Obituary is an American death metal band formed in October 1984 in Tampa, Florida, under the name Executioner, then changed the name's spelling to Xecutioner before eventually changing their name to Obituary in 1988. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist John Tardy, lead guitarist Kenny Andrews, rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres, bassist Terry Butler, and drummer Donald Tardy. Obituary has gone through several lineup changes, with Peres and the Tardy brothers being the only constant members. The band was a fundamental act in the development of death metal music, and is one of the most successful death metal bands of all time.
Obituary are one of the pioneering bands of the death metal genre. Founded as Executioner in Seffner, Florida in 1984, they soon dropped the "E" from their name after discovering another band of the same name, becoming Xecutioner. The band's first lineup was composed of John Tardy (vocals), Jerry Tidwell (lead guitar), Trevor Peres (guitar), Jerome Grable (bass) & Donald Tardy (drums). The band released demos in 1985, 1986, and 1987, (the 1985 demo as Executioner and the 1986 and 1987 demos as Xecutioner). They made their vinyl debut in 1987 with two tracks ("Find the Arise" and "Like the Dead") on the Raging Death compilation. Not long after the release of the compilation, bassist Grable was replaced by Daniel Tucker. The following year, shortly before the release of the band's first album Slowly We Rot, they changed their name to Obituary.