Frank Littlemore

Joseph Frank Littlemore (born. 1964-) is an American musician, most notably the lead singer and longest running member of American metal band Stagnant.

Early life
Joseph was born on the 23rd of April 1964, to machine worker Abraham Littlemore (born. 1937-) and seamstress Katherine O'Hara (born. 1936-died. 1975), the oldest of five other children. He has three brothers (Aaron, James, and Peter) and two sisters (Elizabeth and Roxanne). Joseph's family moved from Kansas to New Jersey in 1970 when he was six, following the birth of his second youngest brother James. In 1977 his mother Katherine died from tuberculosis, when Joseph's sister Roxanne was only two. Abraham had to take an extra job to pay the rent and support his family, and Joseph asked his father to pay for singing lessons in the hope that Joseph would eventually take a job and support the family. During his lessons, circa 1978, he became interested in bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zepellin, whom he claims are major influences to Stagnant. In 1980, when he was sixteen, Joseph became the frontman of the local band Amoeba, of which future Stagnant member Jose Lynch was a part of. This is how the two met, and after Amoeba broke up in 1985 Littlemore and Lynch recruited Michael Ackerman and Samuel Hathaway to form a new band.

Stagnant and onwards
In 1989, Stagnant was formed. They recorded their first EP, Black Suns White Moons in 1990, before being signed to Batched Records later that year. They delivered their first album, and most sold, Stagnant Shore in 1991, breaking them into mainstream sucess immediately. By 1992, the band were at each other's throats, due to pressure from Batched to deliver another album. They recorded and released Pestilentia in 1993, before Jose Lynch, Michael Ackerman, and Samuel Hathaway all left the band citing "creative differences". Lynch found Lacerator in 1999, whereas Ackerman and Hathaway left the music career and pursued other things. Littlemore searched desperately for replacements, and called on his friend Brett Syracuse to join as drummer. Syracuse recommended his neighbour and friend Jackie Fleet and Andy Kyle. They all joined in late 1993, and Batched Records was content with keeping the band despite the line-up change. In 1994, with three new additions, Stagnant released their third album Nightmares and Despair. The album sold well, and critics claimed it was because of the new lineup, who had better skill. After completing their three record deal with Batched Records, Littlemore and the others contemplated leaving the label. They did in 1995, and were picked up by K.I.L.L Records Ltd. With a new record label under wing, Littlemore and the others recorded their fourth album, Fear The Night. It was released in late 1996, and sold well like its predecessor. Stagnant embarked on their first tour as the new lineup in September of 1996, and seventy percent of their venues were sold out. Critics said that "Stagnant are beginning to affirm themselves up their in metal royalty with Metallica and Megadeth". According to Littlemore, 1997 was a rough year for Stagnant. With Andy Kyle's near death experience and Brett Syracuse's absence for six months, the band had little time to deliver what K.I.L.L Records wanted. In 1997 they released Rust, and recieved phenomenal sucess. It remains their highest selling album next to "Stagnant Shore". After delivering two albums to K.I.L.L Records, Stagnant embarked on a world tour in early 1998 before returning to record their next album. 12 Laws of Chaos was released in July of '98, and critics called it "a modern metal masterpiece". Less than sixth months after their world tour Stagnant embarked on another to promote 12 Laws of Chaos with newcomers KoRn. After months of touring, Stagnant sat down and according to Littlemore "chilled out to write some decent music". In 1999 the band released their seventh album, Operation: Exterminate. The album was generally well recieved, and sold 120,000 copies.

