The Used is an American rock band formed in Orem, Utah in 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, guitarist Justin Shekoski, bassist Jeph Howard, and the drummer Dan Whitesides. The Used has been described as emo, post-hardcore, punk rock, screamo, alternative rock and heavy metal. Bassist Jeph Howard has stated: “We just don’t consider ourselves ’emo’ or ‘screamo’ and we never have. We’re a rock band, that’s all we’ve ever been.” For Artwork, McCracken described their genre as “gross pop”. Allman described the album’s style: “It’s gonna be pretty raw. I think a lot of stuff is very much more poetic and lyrical, and the sound is more retro and raw with less production”. On their fifth album Vulnerable, Bert McCracken stated that there is a lot of hip hop influence, beats and drum and bass kind of stuff, but it is also still a The Used record with many soft and heavy, brutal, sharp, bright sounds, and the tempos are anywhere from ultra-slow to super fast and heavy.

The Used are signed to labels Hopeless and Reprise, and have associated acts with Dumb Luck, Strange Itch and Saosin. The group signed to Reprise Records and rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their self-titled debut album. The album, produced by John Feldmann, was released on June 25, 2002 to critical acclaim. The album featured four singles: “A Box Full of Sharp Objects”, “The Taste of Ink”, “Buried Myself Alive”, and “Blue and Yellow”, with the latter three entering the charts and the album being certified gold. They followed up with their second album, In Love and Death, In September 2004. Also in 2004, lead vocalist McCracken’s ex-girlfriend died of a drug overdose while pregnant with his child. They named the album “In Love and Death” as a reference to the tragedy McCracken dealt with during the recording. Their third album, Lies for the Liars, released in May 2007. On September 12, 2006, The Used announced that former member Branden Steineckert was no longer a part of the band. They felt they needed to move on without him, and that there was a personality conflict between Steineckert and another band member. In late 2006, it was announced that drummer Dan Whitesides of The New Transit Direction would replace Steineckert. Steineckert has since joined Rancid.

Shallow Believer, an EP that featured most of the band’s B-sides, was released in February 2008. They spent 2008 working on their fourth studio album, Artwork, which was released in August 2009. A fifth album, titled Vulnerable, was released in March 2012 through the independent label Hopeless records. In summer 2013 they released another EP titled The Ocean of the Sky. Their sixth album, Imaginary Enemy, released in April 2014. Their 7th studio album titled The Canyon was released October 27, 2017.

The used have enjoyed much success with most of their albums achieving gold and platinum statuses in many countries worldwide. When they formed in 2001, they already had the music prepared but did not yet have lyrics and a required vocalist. They held auditions at Howard’s residence, but the band was not satisfied with any of the vocalists, describing the auditions as “terrible”. Allman then asked Bert McCracken if he was interested in joining the band. McCracken was impressed with the material the band had created. After being given music that the band had written, McCracken wrote the lyrics to what would become “Maybe Memories” and returned the next day to record a demo version of the song. McCracken was then officially confirmed as being the band’s vocalist. Throughout all of this, the band members suffered from poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse, panhandling for change in order to buy food. The members decided upon the name “Used” after friends claimed they felt “used” when contact with the band members waned as they became more engrossed in the project. In 2002, it was discovered that a Boston band had already trademarked the name “used.” The band decided to add “The” to their name, thus becoming “The Used”.