Fall Out Boy

Fall Out Boy are a rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois in 2001, comprising vocalist Patrick Stump, bassist and lyricist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurley. One of the central acts of mid-2000s pop-punk and emo, they rose from Chicago's hardcore underground to become one of the era's biggest mainstream acts, known for Wentz's verbose, quotation-heavy song titles, Stump's powerful vocals, and a sound that pushed the emotional intensity of punk into polished pop-rock territory. Early releases on Fueled by Ramen — *Take This To Your Grave* (2003) and *From Under The Cork Tree* (2005) — established their template: melodic punk verses exploding into huge choruses, with Wentz's dysfunctional relationship narratives delivered in titles like 'Sugar, We're Goin Down' and 'Dance, Dance.' *From Under the Cork Tree* was their commercial breakthrough, going double platinum and making them MTV fixtures. *Infinity On High* (2007) and *Folie À Deux* (2008) pushed toward more eclectic, ambitious production — the latter in particular is now regarded as an underappreciated experimental high point that alienated some fans at the time. After an indefinite hiatus from 2009 to 2013 during which Stump pursued a solo career and Wentz struggled publicly with mental health, they returned with *Save Rock And Roll* (2013), a glossy, Elton John-assisted comeback. *American Beauty/American Psycho* (2015), *Mania* (2018), and *So Much (For) Stardust* (2023) continued their prolific output, with the latter being a well-received return to their guitar-driven roots that critics hailed as their most coherent record in years. Pete Wentz's cultural omnipresence in the mid-2000s — his relationship with Ashlee Simpson, his fashion brand, his MySpace presence — made Fall Out Boy as much a pop culture phenomenon as a band, while Stump's vocal ability and Hurley's drumming gave them musical credibility that outlasted the emo moment they partly defined.