In late 1985 Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams left The Sisters Of Mercy and formed The Mission and in early 1986 embarked on their first European tour, supporting The Cult. They released 2 singles independently, both reaching No.1 in the UK alternative charts, the first one, "Serpent's Kiss", being the top selling independent single of 1986, before signing a worldwide record deal with Phonogram Records (now Universal).

Their first single for the new label, “Stay With Me”, went straight into the

UK chart at No. 30 followed by their debut album “God”s Own Medicine” at No. 14. Over the next eight years the band released six more albums and enjoyed a further 13 top 40 singles including anthemic classics such as “Wasteland”, “Tower Of Strength”, “Beyond The Pale”, “Deliverance” and “Butterfly On A Wheel”. Total worldwide album sales to date have now well exceeded 4 million.

During this period, The Mission enhanced their reputation as one of the best and most exciting live bands in the world winning countless accolades and inspiring both lurid media stories and a fanatical following as they toured constantly including highlights such as seven sold out consecutive shows at the Astoria Theatre in London (a house record never beaten), headlining the famous Reading Festival twice, and also playing with U2, The Cure and Robert Plant.

In 1994, the band parted company with Phonogram after a number of

contractual disputes and signed their label “Neverland” to Sony Dragnet in Europe. Two years and two more album releases later, the band decided to call a halt to the general craziness of their existence to seek respite and well-earned solace.

In 1999, fully reinvigorated, The Mission reunited and after a few

spectacularly successful early shows, embarked on a year long tour that saw the band visit places as far flung as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, USA, South Africa, Greece (Recon 2000 tour), including memorable appearances at the Eurorock and M'era Luna Festivals and which culminated in a successful European tour in November/December 2000.

In late 2001 The Mission released what many fans consider to be their finest album to date in “AurA”. It marked the beginning of a contemporary and exciting new era for the band and the welcome return of all of the band’s old swagger, relevance and confidence. The album reached No. 1 in the German alternative chart and stayed there for eight weeks. The band also embarked on a German tour as special guests of ”HIM” to coincide with the release of the album, quickly followed by their own very successful six-week tour of Europe in early 2002.

In April of that year, The Mission returned to South America for shows in

Brazil, Argentina, Chile & Peru. This carried on throughout the summer and the band played further successful shows in Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Ireland, Germany, USA, and the UK.

The band continued to tour throughout 2003 (Pilgrimage), 2004 (Breathen and Absolution) and 2005 (Lighting the Candles) with the interim periods also seeing Wayne working on several side projects including those with legendary Italian band, Votiva Lux, and the film Mercenario resulting in the limited edition CD Single “Breathe Me In”, which reached number one in the German DAC charts.

During the 2005 “Lighting the Candles” tour, a double DVD of the same name was released, the band's first ever DVD release, to coincide with the tour. Packed with footage from live shows, video singles, archive and biography features, and behind the scenes footage, it has been critically acclaimed as one of the most complete video releases any band has released to date and was nominated in Germany for the equivalent of a Grammy. A remarkable achievement when it's considered this was a self financed independent release and was nominated in the same category as new DVD releases by such artists as Madonna and Bon Jovi.

Early 2006 saw Universal Records release “Anthology – The Phonogram Years” – a compilation of some of the band’s finest work plus some rare and never heard before tracks, plus “Waves Upon the Sand / Crusade” DVD – a re-release of two Phonogram period Mission videos. Later followed by re-releasing the first four Mission albums, digitally remastered with bonus tracks and sleeve notes. All sold extremely well.

The Mission released their album ‘God Is A Bullet’ on SPV in April 2007. It

would’ve been easy for the band to revisit past glories but they resisted.

The Mission recorded a ‘forward looking’ album that was both brave and

adventurous. It’s a ‘guitar’ album full of swagger, confidence, good tunes,

and, in Wayne Hussey, a songwriter that was at the top of his game.

March 2008 saw The Mission close the curtain - for the time being at least, with Wayne Hussey disbanding the group to concentrate on solo ventures - with a sold out European tour which culminated with 4 shows at the London Shepherds Bush Empire. The band released ‘The Final Chapter’ DVD, which chronicled the the tour, and charted at number 6 in the UK DVD chart later that year.

2011 - And 3/4 of the original line-up of the band - Wayne Hussey, Craig

Adams, Simon Hinkler - reformed with new drummer, Mike Kelly, to play a sold out European 25th anniversary tour which ended at London's Brixton Academy, a show that was sold out a full 6 months in advance! Encouraged by the response of fans the band extended the tour to include South & North America and then went onto record, and release in late 2013, a brand new album, "The Brightest Light", which garnered the best press reviews the band had received in years.

Armed by one of the most rabid fan bases in the world The Mission continued to excite the legions with a slew of successful shows and tours and have continued to do so ever since.

And now 2016 sees The Mission celebrating 30 years since they first set foot on the stage at the tiny Alice In Wonderland club in London and, to

celebrate, the band set out on their most extensive and ambitious tour since they reformed in 2011 and will release a brand new album to coincide.

Keep the faith!