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Panic! At The Disco Biography
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Panic! at the Disco is currently a two-piece pop/rock band hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada. The members are vocalist Brendon Urie and drummer Spencer Smith. Their debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out has sold over 2.2 million copies worldwide and 1.5 of which, were in the United States alone, which shot them into international spotlight. Their sophomore album Pretty. Odd. debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 600,000 copies since it's release. Currently touring along with temporary members Ian Crawford and Dallon Weekes.
Frontman Brendon Urie recently signed U.K based band Beetzart to his fueled by ramen imprint Caberet! Music.
Although the band officially formed as Panic! at the Disco in 2004, the first incarnation of the band was formed in 2002 under the name "Pet Salamander", with Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson, and Trevor Howell. It was during this time that Ryan Ross wrote "Time To Dance" and "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", so it could be considered that the band formed in 2002.
In 2009, Ross and Walker (who replaced Brent Wilson) left P! A T D to form 'The Young Veins.' Since then
Panic have released a demo of a song titled 'Oh Glory' which has been the only song without Ross in it, and have released a single titled new perspective which will be featured in the 'Jennifer's Body Soundtrack' in August. They are due to release an album in September.
In 2005, Panic! at the Disco, which at the time included Urie, Smith, guitarist/lyricist/vocalist Ryan Ross, and bassist Brent Wilson, was discovered by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, who, after hearing demos the band uploaded to PureVolume, went to Las Vegas to hear the band play in their garage. He immediately signed them to his Fueled By Ramen label imprint, Decaydance. After their debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, was released, bassist Brent Wilson left the band. Although he claims he was fired, the other members deny this.
The success of their first two singles helped catapult their debut album to the top of the Billboard Independent chart and to #13 on the Billboard 200 in July 2006. With Jon Walker filling in as temporary bassist, the band embarked on their first headlining tour through Europe. All of the dates sold out within hours. Immediately after returning, they did the same in North America. On July 3, Jon Walker became the permanent bassist of Panic! at the Disco.
In early 2007, Panic! at the Disco began writing their follow up album but, after months of work, decided to rewrite the entire album from scratch in July 2007. While speaking to MTV, Ryan Ross explained that, before the decision to start over was made, the album had lacked a band set up and that it "sounded like a film score." He also explained that the new songs have "a more positive outlook to them." On January 9, the exclamation point (!) in the band's name was dropped. They defended the decision to drop the exclamation point during an interview with MTV: "It was never part of the name to us. (...) When we started doing new promo stuff for this album, we just told everyone not to use it anymore." Panic (sans "!") later confirmed that the second album was titled Pretty. Odd. with a release date of March 25, 2008.
Recently the band has told interviewers that they are in the early stages of writing and recording a follow-up album to Pretty. Odd. which will be released sometime in late 2009. Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus will work with the band on at least one new track. The band will soon join Fall Out Boy, Blink-182 and Chester French on the first half of Blink-182's summer tour. On June 26, it was announced that the band will send their new single, "New Perspective", to rock radio on August 18. The album is said to be released in late September 2009. The Single will also be a part of the soundtrack for the movie Jennifer's Body. The soundtrack is to be released August 25th.
On July 6th, 2009, an announcement was put up on the band's official website and myspace page, stating that Ryan Ross and Jon Walker would be leaving the band to pursue their own musical interests. Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith, however, will stay and continue playing as Panic! at the Disco, with the exclamation point re-added. Fans can hear a snippet of Panic!'s demo entitled "Oh Glory" on the band's official website.
Last updated:
10 Sep 2009 |
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