The story of Placebo started when Brian met Steve outside Burger King in Lewisham through a mutual college friend of Brian’s. The two quickly became friends and started writing songs together and playing local gigs. Then by pure chance Brian bumped into a boy he went to school with in Luxembourg called Stefan Olsdal. The two never spoke at school but when they met outside South Kensington tube station they spoke and realised they had a lot more in common then they ever thought. They started playing local gigs together under the name of ‘Ashtray Heart’ which was named after a captain beefheart song. They soon changed their name to Placebo as they liked the way it sounded. In 1994 Placebo made their first demo tape. Steve was unable to stay with Placebo so Stefan introduced Brian to a Swedish drummer called Robert Schultzberg who Stefan had known from school.
  In 96 they got signed by the small Hut label. Their first single with Hut was called ‘Come Home’ was released in February 96. They recorded their self titled debut ‘Placebo’ in Dublin working with a producer from Chicago called Brad Wood. In July 96 they released ’36 Degrees’ followed one week later with the album Placebo.
  David Bowie heard the album and invited Placebo to support him on his European tour. The single ‘Teenage Angst’ followed. Placebo were getting the success they deserved however Brian and Rob were not getting on so Steve rejoined permanently in late 96.
  Early 97 was when Placebo got their big break, with the release of ‘Nancy Boy’ they instantly got a lot of attention from the media. Also in January 1997 Placebo went to New York to play at David Bowie’s 50th birthday party at Madison Square gardens. 

 (Bowies 50th Birthday)

In the summer of 97 after the recent success of the band Placebo were offered parts in Todd Haines new movie ‘Velvet Goldmine’ they accepted and the movie was a hit.  By the time the movie opened Placebo were preparing to release their second album ‘Without You I’m Nothing’
In August 98 Placebo returned with a more mature sound and a fantastic single titled ‘Pure Morning’ In September 98 a second single from the album appeared in the charts titled ‘You Don’t Care About Us’ the album was released on October 12th 98.

(Placebo Back with album no.2 Without You I'm Nothing)

In early 99 Placebo released a song called ‘Every You, Every Me’ which was the theme song to the hit movie Cruel Intentions. In February 99 Placebo performed at the ‘99’ Brit awards with David Bowie. They performed the T-rex classic 20th Century Boy.
  After a successful tour Placebo headed back to the studio to make their third album. They worked with producer Paul Corkett and for some songs had guest musicians and artists. During the mixing session of the album Placebo received some sad news. A man called Scott Piering had sadly passed away. The album was dedicated to his memory. The album took them nine months to record and when it was completed Placebo had a pure rock album Black Market Music.

 In July 2000 Placebo returned with power single ‘Taste In Men’ the song was more electronic then their previous material but remains a standout song for Placebo. The next single ‘Slave To The Wage’ followed a successful summer tour. The album was released on October 9th 2000 and reached gold status in just one week. They continued touring into 2001. A powerful song ‘Special K’ was released as a single in March 2001 however the music media linked the title Special K to drug substance Ketamin as it is also known as Special K. Due to this the song was banned from all UK radio stations. The song is a love song that got interpreted the wrong way. A fourth single from Black Market Music followed called ‘Black-eyed’ the song was used as the theme song to a German movie called ‘Engel & Joe’ Black-eyed was not released in the UK and English fans could only purchase a copy on the Internet.
   During 2002 Placebo had a long break. Brian opened a club called Introvenus at the Camden Underworld.
  On April 18th 2002 Placebo played along with other bands at the 4Scott charity gig at La Scala in Kings Cross London. The gig was held in memory of Scott piering. Placebo played a four song acoustic set and dedicated Slave To The Wage to him as it was the song they was mixing when they heard the news. The song was also dedicated to Steve’s granddad who sadly passed away on the morning of the gig.
  During the break in 2002 Placebo did their own thing. Stef spent time in Spain with his Spanish side project band. Meanwhile Brian was doing some solo material. He was asked to do lead vocals on a song called ‘Carbon Kid’ by the Alpinestars. He was also working as a DJ at clubs in London and abroad. In July 2002 Placebo went back into the studio to make album no.4. They returned in 2003 with a new look and new sound.

 (Placebo Back With Album 4, Sleeping With Ghosts)

Placebo released the first single ‘The Bitter End’ on March 10th and the song entered the charts at no.11. They did a five-date mini-tour that took them to Portsmouth, Brighton, London, Cologne and Paris. The album titled ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’ was released on March 24th. They begun touring on April 1st. They released ‘This Picture’ as a single on June 16th. They then continued doing a world tour throughout most of the year and a third single ‘Special Needs’ was released in September along with a special edition of Sleeping With Ghosts which included a 10-track bonus disc of cover songs. On October 18th Placebo played at the Omnisport De Bercy in Paris. The gig was a sell-out 18,000 capacity. It was a landmark date of Placebo’s Career.
  In February 2004 Placebo released a re-worked version of ‘English Summer Rain’ the song wasn’t released in France as French fans were treated to a song from sleeping with ghosts called ‘Protect Me From What I Want’ which had been re-written in French and was called ‘Protégé Moi’
  On March 15th 2004 Placebo released their first full length DVD called ‘Soulmates Never Die- Live In Paris 2003’ it featured the full gig at the Paris Bercy plus a ½ hour tour documentary.
  They begun touring again in March then had a break in April. During the break Brian spent time in Bangkok Thailand doing a DJ residency at the met bar hotel.
  In October 2004 Placebo released 'Twenty Years' a song in which Placebo told their fans they'd be around for another 20 years. This was closely followed up by their new album 'Once More With Feeling' an album of all of their singles from 1996 - 2004. Their were two new songs featured on this album, 'Twenty Years' and 'I Do'
  After a long tour promoting Sleeping With Ghosts Placebo ended their tour on November 5th 2004 at the Wembley Arena in London. A show which was set to be a spectacular one. With guest Robert Smith from The Cure the Placebo fans in attendance we're in for a treat. After this show Placebo went on a break where Brian spent a few months living in India and Stefan worked with his new side project 'Hotel Persona'
  Placebo's break from touring didn't last too long as in April 2005 they jetted off to do a month long tour of South America. A country they were vastly becoming popular in. The tour was a huge success for them and by doing that tour they made theirselves an even bigger fanbase in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.
  After the South American tour Placebo headed back to the recording studio to begin working on their new album. In July 2005 they took a very quick break from recording to appear at the Live8 concert in Paris on July 2nd.  The next time Placebo were seen was at the Kerrang awards 2005 where they was nominated for an award.

 (Placebo returned in 2006 with the long anticipated album, Meds)