Pete Wentz

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Pete Wentz bigraphy, stories - American musician

Pete Wentz : biography

June 5, 1979 –

Peter Lewis Kingston "Pete" Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known for being the bassist and primary lyricist for the American rock band Fall Out Boy. Since the announcement of Fall Out Boy’s temporary hiatus in 2009, Wentz has formed the experimental electropop/dubstep group Black Cards. He owns a record label, Decaydance Records, which has signed bands such as Panic! at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes.

Wentz has also ventured into other non-musical projects, including writing, acting, and fashion; in 2005 he founded a clothing company called Clandestine Industries. He also runs a film production company called Bartskull Films, as well as a bar called Angels & Kings. His philanthropic activities include collaborations with Invisible Children, Inc. and UNICEF’s Tap Project, a fundraising project that helps bring clean drinking water to people worldwide.

Music career

Arma Angelus (1998–2002)

Wentz was primarily involved in the Chicago hardcore punk scene and was in several bands in the late 1990s. These included First Born, Birthright, Extinction, Arma Angelus (alongside Tim McIlrath, frontman of Rise Against), Yellow Road Priest, and Racetraitor. He and Arma Angelus’ bassist Joe Trohman founded the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy after Trohman introduced Pete to a musical acquaintance, Patrick Stump. Andy Hurley agreed to drum part-time, but only joined the band full-time later. In 2002, Arma Angelus, the band in which Wentz was the vocalist, played its last show.Norris, John (June 5, 2006). MTV.com. Accessed 2006-07-18.

Fall Out Boy (2001–2009, 2013–present)

In 2002, Fall Out Boy released an EP called Fall Out Boy/Project Rocket Split EP. Soon after, in 2003, the band released their mini-LP Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out with Your Girlfriend on Uprising Records.Loftus, Johnny. . All Music Guide. Accessed April 14, 2006. This album would later be digitally remastered and reissued after the band’s third, successful full-album release From Under the Cork Tree, on the major label Island Records. In 2003, the band released their first full-length album, Take This to Your Grave through Fueled By Ramen. Fall Out Boy signed with major label Island Records in 2003 and in 2004 released an acoustic EP and DVD entitled, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue.

Their third album, From Under the Cork Tree, was released in 2005. Wentz wrote the lyrics to the lead single, "Sugar, We’re Goin Down" with his dad in Chicago; the song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100) Billboard.com. 15 March 2006. and spent months in the top 50 of the Hot 100, marking five weeks in the top 10 and fourteen weeks in the top 20. The band’s major label debut album has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA as well as "Sugar, We’re Goin Down."

In 2007, Fall Out Boy’s fourth album, Infinity On High was released to major success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 with a sales total 260,000, and spurred by the #2 charting lead single, "This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race". The second single, "Thnks fr th Mmrs" sold more than 2 million units in the US. The band’s fifth studio album, Folie à Deux was released on December 13, 2008, and debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200. The band toured extensively in support of these albums.

On November 20, 2009, the four band members announced they will be taking an indefinite hiatus, saying they were unsure of the future of the band. Wentz has said that his personal reason for taking a break is that he feels that his name and marriage to pop singer Ashlee Simpson had become a hindrance for the band. He added: "I think the world needs a little less Pete Wentz".

On February 4, 2013, the band announced their hiatus was over, via their official webpage. They released a new single off their upcoming album, a video for the single, upcoming tour dates and a pre-order campaign for the new album titled Save Rock and Roll.