All American Rejects

All American Rejects biography

The All-American Rejects is an American alternative rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Mike Kennerty, and drummer and percussionist Chris Gaylor.

The band achieved mainstream success with their debut self-titled studio album, The All-American Rejects, released in 2003. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA and spawned the hit single "Swing, Swing". The band's second album, Move Along (2005), brought the band more mainstream success. The album produced three hit singles; "It Ends Tonight", "Dirty Little Secret" and "Move Along", all of which charted in the top fifteen on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Both "Move Along" and "Dirty Little Secret" sold over two million digital downloads in the United States. The album itself was certified double platinum by the RIAA. On March 21, 2011, the RIAA certified "Gives You Hell" 4í— multi-platinum for sales of over 4 million in the United States.

Since the start of their career, The All-American Rejects have sold over 10 million albums world wide. The All-American Rejects were ranked #73 on the "Hot 100 Artists of the 2000s" and #183 on Billboard magazine's "Billboard 200 Artists of the Decade" list.

The band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1999 while members Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler were still in high school. The two originally met in 1997 at a club where an early band of Wheeler's was performing. It was here that Ritter offered himself for bass duties. Eventually Ritter and Wheeler decided to form The All-American Rejects.

In 2000, still in high school, the band made a demo simply labeled The All-American Rejects, with Jesse Tabish as vocalist/guitarist, Tyson Ritter as vocalist/bassist and Nick Wheeler on drums. The demo CD was engineered, mixed and mastered by Wheeler. It was also managed by Half-A-Cup Entertainment. The demo is now commonly referred to as The Blue Disc or The Blue Album. The CD consisted of twelve songs, a few of which would be included on the Same Girl, New Songs demo made in 2001. Jesse Tabish later split from the group. Ritter and Wheeler put together the Same Girl, New Songs EP, which was soon sent to independent Doghouse Records, where an intern saved the disc from the trash, and revealed it to the label owner. The All-American Rejects were soon signed to a recording contract.

In 2001, with producer Tim O'Hier, they recorded their self-titled debut album, The All-American Rejects. The album and its first single, "Swing, Swing", were released towards the end of 2002. The band began looking for additional members for a live act. Edmond, Oklahoma resident Mike Kennerty joined on as rhythm guitarist soon before the album was released. Soon after, the band was having problems with drummer Tim Campbell. Campbell was later replaced by drummer Chris Gaylor, who knew and played in another band with Kennerty.

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