Extreme

Extreme are best known for their acoustic love songs "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted," but they're rockers at heart, with many songs powered by Nuno Bettencourt's assertive guitar licks.

The band formed in Boston; Nuno Bettencourt was born in Portugal but moved there when he was four. They first got attention in 1985 when they made a video for a song called "Mutha (Don't Wanna Go To School Today)," that aired on a UHF station in Boston called V66 - they had the good fortune of living in a city with local TV station dedicated to music videos. They submitted the video to MTV's Basement Tapes, a contest/showcase for unsigned artists, and won, garnering the most votes from viewers. Bettencourt and Pat Badger weren't with the band at this point, which had recently changed their name from The Dream to Extreme (as in ex-Dream). They joined in 1986 and the band built a following by playing the many clubs in the area, which got the attention of A&M Records. They signed with the label in 1987 at the height of hair metal and released their first (self-titled) album in 1989, with "Mutha" on the tracklist. That song and "Kid Ego" got some attention, but their next album, Pornograffitti, was their breakthrough, selling over 2 million copies in America thanks to "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted."

Extreme split in 1996, at which point Cherone became lead singer of Van Halen. Sammy Hagar held that position since taking over for David Lee Roth in 1985, but he split over personal and creative differences. Van Halen first tried to reunite with Roth. That didn't work out, so Cherone got the call. He made one album with the band - Van Halen III in 1997 - before they took a hiatus. When Van Halen returned to action in 2003, it was with Hagar.