Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy is an American rock ^{rock music} band from Wilmette ^{Wilmette, Illinois} , Illinois, that formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist-rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, bassist Pete Wentz and drummer Andy Hurley.

With Pete Wentz as the band's primary lyricist and Patrick Stump as the primary composer, Fall Out Boy reached mainstream success with its major label debut, From Under the Cork Tree. Released in 2005, the album won several awards and has achieved double platinum ^{RIAA certification} status after selling more than 2.5 million albums in the United States alone. To support the album, the band headlined tours around the world in 2005 and 2006.

In 2007 the band released Infinity on High to major chart success, reaching #1 on the Billboard 200 and selling 260,000 copies its first week. The lead single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", reached #1 on the Pop 100 and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 ^{Billboard Hot 100} . To promote the album, the band performed at the Live Earth concerts and headlined the Honda Civic Tour through mid 2007.

On February 2, 2010, the band reportedly broke up although no official press statement was released. On both February 4, 2010 and February 6, 2010, the band's current status was made more clear and the indefinite hiatus was re-confirmed.

 
Early years (2001 / 2002)

Fall Out Boy was formed in early 2001 by friends Joe Trohman and Pete Wentz, who had played in various hardcore punk bands in the Chicago area. Inspired by bands they listened to growing up, such as Green Day, Descendents ^{Descendents (band)} , and The Smiths, the pair decided to start their own band. The video reached #1 on MTV's TRL ^{Total Request Live} , where it was retired on August 26, 2005. The video won the MTV2 Award ^{MTV Video Music Award – MTV2 Award} at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, prompting a huge new interest and surge in sales. The band was also nominated for "Best New Artist ^{Grammy Award for Best New Artist} " at the 2006 Grammy Awards ^{48th Grammy Awards} .

The second single off the album, "Dance, Dance", became their second Top 10 Single when it peaked at #9 on the Hot 100. It reached #6 on the Pop 100, becoming the band's highest charting single when it reached #2 on the Modern Rock Charts. The third single off the album, "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me"", was much less popular than both prior singles, but still managed to peak at #65 on the Hot 100 Due to its increased success from their MTV Video Music Award, the group headlined the Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour, a pop/punk event that featured The All-American Rejects, Well-Known Secret, Hawthorne Heights, and From First to Last. The tour also featured The Hush Sound for half of the tour and October Fall for half. They played to 53 dates in the US, Canada, and the UK.


Infinity on High, Live in Phoenix and other projects (2007 / 2008)

In early 2007, the band released its second major label album, Infinity on High. The album had a successful debut week, selling 260,000 copies and reaching number one on the Billboard 200 ^{Billboard 200} . This charting was spurred by the single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", which reached #2 in the US and UK. Fall Out Boy then headlined the Honda Civic Tour to promote the album. Though the tour was initially postponed due to personal issues, it would take place with +44, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is... and Paul Wall as supporting acts.


A CD and DVD of live material recorded during a June 22, 2007, concert at Phoenix ^{Phoenix, Arizona} 's Cricket Wireless Pavilion was released on April 1, 2008. Of note, the album, simply called Live in Phoenix, contains a new studio recording covering Michael Jackson's "Beat It" with John Mayer as a guest on guitar. The song premiered for the first time on Wentz's site Friends or Enemies ^{Pete Wentz#Other projects} , and was released as a single on March 25, 2008. Following its release, it debuted at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #19.

On March 18, it was revealed that Fall Out Boy had plans to play a show in Antarctica in order to be included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only band to play a concert on all seven continents in less than nine months; however, weather conditions prevented them from flying to Antarctica. The following week, they began making plans for a second attempt.

Fall Out Boy collaborated with rapper T.I. for the album Paper Trail on a track entitled "Out in the Cold", but the song was left out of the final cut. T.I. told MTV that he may add some of the cut tracks to his next album.


