98 Fun Facts About Panic! at the Disco

Before writing its own songs, Panic! at the Disco started out covering which band?

Blink-182. Ryan Ross sang lead in those days, until the others heard Brendon Urie in rehearsal and handed him the microphone; in 2009 the band toured with its old heroes.

Which Fall Out Boy member signed Panic! at the Disco to his Decaydance label before the band had played a show?

Pete Wentz. He drove out from Los Angeles after the band sent him a demo link through LiveJournal, heard a few songs at practice and made them his new label's first act.

Where did Panic! at the Disco first rehearse?

A grandmother's living room. It belonged to drummer Spencer Smith's grandmother, and the four teenagers went on to sign a record deal before they had played a single show.

Where did Brendon Urie work to help pay the rent on Panic! at the Disco's practice space?

Tropical Smoothie Cafe. He sang for customers while he worked, taking requests that ran to Scorpions and W.A.S.P. anthems, and the tips went toward the rehearsal room.

Panic! at the Disco is said to have borrowed its moniker from a lyric by which pop-punk band?

Name Taken. The Californian band's song Panic contains the words "Panic at the disco", and the teenagers, who admired the group's long song titles, are said to have lifted the phrase.

In which city did Panic! at the Disco record its debut album, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out?

College Park, Maryland. The four teenagers drove across the country after high school and shared a one-bedroom apartment with bunk beds there, working without a day off.

Which video-game company sponsored the 2005 tour on which Panic! at the Disco opened for Fall Out Boy?

Nintendo. Its Fusion Tour, with gaming kiosks in every lobby, opened one day after the debut album came out, and the band had played its first ever live show only that summer.

Roughly what did Panic! at the Disco's debut album cost to record?

$11,000. The shoestring sum covered the mixing too, yet the album went on to sell two million copies in the United States.

Which song from Panic! at the Disco's debut album was certified diamond by the RIAA?

I Write Sins Not Tragedies. The single pulled an album that had entered the chart at No. 112 into the top 20, and diamond status means ten million units for the song alone.

What did Panic! at the Disco's breakout video win at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards?

Video of the Year. The wedding clip beat videos by Madonna, Shakira and Christina Aguilera, and was the first winner of the top prize since 1989 to take home nothing else that night.

Lyrics on Panic! at the Disco's debut album quote novels by which author, a favourite of Ryan Ross?

Chuck Palahniuk. Time to Dance retells the plot of his novel Invisible Monsters, and another track on the album lifts lines from Diary.

Panic! at the Disco's song title "Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have..." quotes which 2004 film?

Closer. Natalie Portman's character says the line, which ends "but it's better if you do", and the band made that half the title of another single from the same album.

The closing track of Panic! at the Disco's debut album interpolates a song from which musical?

The Sound of Music. Build God, Then We'll Talk twists My Favorite Things into a list of a seedy affair's least favourite things, with roaches in place of the raindrops on roses.

Which track splits Panic! at the Disco's debut album into its electronic and vaudeville halves?

Intermission. It starts as a techno loop and turns into a piano solo, the hinge of an album that entered the Billboard 200 at No. 112 and climbed to No. 13.

Who replaced original bassist Brent Wilson in Panic! at the Disco in 2006?

Jon Walker. He had been touring with The Academy Is... as a guitar tech when the call came that May, and at 20 he became the oldest member of a band whose debut was already a hit.

What knocked Brendon Urie unconscious during Panic! at the Disco's 2006 Reading Festival set?

A thrown bottle. It struck him seconds into the first song; he came round, told the crowd they couldn't take him out, and the band restarted the song at the point where it had stopped.

What was the name of Panic! at the Disco's theatrical headlining tour of late 2006?

Nothing Rhymes with Circus. A six-member troupe with a contortionist and a ribbon dancer acted out the songs, a year after the band had been the opening act on a five-band bill.

Panic! at the Disco's single-shot video for Girls / Girls / Boys pays homage to a famous clip by which R&B singer?

D'Angelo. Brendon Urie said the clip was inspired by Untitled (How Does It Feel), and it copies that video's black backdrop and its single slow pull-back from the singer's bare torso.

What did Panic! at the Disco drop from its name in January 2008?

The exclamation point. Guitarist Ryan Ross said it had never been part of the name to the band and was annoying to type; it was restored in July 2009, days after he quit.

