Plain White T's

Plain White T's biography

Plain White T's is an American pop rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson and Ken Fletcher, the group had a mostly underground following in Chicago basements, clubs, and bars in its early years, and underwent numerous personnel changes.

The band is best known for the number-one hit song "Hey There Delilah", which achieved platinum status in 2007 and earned two Grammy nominations, as well as "1, 2, 3, 4" and "Rhythm of Love" which turned platinum in 2009 and 2011, respectively.

History

Early formation

The Plain White T's formed in Villa Park, Illinois, in 1997. Vocalist and guitarist Tom Higgenson had been a guitarist in a number of bands during high school. He and bass player Ken Fletcher were in a band called Harvey's Daughter when they decided to move on. The two asked Dave Tirio to play drums for their group, and Plain White T's came into existence by the fall of 1997.

Higgenson suffered a car crash in 2001, breaking several vertebrae in the accident.

Mainstream breakthrough (2006-2008)

In early 2006, the band teamed with Motion City Soundtrack for a Winter/Spring tour. "Hey There Delilah" was first released on their third album All That We Needed in 2005. The same year the band was featured for a month as a "Hip Clipz" artist on the website of Curly Grrlz Skateboards. In 2008, they released the album Big Bad World. The album had two hit singles: "1, 2, 3, 4" and "Natural Disaster". Both were on the AT40 at numbers 1 and 2 for three consecutive weeks. By late 2008, the band had joined the Rhuihiock Band Live tour with Panic! At The Disco, Dashboard Confessional and The Cab. Later that year, the band played at the Give It a Name festival in the UK. In 2007, they performed the single "It's Our Time Now" on an episode of the Nickelodeon television series, iCarly. "It's Our Time Now" was also the theme song on the ABC Family dramedy series Greek.

The band's new single "Rhythm of Love" went live on alternativeaddiction.com in July 2010. The track is the first from their 2010 album The Wonders of the Younger. The record has the band leaving their previous sound behind and adopting a "live-in-the room acoustic California-pop feel", and is the first to feature some songs without lead singer Higgenson, instead with guitarist Tim Lopez taking the lead vocal duties on several tracks.

Band members

• Tom Higgenson - lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• De'Mar Hamilton - drums, backing vocals.
• Dave Tirio - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Tim G. Lopez - lead guitar, vocals
• Mike Retondo - bass, backing vocals

Previous members

• Ken Fletcher - bass (1997-2002)
• Steve Mast - lead guitar/vocals (1997-2005)
• Kahealani Sanchez

Compilation appearances

• "Bruises", from ''
• "Take Me Away", on the album ''All That We Needed''
• "Song 2" (Blur cover), on the album ''Punk Goes '90s''
• "Season of a Lifetime", on the album ''Taste of Christmas''
• "It's So Easy", on the album ''Sound of Superman''
• "Better Luck Next Time", on the album ''Dead Bands Party: A Tribute to Oingo Boingo''
• "When I See an Elephant Fly", on the album ''DisneyMania 6
• "Miss Kneel", on the album ''Elmhurst vs. Villa Park''
• "Cell Phone Number" and "Move On" on the album ''Songs from a Scene''
• "Poor Jack", on the album ''Nightmare Revisited''
• "Natural Disaster", on the DVD ''Take Action: Volume 8''
• "Welcome to Mystery" on the soundtrack of the motion picture "Alice in Wonderland", called "Almost Alice", in 2010.

Television

• ''Greek'' - The band provides "Our Time Now" as the theme for commercials and trailers for the show. They appear playing the song as well as "Hey There Delilah" in the episode "The Rusty Nail". They play the songs "Friends Don't let Friends Dial Drunk" and "Making A Memory" in the episode "Friday Night Frights", and they also play the songs "Come Back To Me", "You and ME" and "Let Me Take You There" on the episode "A New Normal". Two members of the band also appear in the episode "The Great Cappie" as members of the Kappa Tau fraternity.
• ''iCarly'' - The band appears as a special guest for the webshow in the episode "iRue the Day", singing their song "Our Time Now".
• "Making A Memory" was featured in the final episode to feature Katy Fox (Hannah Tointon) in the UK soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', symbolizing what should be happening rather than what was happening.
• "Revenge" is used as the theme song to the NYC TV show ''Secrets of New York''.
• "1,2,3,4" and "Gimme A Chance" were featured in the teen drama ''90210''.
• "1,2,3,4" is featured in a Hallmark Cards commercial for Valentine's Day 2010.
• "Rhythm of Love" was featured in a fall 2010 promo for the season two premiere of ''Parenthood'' on NBC.
• "Rhythm of Love" was featured in ''One Tree Hill''.
• "Rhythm of Love" was featured in a fall 2010 promo for the season premiere of ''Secret Life of the American Teenager'' on ABC Family.
• "Rhythm of Love" was featured in a TV advert for a rental DVD company in the UK called LoveFilm

Awards

1. ''Grammy Awards''

Best Pop Performance by a Group for "Hey There Delilah" - Nominated In 2008

Song of the year for "Hey There Delilah" - Nominated In 2008

1. ''Teen Choice Awards''

Choice Summer Song for "Hey There Delilah" - Won In 2007

1. ''American Music Awards''

Best New Artist - Nominated In 2007

1. ''MTV Woodie Award''

The Breaking Woodie (Best Emerging Artist) - Won In 2006

References

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