- Pop Rock band formed in 2002 from Los Angeles California. Members of the band are Ryan Tedder (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, songwriting), Zach Filkins (guitar, viola, backing vocals), Drew Brown (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Eddie Fisher (drums) and Brent Kutzle (bass guitar, cello, backing vocals, songwriting).
- Tedder and Filkins were high school friends in Colorado who decided to start a band, calling themselves This Beautiful Mess. After graduation, they went their separate ways. Once out of college, they reunited. Tedder already had some success in music – he won a singer-songwriter competition in 2001, and he did some production work in Nashville. In 2002, Tedder contacted Filkins, asking him to move from Chicago to Los Angeles to put together a band. Tedder, Filkins and Brown, along with Jerrod Bettis on drums and Tim Myers on bass, formed a band called Republic. They were signed by a record company, who changed their name to OneRepublic, as there were several other bands using the name Republic.
- Bettis soon left, replaced by Fisher. They worked on their debut album for over 2 years. Two months prior to the planned release date, their record company dropped them. The group started putting music on MySpace to gain exposure, and this led to the signing with another label. In early 2007, Myers left to pursue a solo career, and he was replaced by Kutzle. By late 2007, their debut album, Dreaming Out Loud, finally was released. The album sold well, peaking at #14 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The lead single, Apologize, was released, but soon after it was rearranged slightly by producer Timbaland, who gave it more of an R&B feel. The rearranged version became a huge hit, peaking at #2 in the U.S. and at #1 in 15 other countries. Another single from the album, Stop and Stare, reached #12 in the U.S.
- OneRupublic’s follow-up album, Waking Up, was released in 2009. Three singles charted in the Hot 100 chart, with Good Life reaching #8 and selling over 3 million downloads. The song made Rolling Stone’s 2011 list of the 15 best whistling songs of all time.
- Their next album was released in 2013. Titled Native, it became their most popular record. It contains their best selling song, Counting Stars, which was certified 10x platinum (diamond status). The music video has over 2.5 billion views on YouTube. They supported the album with a tour of 185 shows in 2013 and 2014.
- Their most recent album, Oh My My, was released in 2016. The singles Wherever I Go and Kids broke into the top 20 on the US Adult Top 40 Chart, and the album was their highest charting album, debuting at #3, though overall it has been less of a commercial success, as the band did not heavily promote it due to “mental fatigue.” In 2017 they collaborated with Kygo on the song Stranger Things, which was released by Kygo, and charted on the US Electronic Songs chart.
- A new album is in the works, and in June 2018 they released the first single from the album – Connection.
- Tedder has been very successful outside of the band as a songwriter and producer. In 2014, Billboard Magazine called him “The Undercover King of Pop.” He co-wrote the mega-hits Bleeding Love (performed by Leona Lewis, it was the best selling single of 2008 worldwide), and Halo (performed by Beyoncé, it won a Grammy in 2010 and it is a multi-platinum seller in 5 countries, including the U.S. and UK). He also has won Grammy awards for production work with Adele and Taylor Swift.
- OneRepublic is a classic pop rock group in the new millennium. Counting Stars is a great pop song of this decade – very catchy, with a bit of an alternative feel to it. Definitely one of my favorites over the last 5 years. Enjoy it here.