Papa Roach: Twenty-Five Years After "Last Resort," Still Swinging
Some tracks arrive and refuse to leave. "Last Resort" is one of them. We first heard it on MTV in the early 2000s, when the video seemed to be on every hour: the band playing in a packed room, fans crowded in all around them. We loved the energy, the lyrics, and that spark that pulls you in. It's still our favourite Papa Roach song, it has more than 1.6 billion Spotify streams to its name, and it hits like a freight train. It peaked at No. 1 on the Alternative Songs chart and went 6× platinum with the RIAA. Where did it come from? Not a boardroom. It came from a band that spent years grinding it out in a beat-up van.
Two Kids, One Football Field
It started in January 1993 on the Vacaville High School football field, where singer Jacoby Shaddix met drummer Dave Buckner. Guitarist Jerry Horton came over from nearby Vanden High, and the first line-up entered the school talent show with a cover of Hendrix's "Fire." They didn't win.
The name has a story too. Buckner pitched "Papa Gato," but Shaddix mashed up the nickname of his maternal grandfather, Herbert Fischer ("Papa"), with the surname of his paternal grandfather, John Roatch. Both were musicians. The first tour van was called Moby Dick, which earned Shaddix his early stage name, "Coby Dick." You can't make this stuff up.
Paying Dues in the Indie Years
The band practised daily and played every gig they could get. Demos and EPs followed, including Potatoes for Christmas (1994) and the debut album Old Friends from Young Years (1997). Bassist Tobin Esperance joined in 1996, and that line-up held for over a decade.
Warner Bros. passed on their demo, but DreamWorks didn't, and the band signed in October 1999. Infest landed on April 25, 2000, with re-recorded cuts from their indie days, including "Last Resort," "Broken Home" and "Between Angels and Insects."
Overnight Success, Eventually
That video helped earn Papa Roach a nomination for Best New Artist in a Video at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, where they lost out to Macy Gray. They fared better in London. At the 2001 Kerrang! Awards, they took home Best International Live Act and Best Video for "Last Resort."
Life on the Road
If the band had a lifestyle, it was the tour bus. In 2000 they joined the Anger Management Tour alongside Limp Bizkit and Eminem, Ozzfest's main stage followed in 2001, and Guns N' Roses took them out in 2006.
The road hasn't slowed down. The 2025 Rise of the Roach tour doubled as an Infest celebration. In June 2026 they were back on the Hellfest main stage in France, their fourth time at the festival, and they were on the bill for this year's Vans Warped Tour comeback.
Changing Gears, Staying Loud
Papa Roach never stood still. Getting Away with Murder (2004) dropped the rapping entirely, and "Scars" became their biggest Hot 100 hit, peaking at No. 15. It has since passed 420 million Spotify streams. By F.E.A.R. (2015) they were letting guests onto their records for the first time.
Shaddix has a complicated relationship with the nu metal label. He's proud of the band's place in that era, but he doesn't love being boxed in, and he calls himself far more punk rock. His influences back that up: Faith No More's Mike Patton and Social Distortion's Mike Ness.
Doing It Their Own Way
The business side has left a few scars. Buckner left in 2007, with Tony Palermo taking over drums. In 2010, the band pushed back against a label-released greatest-hits collection, saying they weren't seeing a penny from it. They took the lesson to heart: Ego Trip (2022) was their first independent album, on their own New Noize imprint.
They celebrated release day by playing a Shakey's Pizza and reportedly kicking off a wall of death. Fair play. Even the video idea for "Still Swingin'" came from Shaddix's eight-year-old son.
Earlier this year they were up for Rock Artist of the Year and Rock Song of the Year ("Even If It Kills Me") at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Shinedown and Linkin Park took the trophies.
Collabs and What's Next
Collaboration is now part of the DNA, from Carrie Underwood on "Leave a Light On (Talk Away the Dark)" to Hanumankind on "See U in Hell," recorded for Netflix's Devil May Cry. The band has long been open about mental health and suicide prevention, a thread running from "Last Resort" to that Underwood duet. With more than 15 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the audience clearly hasn't gone anywhere.
The twelfth studio album is still untitled, but the singles keep coming: "Even If It Kills Me," "Braindead" and "Wake Up Calling."
The Verdict
From a school football field to stages worldwide, Papa Roach have lasted because they keep moving. Everything else is a bonus, but "Last Resort" is still the one that makes us lose it.
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