What was the lead single from Panic! at the Disco's second album, released in 2008?

Nine in the Afternoon. The band called it the first song written for the album, a spur-of-the-moment number that came together in a couple of hours and was meant to be got on first listen.

The strings and horns on Panic! at the Disco's second album were recorded at which London studio?

Abbey Road Studios. The band made most of the record in a studio inside a Nevada casino resort, then flew to London to add the orchestra to an album often likened to the Beatles.

Which B-52's hit is sampled in Panic! at the Disco's Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time?

Rock Lobster. The sample runs under a morning-after tale of a party gone wrong, and five members of the B-52's share the songwriting credit as a result.

The video for Emperor's New Clothes, in which Brendon Urie turns into a demon, continues the story of which earlier Panic! video?

This Is Gospel. That 2013 clip ends with Urie's character dying and heading for a white light; the sequel, by the same director, drops him through a trap door into Hell.

Panic! at the Disco retreated to a cabin in which Nevada mountain area to write in 2007?

Mount Charleston. The songs written there, for an album to be called Cricket & Clover, were about three-quarters recorded when the band scrapped the lot and started again back home.

Which sponsored tour did Panic! at the Disco headline across North America in 2008?

Honda Civic. The band swapped the debut era's costumes and dancers for woodsy sets and mic stands wrapped in flowers, and travelled between dates on a biodiesel bus.

Which band did the two members who left Panic! at the Disco in 2009 go on to form?

The Young Veins. Ryan Ross and the band's bassist wanted retro-flavoured rock where Brendon Urie leaned to polished pop; their new group made one album, Take a Vacation!, before going on hiatus.

Panic! at the Disco recorded "New Perspective" for the soundtrack of which 2009 film?

Jennifer's Body. It was the band's first single as a duo, begun two years earlier after a lucid dream of Urie's and released the very day its two departed members unveiled their own new song.

Dallon Weekes fronted which indie band before joining Panic! at the Disco?

The Brobecks. By 2009 the Utah band had shrunk to his solo project, and after eight years with Panic! he left to front I Dont Know How but They Found Me.

Which pair produced Panic! at the Disco's third album, Vices & Virtues?

Butch Walker and John Feldmann. They worked with a band reduced to two members: the masked third figure on the cover, touring bassist Dallon Weekes, designed the artwork but did not play on the record.

What was the lead single from Panic! at the Disco's third album, Vices & Virtues?

The Ballad of Mona Lisa. Its video, a steampunk wake, is full of nods to the band's first hit, down to the same top hat, now covered in cobwebs, on a church pew.

Who reintroduced Brendon Urie to his future wife, Sarah Orzechowski?

Hayley Williams. The Paramore singer brought Sarah to a show eight months after the pair first met in Detroit, and Urie wrote the song Sarah Smiles to impress her.

Panic! at the Disco's "Ready to Go" played over the end credits of which 2011 family film?

The Smurfs. The song's own video is the band's take on a musical, with a Singin' in the Rain homage and Brendon Urie as a dancing chimney sweep.

In 2011 Panic! at the Disco released the joint single "C'mon" with which band?

Fun. The band was Panic!'s support act on tour that spring, and the following year its single We Are Young went to number one in the United States.

The title Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! was lifted from which book?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter S. Thompson's ode to excess suited an album that Brendon Urie said came from seeing his home town in a new light, the glitz and the dingy side together.

Which NHL team picked a Panic! at the Disco song as its goal song?

Vegas Golden Knights. The song is Vegas Lights, which Brendon Urie had hoped would become an anthem for the city, and in 2018 the band played outside the Bellagio before a Stanley Cup Final game.

What was the lead single from Panic! at the Disco's album Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!?

Miss Jackson. The title nods to Janet Jackson, whose hit Nasty the chorus echoes, and Urie said the lyric owned up to how he had treated girlfriends when he was younger.

Which was the first Panic! album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200?

Death of a Bachelor. It opened with 190,000 units in January 2016, the best week of the band's career, a decade after its debut album had entered the same chart at No. 112.

Panic! at the Disco's fifth album was nominated for a Grammy in which category?

Best Rock Album. The nod came at the 2017 ceremony for a record Brendon Urie wrote at home with outside songwriters after the last other founding member had left.

