Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 23:42, 8 March 2010

OneRepublic is an American pop rock band from Colorado. Formed in 2002 by Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins, the band achieved success on Myspace, becoming the most prominent un-signed act on the website. They signed onto Mosley Music Group in 2006, and released their debut album, Dreaming Out Loud in 2007.

OneRepublic achieved chart success with their first single, "Apologize". A remix of "Apologize" was featured on the Timbaland album, Shock Value. The remix became a major hit both in the U.S. and internationally, reaching number-one in 16 countries. The remix was included in the deluxe edition of Dreaming Out Loud. OneRepublic also achieved national success with their second single, "Stop and Stare", which charted in the top twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. Dreaming Out Loud was certified Gold in the United States.

The band's second album, Waking Up, was released on November 17, 2009. The lead single from the album, "All the Right Moves" charted in the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and in the top 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. Critical reception to both the albums was mixed.

History

Early career (2002-07)

The band was formed in 2002 by songwriter and record producer, Ryan Tedder and his high school friend, Zach Filkins, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The initial name of the band was Republic.

In 2002, Tedder reconnected with Filkins who was living in Chicago, Illinois convinced Filkins to move to Los Angeles to form a band. Nine months later, they were signed to Columbia Records. After a few line-up changes, they finally settled with Tedder on vocals, Filkins on guitar and backing vocals, Eddie Fisher on drums, Brent Kutzle on bass and cello, and Drew Brown on lead guitar. They later changed the band name to OneRepublic after their record company mentioned that the name Republic might cause controversy with other bands.

They worked in the studio for two and a half years and recorded their first full-length album. Two months before their album was due to be released, (with "Sleep" as their debut single), they were dropped by Columbia Records. The band was beginning to gain prominence on MySpace, becoming the number-one unsigned act on the site. The band caught the attention of a number of labels, including Timbaland's Mosley Music Group. The band soon signed onto the label, becoming the first rock band to do so.

Dreaming Out Loud and mainstream breakthrough (2007–08)

OneRepublic's first single, "Apologize", was released in its original version from the band's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. The song was also prominently featured as a remix on Timbaland's 2007 release of Shock Value.

The single, featured on Shock Value, was a major hit both in the United States and internationally. The song was the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of the Top 40 radio in North America, with 10,331 plays in one week, until its record was broken by Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love," which was also co-written by Ryan Tedder. It peaked at number-one for eight consecutive weeks on the Billboard Pop 100 chart and reached the top-three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has sold over 3 million digital downloads in the U.S. and was certified 3x platinum. The song was a massive hit internationally, reaching number-one in 16 countries, including Australia, Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Egypt, Turkey, and the Netherlands. It spent thirteen weeks at number-one in Canada.

The second single from the album, "Stop and Stare", released in March 2008, hit the top twelve on the Hot 100 chart and reached #9 on the Pop 100 chart. The song, while not as successful as "Apologize", brought the band further into the limelight. Together, "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare" helped the band achieve mainstream success.

Their third single, "Say (All I Need)", was released in the UK and the US in June 2008. In September 2008, the band released their fourth and final single from the album, "Mercy".

Their debut album was released in the United States on November 20, 2007, with international release dates staggered throughout early 2008. Dreaming Out Loud has sold 822,458 copies in the US and over 2 million worldwide as of 2009. It has been certified Gold in the U.S.

The band performed "Apologize" live on Fox's So You Think You Can Dance in August 2007. In 2008, OneRepublic toured with Maroon 5 and Brandi Carlile. On May 21, 2008, the band appeared on the American Idol finale performing a duet of "Apologize" with finalist David Archuleta. In August 2008, OneRepublic performed "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare" at MTV Asia Awards 2008 in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. They won the Best Hook-Up Award for "Apologize", beating Beyoncé Knowles, Shakira's and Rihanna.

Waking Up (2008–present)

On September 24, 2008, the band stated during a concert at the London Forum in England, they were working on new songs for a new album to be released in the summer of 2009. The band played one of the newly recorded songs titled, "All the Right Moves". The band relocated to Denver, Colorado to complete work on the album. It was mistakenly believed that the name of the album would be Today.

