Career
After falling out as a touring musician with multiple local musical acts in the Orlando, Florida area during 2006, Jesus Torres, going by the moniker "Dahvie Vanity" ("Dahvie the Elite Hair God" on Myspace), formed a musical group with friends Matty "M" Malaret, Christopher Mongillo, and Rebecca Fugate. Initially the group (then titled "Love the Fashion") was considered a joke, but developed into Blood on the Dance Floor in the summer of 2007. Malaret left the group in late 2007 before the group's self-released debut album, Let's Start a Riot, in April 2008. Citing the inability to tour, Mongillo and Fugate also left the band shortly thereafter.
During the recording of their second album, It's Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World, the band was picked up by producer and writer Rusty Wilmot. During the recording of this album, Garrett Marshal McLaughlin (Garrett Ecstasy) was recruited to do backup vocals and screaming. The CD was self-released in October 2008. Only 300 copies were made.
Vanity and Ecstasy recorded the singles "Siq with a Q" and "Suicide Club" as a duo in 2008, and released three extended plays over the first half of 2009, I Scream I Scream, OMFG Sneak Peak, and Extended Play. The duo embarked on the OMFG Tour with other local bands Electric Valentine, Weston Buck, The Greenlight District, and The Crush in promotion of their upcoming album then titled OMFG.
After Ecstasy's departure from the band in light of rape allegations against Vanity, Vanity asked Jayy Von Monroe (who had been a fan of the band before joining) to join the group as Ecstasy's replacement.
Many of the songs originally recorded with Ecstasy intended for the upcoming album OMFG were re-recorded with new vocals by Von Monroe. The previous concept of the OMFG album was scrapped, and rebranded as Epic, set for release in 2010. The band went on tour over spring and summer 2010 to promote the release of Epic. With Jeffree Star they recorded three songs for that album. The collaborations with Jeffree Star were short-lived because like former member Garrett Ecstasy, Star had also accused Vanity of being a pedophile and a predator, claiming to have witnessed questionable behavior. Star later chose to go back on his accusations due to feeling like the band was being victimized. He was then featured on their 2014 single "Poison Apple", from the album Bitchcraft. As with the previous conflict with Garrett, the three singles featuring Star's vocals were re-recorded with vocals by Von Monroe, and the original tracks were not featured on the final album.
In October 2010, the album Epic charted No. 5 on the Dance/Electronic Billboard chart. The band headlined the Epic Tour and the Epic Tour Part II in support of the album.
Even before the release of Epic, recording began for Blood on the Dance Floor's fourth album, All the Rage!!. The duo collaborated with several artists for the album, including Lady Nogrady, JJ Demon, and Nick Nasty. The album was preceded by several singles to promote the release, including "Yo Ho", and "P.L.U.R.", and "Bewitched", which became the band's most well-known song. The band later embarked on Warped Tour 2011 in June 2011, and released the album while on tour.
The music video for their hit single from the album Bewitched featured Nicole "Lady" Nogrady. She later shared that she felt disrespected by the band throughout the album's production and during the music video shoot. Nogrady revealed that she had to directly confront the band to make sure her name was properly credited for her contributions. The song was subsequently performed by other female vocalists in place of Nogrady at live shows, and was re-recorded with vocals by Haley Rose for their 2013 acoustic album Blood Unplugged.
The album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. At the end of 2011, the duo headlined the All the Rage Tour and was planning the 'Tis the Season to be Killing Tour.
In celebration of Blood on the Dance Floor's fourth anniversary, a digital compilation album titled The Legend of Blood on the Dance Floor was set to be released on Halloween. The compilation's release date was pushed back, originally planned to be released as a CD, it was released as a SoundCloud playlist instead. The compilation features remastered versions of songs from the band's first four albums.
In 2012, Vanity as Blood on the Dance Floor performed the theme song for the Oishi High School Battle series on the Shut Up! Cartoons channel created by Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox of Smosh, and made a cameo appearance in the series as himself in the intro sequence, alongside Monroe. The series' theme song was a customized version of the band's typical crunkcore style and was heavily featured in every episode of the first three seasons. Following the public exposure of Vanity as a child sexual predator and further sexual assault allegations, all episodes of Oishi High School Battle were eventually removed by Smosh from the Shut Up! Cartoons channel.
Blood on the Dance Floor's fifth album, Evolution, was released on June 19, 2012, along with a deluxe edition that featured acoustic versions of two songs. Two music videos and four singles were released from the album.
The album featured tracks in collaboration with Haley Rose, Amelia Arsenic, Shawn Brandon, Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte, Elena Vladimirova, and Deuce.
As a thank you to their fans they released the three-song free EP Clubbed to Death! on June 20, 2012, for free through an app on Facebook. Their sixth EP, The Anthem of the Outcast, was released on October 30, 2012.
Rumors of a breakup in 2013 were proven to be a hoax with Vanity completely denying that the group was disbanding. Bad Blood was slated for release in September 2013. On February 18, 2013, the lead single "I Refuse to Sink! (Fuck the Fame)" was released, followed by the second single, "Crucified by Your Lies", and a third, "Something Grimm", on July 2, 2013.
Andrew "Drew" Apathy joined in early 2014, and a new album, Bitchcraft, was released in June 2014. Their single "We're Takin over!" featuring Deuce was released February 7. They released the album Scissors in 2016, the band's final release to feature Jayy Von Monroe due to Von Monroe leaving the group shortly afterward.
After Vonn Monroe's departure from the band, Vanity established multiple new solo music projects such as Sinners Are Winners and Master of Death.
In April 2017, Vanity announced that there would be a new member, and that Blood on the Dance Floor would be returning on May 5 of that year without Von Monroe. In May 2017, it was revealed that Dahvie's girlfriend, Fallon Vendetta, had temporarily joined Blood on the Dance Floor. With Vendetta, they released the singles "Resurrection Spell", "Love Like Voodoo", "Six Feet Under", "Yo Ho 2 (Pirate's Life)", "Ghosting" and "Destroy". Their album Kawaii Monster was released on October 31, 2017. Kawaii Monster pre-orders included a second disc, a remastered edition of Let's Start a Riot. The band also released an exclusive EP, You Are the Heart. In 2018, they released Haunted, followed by Cinema Erotica and You Are the Heart. Vendetta departed the group shortly afterward following a breakup with Vanity, leaving him the sole remaining member of the group.
On September 5, 2019, Vanity released a solo album as Blood on the Dance Floor titled Hollywood Death Star featuring singles such as "Sweet Like Popsicles" and "Sex Rx". After this album, Vanity seemingly retired the Blood on the Dance Floor moniker to focus on his alternate music projects such as Kawaii Monster and The Most Vivid Nightmares as well as his "Dark Arts Official" merchline.
On January 1, 2021, Vanity released a new version of Blood on the Dance Floor's "Bewitched" as "Bewitched Reimagined" featuring singer Sammy Beare. As of 2016, Monroe has continued to work as a drag queen under the name "The Dahli" and Vanity has continued to release music and merchandise by himself under both "The Most Vivid Nightmares" and "Dark Arts Official".
Although the band had been inactive since the breakup with Fallon Vendetta in 2019 and multiple rape allegations against Vanity between 2020 and 2021, in Spring 2025 Vanity teased an upcoming final Blood on the Dance Floor record on his "Dark Arts Official" Instagram page, with two singles being released on June 13, 2025. The complete album (somewhat of a sequel to Epic), titled Epidemic, was released on October 31, 2025. This was later revealed to be a marketing stunt, and Vanity would go back on claims that this is their final album, with a new record planned for 2026, titled Ripe With Decay.