Which crooner inspired the title track of Panic! at the Disco's fifth album?

Frank Sinatra. Urie wrote the song as a thank-you in the singer's centenary year, recalling his records at family Christmases, and set the swing against a beat he likened to Beyoncé's Drunk in Love.

Panic! at the Disco's cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" appeared on which film's soundtrack?

Suicide Squad. Queen are among Brendon Urie's biggest influences, enough that he wears a tattoo of Freddie Mercury, and the cover came out during a 2016 summer tour shared with Weezer.

In 2017 Brendon Urie starred on Broadway in which musical?

Kinky Boots. He played the lead, Charlie Price, that summer, and reviewers at NME and Newsday heard the Broadway stint in the theatrical bent of his next album.

Brendon Urie earned a Tony nomination for writing a song for which stage musical?

SpongeBob SquarePants. Each number came from a different pop act, John Legend and Cyndi Lauper among them, so the Best Original Score nomination was shared; Urie's song gives the hero his moment of self-doubt.

High Hopes, Panic! at the Disco's biggest hit, inspired a viral campaign dance for which 2020 presidential candidate?

Pete Buttigieg. His staff and volunteers devised the routine for rallies in 2019; the song had peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100, three places above the band's 2006 breakout.

Panic! at the Disco's version of "Into the Unknown" runs over the credits of which 2019 film?

Frozen II. Idina Menzel sings it in the story as Elsa, and at the 2020 Oscars she performed it with nine women who voice Elsa in other countries' versions of the film.

How did Panic! at the Disco record its final album, Viva Las Vengeance?

Live to an 8-track tape machine. Brendon Urie made the record in Los Angeles with Jake Sinclair and Mike Viola, and said there was something about the tape machine that kept him honest.

In which faith was Brendon Urie raised before leaving it at about 17?

Mormonism. He grew up in a Latter-day Saint family, sometimes skipping early band rehearsals to go to church, and has said he gave up the faith at about 17.

Why did Brendon Urie announce in January 2023 that Panic! at the Disco would end?

To focus on his growing family. He and his wife Sarah were expecting their first child, who arrived less than two weeks after the announcement, and the band's last tour ended that March.

In which city did Panic! at the Disco play the last date of its farewell tour in March 2023?

Manchester. The AO Arena show on March 10 closed the Viva Las Vengeance Tour, though the goodbye was not quite final: Urie revived the name in 2025 to play the debut album in full at a festival.

Panic! at the Disco famously signed a recording contract before the band had completed its first what?

Live show number one came in summer 2005 at a Las Vegas venue called The Alley, by which time online critics had already mocked the untested signing.

The video for Panic! at the Disco's breakout 2006 single takes place at what kind of ceremony?

A wedding is the setting: the bride slips out with a guest while the groom's family interrupt the service. Shane Drake directed the clip.

Which young Netflix star plays the captive boy in Panic! at the Disco's 'LA Devotee' video?

Noah Schnapp, fresh from playing Will Byers, spends the video strapped to a chair while Brendon Urie sings to him from a screen.

Panic! at the Disco covered the opening song of which movie musical for a 2018 'Reimagined' album?

The Greatest Showman had its whole soundtrack re-recorded by pop stars, and Panic! at the Disco opened the set alongside new versions from Pink, Kesha and Kelly Clarkson.

Which 2020 Democratic candidate made Panic! at the Disco's 'High Hopes' his rally anthem and dance?

Pete Buttigieg played it at most of his rallies and speeches, and his staff and volunteers invented a dance routine to go with it.

Panic! at the Disco reunited in 2025 to play their debut album in full at which Las Vegas festival?

When We Were Young booked the one-off reunion to mark 20 years of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, two years after the band had dissolved.

Which Nightmare Before Christmas song did Panic! at the Disco cover for the film's 2006 soundtrack reissue?

This Is Halloween was covered twice on that reissue's bonus disc, once by Panic! at the Disco and once by Marilyn Manson.

In the 'Hey Look Ma, I Made It' video, what stands in for Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie?

A puppet version of Urie rises to fame, crashes and recovers, and at the end the real singer's audience turns out to be puppets as well.

What role does Brendon Urie play as the narrator of Panic! at the Disco's breakout 2006 video?

A ringmaster is Urie's part: he narrates, disrupts the proceedings and is finally revealed to be another character's alter ego.