Citizens for Our Betterment (2008)

A viral campaign ^{viral marketing} was launched by Pete Wentz on August 18, 2008, to promote what is now known to be the band's fifth studio album Folie à Deux ^{Folie à Deux (album)} . The campaign started when the website for Decaydance Records was supposedly "***ed" by an organization called "Citizens For Our Betterment" (CFOB). Clues were left in links and images on the website, and Wentz left clues on his personal blog. On August 19, Ashlee Simpson was seen carrying a pamphlet for the organization, raising suspicion and sparking many rumors online. In the days that followed, new posts appeared on the Citizens For Our Betterment website and Wentz continued to blog, at times referring to November 4, the same day as the 2008 U.S. presidential election ^{United States presidential election, 2008} . Meanwhile, another band, Copeland ^{Copeland (band)} , launched their own viral campaign. As part of it, they launched a similarly named site, CitizensFourOurBetterment.com, and spread links through various Fall Out Boy fan blogs in order to attract more people to their own site. Later the same day, the band made another post featuring a Buzznet video of them announcing the upcoming release of the album and explaining the name.


Folie à Deux (2008 / 2009)

On December 16, 2008, the band released its fifth studio album, Folie à Deux ^{Folie à Deux (album)} , as a follow-up to their 2007 album Infinity on High. The band collaborated with other artists such as Elvis Costello, Lil Wayne, Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco, Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, Doug, Alex DeLeon of The Cab, William Beckett of The Academy Is..., Debbie Harry of Blondie ^{Blondie (band)} , and Pharrell Williams.

The lead single for the album, "I Don't Care ^{I Don't Care (Fall Out Boy song)} ", was released on September 3, 2008, on iTunes, and was number 68 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. The second single to receive radio play was "America's Suitehearts", released on December 8, 2008. Wentz stated the song is about the ongoing Bush administration.

In January 2009 the band announced they would embark on the Believers Never Die Part Deux Tour with Cobra Starship, Metro Station ^{Metro Station (band)} , All Time Low and Hey Monday to support the Folie à Deux release. Its name is based on their 2004 "Believers Never Die Tour". The group also performed alongside Kanye West and Kid Rock at the Youth Ball for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

On April 27, 2009 an EP was released on iTunes, titled America's Suitehearts: Remixed, Retouched, Rehabbed and Retoxed. It contains a remix from Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus. Fall Out Boy, along with Weezer, were the opening acts for Blink-182's summer reunion tour in 2009.


Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits and indefinite hiatus (2009)


A compilation titled Believers Never Die – Greatest Hits was released on November 17, 2009. It includes the band's past singles as well as two new songs. One of the new songs was confirmed to be the full version of "Alpha Dog", a track that was previously released as a demo on the Welcome to the New Administration mixtape, and the other "From Now On We're Enemies". The album artwork, created by Daniel Danger, features two skeletons hugging; a reference to the skeletons found outside of Mantua, Italy ^Mantua who were found buried together while locked in an embrace. There are also numerous references to the band's career and previous works.

On November 20, 2009, the four band members announced they will be taking a break, an indefinite hiatus for the time being. "We don't know the future of Fall Out Boy!" said the four band members. Bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz has said that his personal reason for taking a break is that he feels that his name and marriage to pop ^{pop music} singer Ashlee Simpson had become a hindrance for the band. He added: "I think the world needs a little less Pete Wentz".


Unofficial breakup controversy and re-confirmation of indefinite hiatus (2010)


On February 1, 2010, bassist Pete Wentz said on Twitter, "Don't you get it? A hiatus is forever until you get lonely or old. I don't plan on either." "I can't imagine playing in FOB again." "Something would have to change in my head or my heart ... not my wallet."

On February 2, 2010, Spin Magazine released an interview they had with lead singer Patrick Stump, who replied to Pete Wentz's tweets by saying, "I'm not in Fall Out Boy right now. But one way or another, the band will always be around...Whether we play again or not, I don't know. If we do, it will be for the right reasons. If we don't, it will also be for the right reasons." Stump also told Spin.com that he was focusing on his upcoming solo career.

Later that day, drummer Andy Hurley simply tweeted, "I quit too." as guitarist Joe Trohman tweeted in reply, "fine, i quit too."

