onerepublic

OneRepublic is an American, self-proclaimed "genreless" band from Colorado Springs, Colorado.[1] 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 made radio history when with their first single, "Apologize" received the largest amount of airplay in history with 10,331 plays in one week, the record only being broken again by Bleeding Love, a song Tedder also wrote himself. The remix version, featured on Timbaland's album Shock Value was a massive hit internationally, reaching number-one in sixteen countries and gaining 10 million downloads (the largest number of digital downloads for any song to date)[2]. The band also achieved national success with their second single, "Stop and Stare". Dreaming Out Loud was certified gold in the United States, Austria, Australia and Canada.

The band's second album, Waking Up, was released on November 17, 2009.[3] The lead single from the album, "All the Right Moves" charted in the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and in the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Origin (1996)

The first incarnation of what evolved into OneRepublic formed in 1996 after Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins befriended each other during their senior year at Colorado Springs Christian High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During a drive home, as Filkins and Tedder discussed favorite musicians including Fiona Apple, Peter Gabriel and U2, they decided to put together a band. They enlisted a few musical friends and named their rock act This Beautiful Mess—a phrase which first attained cult prominence a year earlier when Sixpence None the Richer released its award-winning sophomore album, This Beautiful Mess. Tedder, Filkins & Co. had a few small gigs at Pikes Perk, attended by friends and family. Senior year ended, and Tedder and Filkins parted ways, each attending different colleges.[4]

Early career (2002–07)

Reuniting in Los Angeles in 2003, Tedder and Filkins formed their second band under the moniker Republic. Tedder, by then an established songwriter and record producer, had convinced Filkins who was living in Chicago to relocate. 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.[5]

They worked in the studio for two and a half years and recorded their first fulllength 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.[6] 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.[7]

Dreaming Out Loud and mainstream breakthrough (2008–09)

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.[8] 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 sold 4.3 million digital downloads in the U.S. and was certified 4x platinum.[9] The song was a massive hit internationally, reaching number-one in 16 countries, including Nepal, 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 number 9 on the Pop 100 chart. The song, while not as successful as "Apologize", brought the band further into the limelight. 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". The 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.[10] However, critical reception to the album ranged from negative to mixed. Allmusic gave the album a modest review, stating the "album sounds derivative" but also "sounds cohesive and smoothly pleasant".[11] Robert Christgau gave the album a negative review, and termed it a "dud".[12] Rolling Stone gave the album 2 out of 5 stars, but 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."[13]

The band performed Say (All I Need) 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 (song)|Apologize", beating Beyoncé Knowles, Shakira and Rihanna.[14]

The song "Come Home" was featured in an episode of Cold Case and The Vampire Diaries.

Waking Up (2009-2010)

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.[15] Three singles have been released from the album: "All the Right Moves", "Secrets", and "Marchin On".

"All The Right Moves" peaked at #18 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 200,000 copies in the United States.[16]

"Secrets" was prominently used in the 2010 film The Sorcerer's Apprentice and in promotional material for the TV series Pretty Little Liars and Nikita and was featured in 90210 as well. It is also used as the music for Polo's "The Big Pony Collection" men fragrance. Two songs were featured on The Vampire Diaries, "Marchin On" in season 1, and "All This Time" in season 2. Other songs have also been featured on the TV series One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, and Castle. The song "Good Life" is featured on the advertisements for the film Eat Pray Love.

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 "Millennium".[17] On March 31, 2010, OneRepublic performed "All The Right Moves" on The Tonight Show.

On June 5, 2010, the band supported P!nk on her Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour at Innsbruck.

OneRepublic supported Bon Jovi at The O2 Arena on June 17, 19, and 20, 2010.[18]

The band also went on to perform at The Today Show in April during the second half of the program. They were again featured as the guest for the show's Summer Concert Series on May 28, 2010. On September 12, 2010, they played at the Help for Heroes gig in Twickenham Stadium, London.[19]

The band is supporting Maroon 5 on their Fall 2010 tour. In addition, unconfirmed reports say that the group will be opening for JLS on tour in December 2010/January 2011.

Third Album (2010-present)

Rumors have been spreading amongst fans that OneRepublic has been working on a third album during while touring. Excitement grew when guitarist, Zach Filkins, posted a video on YouTube on the set of their music video "Good Life" that a third album was coming soon. A recent interview with Filkins by Alternative Addiction states that the album will further exemplify their sound and evolution: “We’ve been playing the songs on Waking Up for a while, and I think we are all beginning to feel like we are ready to have something new coming up."[20]

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.[21][22]

However, OneRepublic has often been compared to bands like The Fray, Maroon 5 and Coldplay. Allmusic commented on the band's sound, "...OneRepublic recalls the melodies of the Fray and the vocal acrobatics of Maroon 5's Adam Levine....and often favors cathartic, cranked-up choruses that Chris Martin has yet to tackle."[23] However, 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."