalist sometime in the early 1990s. After his mother's fatal illness, Sonny Sandoval converted to Christianity and was asked by his cousin, Wuv Bernardo, to join P.O.D. as a way to keep his mind straight as mentioned on their DVD, Still Payin' Dues. Traa Daniels joined the band in 1994 when they needed a bassist for a concert, to replace Gabe Portillo, who appeared in the original demo tape. P.O.D. signed with a relatively unknown rock label, Rescue Records, and released three albums under the label between 1994 and 1997, Snuff the Punk, Brown and Payable on Death Live.

Shortly after the release of Payable on Death Live, Essential Records offered P.O.D. a $100,000 recording contract, but Sonny Sandoval spoke for them all when he politely but firmly told band manager Tim Cook to decline the offer because, “God has a bigger plan for P.O.D.”


 

Mainstream success (1999–2002)

P.O.D.'s third studio album, 1999's The Fundamental Elements of Southtown, spawned the hits "Southtown" and Total Request Live favorite "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)", which became their first video to reach #1.At a time after the 1999 album, "School of Hard Knocks" was featured on the soundtrack for Little Nicky while both "Southtown" and "Rock the Party (Off the Hook)" appeared in the movie. All three music videos endured heavy play on MTV2 and the songs were rock radio hits. The album went on to become RIAA certified platinum.

On the 11th September 2001 P.O.D. released their fourth studio album, Satellite. The album's first single, "Alive," went on to become one of MTV's and MTV2's top played videos of the year. The video's popularity, as well as the song's positive message, helped the song become a huge modern rock radio hit and it was Grammy nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2002.

The album's second single, "Youth of the Nation," was influenced in part by the school shootings at Santana High School, Columbine High School, and Granite Hills High School. It was Grammy nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2003. The 2002 singles, "Boom" and "Satellite," also became quite popular. An addition, the concluding track of the album, "Portrait," was Grammy nominated for Best Metal Performance in 2003. Satellite went on to become RIAA-certified triple platinum