Wentz took to his blog to sum it all up saying, "i dont know the future of fall out boy. its embarrassing to say one thing and then have the future dictate another. as far as i know fall out boy is on break. (no one wants to say the “h” word). as much as i don't have a solo project, i also cant predict that id ever play in fall out boy again. not due to personal relationships as much as a band we grew apart. in this statement id like to include there is the possibility that fob will play again with out me or i will be a part of it when everyone is on the same page. it is no ones fault and there is no animosity about the decision. i felt as fans you deserve to know. there is no singular reason for this. the side projects or bands are supported by all members of the band. i am the single biggest fan of fob and if this is our legacy than so be it. i am proud of it."

On February 4, 2010, Wentz tweeted that the band is "in the same place it ever was" and that "there is a chance it'll work out, or not." Then later, he tweeted again, saying, "ok no more fob jokes. we['re] in the exact position we were when we decided to take a break".

On February 6, 2010, E! Online reported that Wentz had told them "We're just on a break," and that he is more focused on being a father right now than he is on Fall Out Boy. Pete lastly added, "...I think I'll be OK. It's too soon to say that we'll be back. We just got burned out."

After the announcement of the band's break, several Fall Out Boy members moved on to new musical endeavors. Joseph Trohman and Andy Hurley teamed up with Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die, Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano from Anthrax ^{Anthrax (band)} and David Karon to form the heavy metal ^{heavy metal music} band The Damned Things ^{Damned Things} . Hurley also plays in the hardcore ^{hardcore punk} band Burning Empires, featuring Matt Mixon of 7 Angels 7 Plagues, and Stuart Ross, Ryan Morgan, and Kyle Johnson of Misery Signals. Hurley will also temporarily act as a live fill in for Dennis Merrick during Earth Crisis' 2010 "The Wrath of Sanity" tours, and continue working on his record label, *** City. As of January 2010, Patrick Stump is writing and producing his debut solo album.While widely considered to be a pop punk band, Fall Out Boy has been described as emo and cites emo group The Get Up Kids as an influence. When interviewed for a retrospective article in Alternative Press at the time The Get Up Kids disbanded in 2005, Pete Wentz stated that "Fall Out Boy would not be a band if it were not for The Get Up Kids." Early in the bands career, when Jared Logan was producing their debut album ^{Fall Out Boy's Evening Out with Your Girlfriend} , he asked bassist Pete Wentz what sound the band desired for recording. Wentz responded by "handing over the first two New Found Glory records".

A central part of Fall Out Boy's sound is rooted in the band's lyrics, mainly penned by bassist Pete Wentz, who commonly uses irony and other literary devices to narrate personal experience and stories. and Infinity on High features a wide range of styles and instrumentation, including orchestral and choral arrangements ("Thnks fr th Mmrs" and "You're Crashing, But You're No Wave") and a slower piano ballad ("Golden ^{Golden (song)} "). On Folie à Deux, Fall Out Boy continues to evolve their sound, increasing the use of piano ("What a Catch, Donnie", "Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet", and "20 Dollar Nose Bleed"), synthesizers, and guest artists. The band also shows a number of influences, with the opening track borrowing a chord sequence from The Who song "Baba O'Riley" and "What a Catch, Donnie" referencing Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway in both sound and lyrics.

The band has worked with many producers and artists, including The Neptunes, Timbaland, Lil' Wayne and Kanye West, who Patrick Stump described as "the Prince ^{Prince (musician)} of his generation." Following the news that Fall Out Boy would be taking a break, Rock Sound revealed that Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley have teamed up with members of Every Time I Die and Anthrax to create a metal supergroup called The Damned Things.;Current
*Patrick Stump / lead vocals (2001 / present)>, rhythm guitar (2003 / present)>
*Joe Trohman / lead guitars, backing vocals (2001 / present)>
*Pete Wentz / bass, backing vocals (2001 / present)>
*Andy Hurley / drums, percussion (2003 / present)>
;Former
*T.J. "Raccine" Kunasch / rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001 / 2003)>
*Mike Pareskuwicz / drums, percussion (2001 / 2003)>
Studio albums

* Fall Out Boy's Evening Out with Your Girlfriend (2003)
* Take This to Your Grave (2003)
* From Under the Cork Tree (2005)
* Infinity on High (2007)
* Folie à Deux ^{Folie à Deux (album)} (2008)