Fall Out Boy is a Grammy-nominated American rock band from Wilmette, Illinois, formed in 2001. The band consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, bassist Pete Wentz, and drummer Andy Hurley. The band released five albums from 2003–2008, and were deemed inactive as of 2009. Fall Out Boy was ranked the 93rd Best Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.[3]
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 achieved double platinum 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 the followup 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 Billboard Pop 100 and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In live performances, Patrick Stump simultaneously plays guitar and sings. On February 2, 2010, the band reportedly broke up although no official press statement was released.[4] Since then, Patrick Stump, in a recent interview, explained that Fall Out Boy never really broke up and are simply "on a break" whilst the members work on other projects.[5] In an interview with Chicago Sun-Times, he said "Fall Out Boy is just not planning anything right now. I would be very, very surprised if we don’t do another record again”, hinting that Fall Out Boy may make more music in the future.
The band's highest charting single is "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", from the platinum-selling album Infinity on High. Their first mainstream breakthrough song is "Sugar, We're Goin Down", earning the band their first Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 at #8, and has since been certified 2x Multi-Platinum by RIAA. More of Fall Out Boy's notable singles are "Dance, Dance" (certified Platinum), "Thnks fr th Mmrs" (certified Gold) and "I Don't Care" (certified Platinum).
With the release of their 2009 compilation Believers Never Die - Greatest Hits, and in regard to the legacy of the band, Allmusic senior-editor Stephen T. Erlewine wrote that Fall Out Boy "seems like one of the quintessential mainstream rock singles bands of the 2000s."[6]
The members of Fall Out Boy have engaged in various side-projects. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump has released Truant Wave, his debut EP, and is preparing for the release of Soul Punk, his full-length record due for release in Summer 2011. Lead guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley formed The Damned Things, a heavy metal supergroup with members from Anthrax and Everytime I Die and have released their album, Ironiclast. Pete Wentz started another band, called Black Cards.
Many Fall Out Boy songs are still charting in the iTunes charts worldwide. They include "Sugar We're Goin Down" (highest charting Fall Out Boy song in the U.S iTunes Alternative Songs chart; this echoes the band's past success, given that the song is six years old), "Dance, Dance", "Thnks fr th Mmrs", "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race", "I Don't Care" and "Beat It".