The album, titled Waking Up, was released on November 17, 2009. A deluxe version of the album was released with four bonus tracks. Two singles have been released from the album: "All the Right Moves" and the second single, "Secrets", was released only in Austria and Germany. Neither of the songs have replicated the success of "Apologize" and "Stop and Stare" so far. "All The Right Moves" is currently at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album received mixed reviews from critics. It peaked at #21 on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold over 90,000 copies in the United States.

OneRepublic was featured on Leona Lewis's sophomore album Echo on the track "Lost Then Found". OneRepublic also collaborated for the second time with Timbaland on his album, Shock Value II, on the track "Marchin On."

In January 2010, the band performed a live set for the UK's The Sun newspaper, which included a cover version of Robbie Williams' song "Millenium".

Critical reception

In general, critical reception to Dreaming Out Loud was mixed. Digital Spy initially rated the album 2/5 stars, but later gave 4/5 stars for "Stop and Stare." Rolling Stone's official review of the band also gave them 2/5 stars, and has an average user rating of 4/5 stars. Rolling Stone also placed the band in their "Artists to Watch" list, which featured ten artists that, according to the magazine, "...are bringing the future of music, today." Entertainment-Focus comments about the band's song, "Tyrant," “…the slightly-harder sounding "Tyrant" which has a strong melody reminiscent of U2 at their best.”

Musical style and influences

OneRepublic's varied style of music has been described by Ryan Tedder: "We're no respecter of genre. If its a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they've probably influenced us on some level...nothing's new under the sun, we're a sum of a bunch of parts." They cite The Beatles and U2 as heavier influences on their music. OneRepublic has expressed a desire to move listeners onstage the way U2 does.

All Music Guide commented on the band's sound, "...OneRepublic often favors cathartic, cranked-up choruses that Chris Martin has yet to tackle." Tedder downplays Coldplay as an influence; "Their influences are our influences. The big difference, though, is that I come from a much wider hip-hop and urban background. I’ve been producing, writing and performing urban stuff, and I try to bring that into the group because we’re not trying to be a British band." Drew Brown also stated: "We aren’t all die-hard Coldplay fans, but because of the comparisons, we’ve done our research, and I’m sure we’ve got a large handful of common influences."

Members

Current members

• Alex Moffat – [[lead vocalist|lead vocals(2010–present)
• Zach Filkins – lead guitar, backing vocals, viola (2002–present)
• Drew Brown – guitar, keyboard, glockenspiel (2002–present)
• Brent Kutzle – bass guitar, cello (2007–present)
• Eddie Fisher (OneRepublic) – drums, percussion (2005–present)

Former members

• Ryan Tedder – lead vocals, guitar, piano, tambourine (2002–2010)
• Jerrod Bettis – drums, percussion (2002–04)
• Tim Myers – bass guitar (2002–07)

Discography

Studio albums

• 2007 – Dreaming Out Loud
• 2009 – Waking Up

Awards and nominations

References

1. http://www.onerepublic.net/
2. http://www.sheknows.com/articles/804245.htm
3. BBC News Entertainment | Talking Shop: Ryan Tedder
4. Rocky road to the top – Los Angeles Times
5. Your Music Zone – Canadian Christian Music, Concert Listings, and News
6. Timbaland/OneRepublic Shatter Top 40 Radio Airplay Record
7. OneRepublic's "Apologize" Hits 3 Million Download Sales Digital Media Wire
8. RIAA – Recording Industry Association of America – May 31, 2008
9. 2008 MTV Asia Awards – Find out if your favourites walk away with the Golden M Bars
10. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/waking-up-deluxe-version/id338882164
11. http://perezhilton.com/2009-12-31-hits-and-misses-of-09
12. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/bizsessions/2825672/OneRepublic-cover-Robbie-Williams-Millennium-during-their-Biz-Session.html
13. Music – Singles Reviews – OneRepublic: 'Stop And Stare' – Digital Spy
14. Music – Album Review – OneRepublic: 'Dreaming Out Loud' – Digital Spy
15. ^ One Republic: Dreaming Out Loud : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone
16. Music Focus Releases – Album Reviews – OneRepublic – Dreaming Out Loud
17. OneRepublic: Artist to Watch 2008 : Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily
18. One Republic on purevolume
19. OneRepublic – ReverbNation

External links

• Official Website
• Dreaming Out Loud UK Website
• Template:Myspace
• OneRepublic on Twitter

• Musical groups established in 2002
• 2000s music groups
• Musical groups from Colorado
• American alternative rock groups
• American rock music groups