Sanctuary is a name used by multiple musical artists: 1. Sanctuary is an American heavy metal band formed in 1985 in Seattle, Washington. The band was inactive between 1992 and 2010. Its line-up has included Lenny Rutledge (guitar), Joseph Michael (vocals), George Hernandez (bass), and Dave Budbill (drums), while Warrel Dane served as lead vocalist until his death in 2017. The band has released three studio albums and one live EP. Although the band did not achieve significant mainstream success, it has been cited as an influence within the Seattle hard rock and heavy metal scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside acts such as Mother Love Bone, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Queensrÿche, Metal Church, Fifth Angel, TKO, Culprit, Rail, Forced Entry, and Q5. Sanctuary was founded by cousins and guitarists Lenny Rutledge and Sean Blosl. The group initially performed cover versions and original compositions before completing its line-up. After Warrel Dane joined as vocalist, the band focused on original material and recorded its first demo, which received airplay on the Seattle college radio station KCMU. The demo came to the attention of Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, who agreed to produce the band’s debut album. Sanctuary performed several support shows with Megadeth before recording its first album, "Refuge Denied", produced by Mustaine. The band secured a recording contract with Epic Records and released the album in 1988. It subsequently toured internationally, appear