Brendon Urie, the Las Vegas-raised voice of Panic! at the Disco, was born in which nearby state?

Utah is where Urie was born, in the city of St. George, before his family moved to Las Vegas when he was two years old.

Brendon Urie was first invited to try out for Panic! at the Disco as a player of which instrument?

Guitar was the job on offer. Ryan Ross sang lead until the others heard Urie's voice in rehearsal and handed him the microphone instead.

Panic! at the Disco shared which Florida-founded record label with Paramore and Twenty One Pilots?

Fueled by Ramen was dreamed up by a high-schooler, John Janick, who went on to run it from his University of Florida dorm room in Gainesville.

Through which 2000s online service did Panic! at the Disco send the demo that won the band a record deal?

LiveJournal carried the message from Ryan Ross and Brendon Urie to a rock star recording in Los Angeles, who then drove to Las Vegas to hear the band rehearse.

Which veteran alternative band co-headlined a North American summer tour with Panic! at the Disco in 2016?

Weezer shared the bill from June to August 2016, which put Brendon Urie on the road with a band he names among his biggest influences.

Which Panic! at the Disco album, a 2018 US chart-topper, includes 'High Hopes' and 'Hey Look Ma, I Made It'?

Pray for the Wicked entered the Billboard 200 at number one, and many critics heard the influence of Brendon Urie's recent stint on Broadway in its songs.

Which 2016 Panic! at the Disco album track became a TikTok hit in 2022 and was reissued as an EP?

House of Memories was six years old when TikTok revived it, and the label answered with an EP of sped-up and slowed-down versions.

On which platform did Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie raise over $134,000 in a 24-hour charity marathon?

Twitch hosted the November 2019 marathon, and the money went to the Highest Hopes Foundation, a charity Urie had set up himself.

Panic! at the Disco's 2008 live album and concert film captured two May nights in which city?

Chicago hosted both shows, on May 23 and 24 at the Congress Theater, and the recording reached shops that December.

In Panic! at the Disco's 'Lying Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have...' video, what do people wear on their heads?

Fish tanks cover the heads of the cast in the clip, which Travis Kopach directed in Los Angeles in June 2006.

Which Too Weird to Live single did Panic! at the Disco write about drummer Spencer Smith's addiction?

This Is Gospel opens the album. Brendon Urie wrote it with bassist Dallon Weekes, and its video later gained both a sequel and a prequel.

Panic! at the Disco and My Chemical Romance both publicly rejected which genre label during the 2000s?

Emo was the tag both bands pushed away, because of the stigma it carried once a backlash against the scene had set in.

Panic! at the Disco's 'Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time' samples 'Rock Lobster' by which new wave band?

The B-52's sample appears on a promotional single that came out on the last day of 2015, two weeks ahead of its parent album.

Which late rapper joined Benny Blanco and Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie on the 2018 single 'Roses'?

Juice Wrld shares top billing with Blanco on the track, with Urie as featured singer. Blanco teased it by posting his text messages with the rapper.

How does Brendon Urie reach the rooftop where the band plays in Panic! at the Disco's 'High Hopes' video?

Walking up the wall of a glass skyscraper in Los Angeles, Urie draws a cheering crowd below before joining his bandmates on the roof at sunset.

Which group picketed a 2014 Panic! at the Disco show, leading the band to donate $20 per protester to charity?

Westboro Baptist Church sent 13 picketers to the Kansas City concert, so the band rounded its gift to the Human Rights Campaign up to $1,000.

Which 2015 single gave Panic! at the Disco their first US top 40 hit in nine years?

Hallelujah entered the Hot 100 at number 40, and it was the first Panic! single made without drummer Spencer Smith or bassist Dallon Weekes.

Panic! at the Disco wrote the song 'Mercenary' for the soundtrack of which 2011 superhero video game?

Batman: Arkham City came with an album of new songs, and Panic! at the Disco's track sat beside contributions from Serj Tankian and the Duke Spirit.

Brendon Urie based Panic! at the Disco's 'Girls / Girls / Boys' video on a one-shot clip by which R&B singer?

D'Angelo's 'Untitled (How Does It Feel)' was the template: the same black background and a single slow shot, with Urie in the singer's place.

Panic! at the Disco's breakout 2006 single is built on a plucked motif from which string instrument?

