50 Fun Facts About Fall Out Boy

In which Illinois suburb was Fall Out Boy formed?

Wentz and Trohman started it there in 2001 as a pop-punk escape from the hardcore scene.

Who sang lead vocals and played guitar on Fall Out Boy's 2003 debut album?

Stump originally tried out as a drummer before Trohman urged him to bring his acoustic guitar.

Which member wrote the lyrics on Fall Out Boy's 2003 debut Take This to Your Grave?

Stump composes the music; the split was settled during arguments while recording the debut.

Who played drums on Fall Out Boy's 2003 debut Take This to Your Grave?

Wentz wanted him from the start, but he only joined after a string of fill-in drummers.

In which year was Fall Out Boy formed?

Stump joined shortly after Wentz and Trohman started the project.

The band's name comes from a character in which animated show?

Fallout Boy is Radioactive Man's sidekick; Trohman and Stump were die-hard fans.

Under what name did the band introduce themselves at their first show?

The gig was in a DePaul University cafeteria alongside a band playing Black Sabbath's debut in full.

Which Rise Against frontman credited them as Fall Out Boy at their second show?

He was fronting the Killing Tree at the time; an audience member had yelled the name out.

Stump met Trohman in what kind of shop, correcting him about the band Neurosis?

Stump then pointed Trohman to his MP3.com page of acoustic recordings.

Stump won over Wentz and Trohman at his tryout with songs from which band's Through Being Cool?

He had intended to audition as a drummer.

What was the band's debut album, released in May 2003?

Rolling Stone later ranked it the fifth-greatest pop-punk album of all time.

Which independent label released the band's debut album?

Island Records funded the deal as an incubator, planning to upstream the band for its second record.

Which early recording did the band disown as a "giant piece of garbage" made before Hurley joined?

Uprising Records released it in March 2003, two months before the real debut.

The debut album was recorded with engineer Sean O'Keefe at Smart Studios in which city?

They tracked seven new songs in nine days and slept on a friend's floor a few hours at a time.

What was the band's 2005 major-label breakthrough album?

It went double platinum and has sold over 2.7 million copies in the US, the band's best seller.

Which breakthrough single reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 2005?

Stump has said the song changed his life and that his career is largely due to it.

In which California city was the band's 2005 album recorded?

It was the first time the band had stayed in California for any length of time; they lived in corporate housing.

How many songs did the band scrap two weeks before recording Cork Tree?

One of the eight replacements was "Sugar, We're Goin Down".

For which Grammy category was Fall Out Boy nominated in 2006?

Their only other Grammy nod came for Best Rock Album with Mania in 2019.

Which album gave the band its first Billboard 200 number one in 2007?

It sold 260,000 copies in its first week, still the band's biggest sales week.

How many copies did the band's 2007 album sell in its first week?

Folie à Deux managed 150,000 a year later and was treated as a disappointment.

Which 2007 single peaked at No. 2 in both the US and the UK?

Wentz said other songs might have been bigger radio hits but this one had the right message.

Which R&B producer worked on two tracks of the band's 2007 album?

The album also dabbled in funk and flamenco as the band drifted from its punk roots.

The 2007 arena tour with Gym Class Heroes took its stage design from which children's book?

Artist Rob Dobi designed the sets with images from Maurice Sendak's book.

Which guitarist played the solo on the band's 2008 cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It"?

The studio cover appeared on the Live in Phoenix album and became an iTunes top-ten mainstay.

Which George Orwell novel inspired Wentz's viral campaign for Folie à Deux?

The campaign played on the novel's overbearing Big Brother organisation.

Which Who song's chord sequence is borrowed by "Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes"?

Folie à Deux leaned harder on piano and synths than the band's earlier pop-punk.

Where did the band play its final show before the hiatus, on October 4, 2009?

The Believers Never Die greatest hits compilation followed the next month.

Which Blink-182 member shaved Wentz's head at the band's last pre-hiatus show?

Rolling Stone called it a symbolic cleansing and the start of a very dark chapter.

What was the title of Stump's solo album, on which he played every instrument?

He burned through his savings touring it and later wrote a blog post titled "We Liked You Better Fat".

Which singer fronted Wentz's electronic duo Black Cards during the hiatus?

The project released one single before delays led to her departure in 2011.

What was the title of the novel Wentz finished during the hiatus?

He had been working on it for six years and also hosted the tattoo contest show Best Ink.

Trohman and Hurley formed which heavy metal band with members of Anthrax and Every Time I Die?

Scott Ian, Rob Caggiano and Keith Buckley rounded out the line-up.

Which 2013 album marked the band's return from hiatus?

It was recorded in secret and became their second number-one album.

The 2013 comeback photo showed the band burning their back catalogue at which Chicago site?

It was the original location of 1979's Disco Demolition Night.

Which producer recorded the hardcore-leaning PAX AM Days EP with the band over two days?

The eight tracks were pitched as the antithesis of the polished Save Rock and Roll.

The Young Blood Chronicles video series was inspired partly by which Daft Punk film?

The band released a video for every track on Save Rock and Roll between 2013 and 2014.

Which musician features on the title track of the band's 2013 comeback album?

The band returned the favour by covering one of his songs for the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road reissue.

Which single from American Beauty/American Psycho reached No. 10 on the Hot 100?

It was a rare mainstream rock hit for the 2010s and the album's first single.

Which rapper performed "Uma Thurman" with the band at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards?

They toured together that summer on the Boys of Zummer Tour.

What was the band's 2015 remix album, with a different rapper on every track, called?

Migos and Wiz Khalifa were among the guests.

Which 2018 album was delayed from September 2017 because the band was unhappy with it?

It still debuted at number one, the band's fourth chart-topper, and earned a Best Rock Album nod.

At which stadium did the band play its first headlining stadium show in September 2018?

They also opened the So Much For (Tour) Dust tour there in June 2023.

In 2019 a puppet studio sued the band for overusing which animals from the "Young and Menace" video?

The studio said the puppets were licensed for one video but turned up at shows, on merch and on TV.

Which two bands co-headlined the Hella Mega Tour with Fall Out Boy?

The Interrupters opened; the 2020 summer leg was pushed to 2021 by the pandemic.

Who produced So Much (for) Stardust, reuniting with the band for the first time since Folie à Deux?

The album also marked the band's return to Fueled by Ramen after its Island deal ended.

In 2023 the band released an updated version of which Billy Joel song with lyrics running to 2023?

The same month they appeared on Taylor Swift's re-recorded Speak Now track "Electric Touch".

Which NBA player appears in the 2024 video for the title track of So Much (for) Stardust?

The band had earlier remade the Chicago Bulls anthem "Only the Bulls" with Lupe Fiasco.

Which band did Wentz sign to his Decaydance label in late 2004?

They toured together on the Nintendo Fusion Tour the following autumn.

Asked what sound the band wanted, Wentz handed the demo producer the first two records by whom?

Wentz has also said the band would not exist without The Get Up Kids.