In September of 1999 Stagnant was on the verge of splitting. But after Littlemore resurrected the band's passion they had a two year break until work began in July of 2000, for their eighth album Ten Years of Death, the title commerating their 10 year anniversary. The album was released the following year, March 2001. It was phenomenonly sucessful, and the band embarked on their first world tour since 1998. Shortly after the tour ended, Jackie Fleet, Andy Kyle, and Brett Syracuse all left Stagnant for other ventures. Once again Littlemore was left alone to find a new lineup. In 2002 Louis "Fattz" DeLaney, Kayne Ellet, and Luke Edwards joined Stagnant as guitarist, bassist and drummer. Facing being dropped by K.I.L.L Records, Littlemore gathered his new bandmates and set about recording the next album to reaffirm the label's faith in Stagnant. RustED was released in 2003, and critics praised Littlemore for his lyrics and being able to rouse up a new band from the ashes. They also said that "Stagnant's constant lineup change freshens it up a bit, and rules out the boredom". In 2004, K.I.L.L Records dropped Stagnant after they completed their five album deal and the label chose not to renew their contract. In an interview Littlemore said he was "pissed off by K.I.L.L Record's lack of understanding and profesionalism". CEO of K.I.L.L Records, Chuck Harrington, replied by saying "Stagnant fulfiled their contract and it was our legitimate decision as a label to not renew their contract further". Stagnant had a album in the works, Zodiac, and thankfully they were picked up by Caliber Records in 2004. They released their first album through the label, and their tenth album overall, "Zodiac". The album was well recieved by critics, and was the band's highest selling album since Rust in 1997. After barely two years together, Louis "Fattz" DeLaney, Kayne Ellet, and Luke Edwards all left Stagnant, and Caliber Records also dropped Stagnant. Littlemore was struggling, but thankfully found a record label that would pick the band up. His close friend Jacob Vindic's new record label Vindictive Records signed Stagnant as one of its first bands, and Vindic worked with his friend to find new band members. In late 2005 Casey Averdene, Joseph McPherson, and Andy Callighan all joined Stagnant, and are the current band members. Armed with a fresh lineup and a new record label backing them, Stagnant worked with Vindic on their eleventh album Fall Of Man. The album was hugely sucessful, and ranks third in the highest sales of Stagnant albums, with Rust second and Stagnant Shore first. With the sucess of the eleventh album, Littlemore asked Vindic to produce the twelfth album as well. Vindic agreed, and the album began production. System Failure was released on 2006 through Vindictive Records and well recieved. The band was beginning to find its feet again, and critics were finally calling Stagnant "metal band legends". After touring to promote System Failure, Stagnant returned to the studio to record their thirteenth album, Bloodrayne. After many months of recording and writting songs, Littlemore worked so hard he even secured a guest guitar spot on "Bloodrayne" from Metallica's Kirk Hammet on two tracks. The album was released in 2007 and peaked at #13 on Metal Countdown. Less than two weeks later it plummeted to #3, and Stagnant embarked on their world tour.

In early 2008 the band returned to the studio in a creative buzz. They began working on the fourteenth album, Psychpopathic with Vindictive Records. They released it in mid 2008, and it peaked at #5 on Metal Countdown, second to only Bullet For My Valentine's "Scream Aim Fire" at #2 and Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" at #1. To commemorate Stagnant's eighteenth year, Littlemore and the others promised a huge year for the band. They kicked it off with the huge double-disc fifteenth album Stagnant Invasion, released in 2009. The album sold over 600,000 and surpassed any other album sale. The band then kicked of their "The Invasion" World Tour, skyrocketing the album's sucess even higher. It was also the first time Stagnant had five consecutive singles on Metal Countdown from #4 to #15.

After their tour ends on December 13th 2009, according to Littlemore, the band will enter a brief hiatus before returning for a late 2010 album. Littlemore's autobiography, which has been in the works since late '05, aptly titled Stagnant: Eighteen Years of Triumph, Turmoil and Music is due to be released before any other future Stagnant albums.

Personal life
Littlemore was married to Claire Lee in 1997, and in the following year their daughter Ashley Katherine Littlemore was born. Joseph has two other children, his son Luke (born. 2002) and his second daughter Cassie (born. 2004). Littlemore's brother James lives with his family in Newark, New Jersey. Littlemore has a prized collection of 70s metla and progressive rock records at his house, including an original vinyl of Black Sabbath's first album release in 1970, brought by his father for his sixth birthday. His biography Stagnant: Eighteen Years of Triumph, Turmoil and Music is due for release at the end of 2009, and has been in the works since 2005.

Studio albums

 * Stagnant Shore (1991)
 * Pestilentia (1993)
 * Nightmares and Despair (1994)
 * Fear The Night (1996)
 * Rust (1997)
 * 12 Laws of Chaos (1998)
 * Operation: Exterminate (1999)
 * Ten Years of Death (2001)
 * RustED (2003)
 * Zodiac (2004)
 * Fall of Man (2005)
 * System Failure (2006)
 * Bloodrayne (2007)
 * Psychopathic (2008)
 * Stagnant Invasion (2009)

Live DVDs

 * Stagnant: Live In New York (1995)
 * Stagnant: Ten Years of Death Tour (2001)
 * Stagnant: The Invasion Tour (2009)

Compilation albums

 * Chaotik (2004)
 * Best of ....Stagnant (2009)