Cello, played pizzicato by session musician Heather Stebbins, supplies the motif that the whole song is built upon.

Which 2018 single became Panic! at the Disco's first number one on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart?

Say Amen (Saturday Night) reached the top in June 2018, and its video is a prequel to one the band had released back in 2013.

Panic! at the Disco's 'Intermission' begins as a techno loop before giving way to a solo on which instrument?

Piano takes over partway through the track, which marks the debut album's switch from synthesizers to more traditional instruments.

An online puzzle on Panic! at the Disco's website teased a line from which Pretty. Odd. opening track?

We're So Starving lasts under a minute and a half and works as a disclaimer to fans. A rough mix appeared on the band's Myspace page in January 2008.

Which Pretty. Odd. song was the last Panic! at the Disco single released before the band split in two?

Northern Downpour arrived in November 2008, and the two members who had written it walked out of the band the following July.

The 2006 deluxe reissue of Panic! at the Disco's debut album came packaged in a box shaped like what?

A cigar box shape was chosen for the set, sold as the Limited Edition Collectible Deluxe Box a year after the album first appeared.

Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco pledged $1 million in 2018 to which group, to start LGBTQ student clubs?

GLSEN used the pledge to help create gay-straight alliance clubs in high schools across the United States.

The second half of Panic! at the Disco's debut trades synths for strings and accordion, a style known as what?

Baroque pop is the usual tag for the album's back half, a deliberate break from a first half driven by synthesizers and drum machines.

Which Vices & Virtues track did Panic! at the Disco record with a children's choir from Los Angeles?

Nearly Witches features the West Los Angeles Children's Choir, and the same sessions brought in French band the Plastiscines.

Which Vices & Virtues song did Panic! at the Disco finish as a direct response to two members quitting?

The Calendar began as a song about a romance, then turned into one about lost friendships once half the band had walked out.

Which duo did Panic! at the Disco bassist Dallon Weekes form in secret with drummer Ryan Seaman?

iDKHOW, short for I Dont Know How But They Found Me, played unannounced shows while both men denied the band existed, even when shown photos.

Which Panic! at the Disco single is about not enjoying being in a strip club?

But It's Better If You Do came with a video set in a masquerade-style club, the band's second clip with director Shane Drake.

Which Too Weird to Live song did Panic! at the Disco's Brendon Urie write as vows to his bride?

The End of All Things is the album's last track, written about Urie's wife Sarah in the form of the promises he made to her.

Panic! at the Disco recorded much of Pretty. Odd. in a studio inside which Las Vegas casino resort?

The Palms has a recording studio on site, and the band moved in during October 2007 after scrapping an earlier attempt at the album.

Which 2005 concert series took Panic! at the Disco across the US alongside Motion City Soundtrack?

Nintendo Fusion Tour dates filled the rest of 2005, sending out a band that had played its first gig only that summer.

The video for Panic! at the Disco's 'That Green Gentleman' premiered through a deal with which phone maker?

Nokia hosted the premiere on its US website in May 2008, an arrangement like the ones it struck with Fall Out Boy and Paramore.

Which producer co-wrote Panic! at the Disco's three albums from 2016 to 2022, then joined the touring band?

Jake Sinclair produced all three records and then went on the road for the Viva Las Vengeance tour as a multi-instrumentalist.

Panic! at the Disco was formed by high school friends in which suburban area of Las Vegas?

Summerlin is where Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith started the band as a pair, before recruiting a bassist who brought along a classmate.

Which former guitarist of The Cab toured with Panic! at the Disco from 2009 until the Vices & Virtues cycle ended?

Ian Crawford joined for the first tour after the 2009 split and left in 2012, saying he wanted to make more genuine music.

Before joining Panic! at the Disco, Brendon Urie and Brent Wilson were classmates at which Las Vegas high school?

Palo Verde supplied half the original lineup: the founders recruited Wilson from there, and he then invited his friend Urie along.

Panic! at the Disco said Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! took its no-rules approach from which genre?

Hip hop inspired the album's anything-goes attitude, and its overall look and sound also drew on dance music and electronica.

Viva Las Vengeance by Panic! at the Disco was widely compared to which British band for its theatrical falsetto?

Queen was the comparison reviewers reached for, and Variety's headline said the album giddily co-opts the band along with other 1970s rock.