Fall Out Boy

Born in the throes of suburban ennui in Wilmette, Illinois, clever emo/pop-punk outfit Fall Out Boy rose from the ashes of several hard-core bands. The band’s cathartic live shows at venues like the Knights of Columbus Hall earned Fall Out Boy a solid Midwestern fanbase, and their Green-Day-with-a-dream-journal sound sparked a small but respectable bidding war to sign them. The quartet of Pete Wentz (bass/lyrics), Joe Trohman (guitar), Patrick Stump (vocals/guitar), and Andy Hurley (drums) cut a handful of EPs and two full-length albums for smaller labels Uprising Records and Fueled By Ramen. While they were still working on their second album, Island Records gave Fall Out Boy an advance to start their third and sent them on a 280-day tour. The exhausting schedule that resulted aggravated Wentz’s anxiety disorder, and he ended up overdosing on Ativan. While Wentz recovered, the rest of the band completed a UK tour with a substitute, forcing them to become stronger stage performers in the absence of Wentz’s dynamic presence. The third album Infinity on High was released in 2007, followed by Folie a Deux the following year.