[2] After extensive touring in support of their debut album, Poullain left the band in 2005, and was replaced by former guitar technician Richie Edwards.

The following year, Justin Hawkins departed from the band after successfully completing a course of rehabilitation from alcohol and cocaine abuse.

[4] After the split, the remaining members formed Stone Gods, and continued to perform and record without Hawkins, who subsequently fronted his own project, Hot Leg.

[5] Originally known as Empire, the band generated some music industry buzz through their manager Sue Whitehouse, who was based at Savage & Best in Camden.

[citation needed] Renamed the Darkness they became renowned for their live show, and such was the popularity of the band, they had a Carling Homecoming gig booked for the London Astoria before they had even signed a record deal.

[6] According to A&R Nick Raphael in an interview with HitQuarters, there was no initial clamour to sign the band, "There couldn't have been less of a buzz, and only two record labels showed any interest in them.

Singer David Draiman later attacked the band for their handling of the ordeal, with Hawkins recounting the issue on his youtube channel in 2022.

[citation needed] The Darkness took inspiration for some of their work from the local north Suffolk area, including "Black Shuck" which mentions the nearby village of Blythburgh.

[14][15] The band would later be added to the 2004 Big Day Out festival tour, performing alongside Metallica, Muse, The Strokes, Lostprophets, The Mars Volta, and The Black Eyed Peas.

[17][18] In October 2005, a month before the album was to be officially released, Justin Hawkins won an eBay auction for a copy of One Way Ticket to Hell ...and Back for £350 under the username 'turbogunhawk'.

In August 2006, lead singer Justin Hawkins was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic in concern of his health, which caused the band to cancel several concerts.

In response to the story being reported by the media, the Darkness confirmed on their official forum:[21] "We're sorry that you had to find this out through the newspapers, but we were hoping until the last minute that this – Justin's exit – wasn't going to happen.

You will hear from us, once we know what we want to do..."Hawkins departure, and the lacklustre sales of One Way Ticket to Hell... (which had only gone gold compared to the previous album's four-times platinum status),[22] led to Atlantic dropping the band from the label.

[4][23] Using the pseudonym British Whale, Hawkins went on to release a cover version of the Sparks song "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", reaching No.

[25] On 9 November 2007, it was announced on The University of East Anglia's student union website that a new band had been created comprising Dan Hawkins (lead guitar), Toby MacFarlaine (bass), Ed Graham (drums) and Ritchie Edwards (vocals/guitar).

[citation needed] In 2008, Justin Hawkins formed a new band, Hot Leg with Pete Rinaldi (of Anchorhead), Samuel SJ Stokes (formerly of The Thieves) and Darby Todd (from Protect the Beat).

[28] They played three warm-up shows in Norwich, Leamington and at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire,[29] before performing at the 2011 Download Festival.

This was followed by an "intimate" show at London's 100 Club,[30] which featured support from Dark Stares and notable appearances from Queen guitarist Brian May and comedian Rufus Hound.

[39] The band began work on their fourth studio album in September 2014,[40] with Emily Dolan Davies replacing Ed Graham on drums.

[citation needed] They were announced as the first headline act for Planet Rockstock 2015, taking place at Trecco Bay in South Wales from 4 to 7 December 2015.

[44] On 20 November 2015, the band released a music video for a new Christmas single, entitled "I Am Santa" on their YouTube Channel, which it was announced would be included in the deluxe edition of the Last of Our Kind album.

[51] In 2018, the band supported US supergroup Hollywood Vampires on their European tour, which included their first performances in UK arenas in several years.

[53] The band contributed theme music to the British children's television programme Catie's Amazing Machines which premiered on CBeebies in October 2018.

The band commenced their UK tour of the Easter Is Cancelled album on 25 November 2019 in Ireland,[56] culminating on 20 December at London's Roundhouse.

The band returned to the UK for occasional shows and live streams where possible, with an aim to reschedule the remainder of the postponed New Zealand and North American dates in the future.

Initial plans to open the show and sound check to a limited audience were shut down at the last minute due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The whole show was recorded for a live album titled Streaming Of A White Christmas, scheduled to be released on CD and vinyl in early 2021.