50 free OneRepublic trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
OneRepublic were dropped by Columbia two months before their debut was due, kept alive by being the number-one unsigned act on Myspace, and rescued by a Timbaland remix that went to number one in sixteen countries. Since then Ryan Tedder's band have turned a Hamptons writing session into the first band video to hit a billion YouTube views and a Top Gun sequel into a late-career hit. These 50 questions cover the whole story: the high-school band called This Beautiful Mess, the name change from Republic, Greg Wells and the shelved first album, Mosley Music Group, the Apologize remix and its 25 weeks in the top ten, Stop and Stare, Good Life's whistling, the three-and-a-half-year gap before Native, Counting Stars and its church-floor video, Love Runs Out in Prague, I Lived and cystic fibrosis, the Apple event performance, Oh My My, Tedder's anxiety and the end of album cycles, Human's pandemic delays, the Vienna bitcoin concert, I Ain't Worried, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Kaiju No. 8, the Spring Festival Gala and the 2025 BMG signing. Easy questions stick to the singer, the hits and the hometown; the hard ones ask about producers, studios, charts and guest features. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss. Play it solo or print it for a pop quiz night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who is OneRepublic's lead singer?
Ryan Tedder
He has also won three Grammys as a songwriter for Adele and Taylor Swift.
Q 02In which city was OneRepublic formed?
Colorado Springs
Tedder and Zach Filkins met in their senior year at Colorado Springs Christian High School.
Q 03Which producer's remix turned Apologize into a global hit?
Timbaland
It reached number one in sixteen countries and earned the band a Grammy nomination.
Q 04What was the title of OneRepublic's 2007 debut album?
Dreaming Out Loud
It debuted at number 14 in the US with 75,000 first-week sales.
Q 05On which website did the band first find success as an unsigned act?
Myspace
Tedder said they were the site's number-one unsigned act and credits it with keeping the band together.
Q 06Which label dropped OneRepublic two months before their first album was due out?
Columbia Records
The shelved album, with 'Sleep' as its planned single, had been recorded with Greg Wells.
Q 07Which producer-founded imprint released the band's debut album in 2007?
Mosley Music Group
OneRepublic were the first rock band to sign with the Interscope imprint.
Q 08What was the band's name before a legal warning prompted the change to OneRepublic?
Republic
Their high-school band had been called This Beautiful Mess.
Q 09What was the name of Tedder and Filkins's 1996 high-school band?
This Beautiful Mess
The phrase came from a Sixpence None the Richer album; they played a coffee house for friends and family.
Q 10Which instrument besides bass does Brent Kutzle play in the band?
Cello
Zach Filkins adds viola to his lead guitar duties.
Q 11Who produced OneRepublic's first album sessions in 2005 at Rocket Carousel studio?
Greg Wells
The Culver City studio sessions produced the record Columbia shelved.
Q 12Which 2007 producer's album first featured Apologize, ahead of the band's own debut?
Shock Value
His version dropped the guitar solo and added backing vocals, percussion and autotune.
Q 13Where did Apologize peak on the US Billboard Hot 100?
Number two
It spent 25 consecutive weeks in the top 10 and sold more than 5.8 million US copies.
Q 21On whose 2009 album Echo did OneRepublic feature on 'Lost Then Found'?
Leona Lewis
The band also supported Pink and Bon Jovi on tour the following year.
Q 22Which 2013 album was OneRepublic's first top-ten record on the Billboard 200?
Native
It debuted at number four, ending a three-and-a-half-year hiatus.
Q 23Which charity campaign was 'Feel Again' released for?
Save the Children's Every Beat Matters
Originally the lead single, it was rebranded a promotional single when the album was delayed.
Q 14Apologize set a US Mainstream Top 40 record with how many radio plays in one week?
10,394
Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love later broke the mark.
Q 15How many consecutive weeks did Apologize spend atop the Australian chart?
Eight
It became the most downloaded single of all time in Australia and New Zealand.
Q 16What was the second single from the band's debut album?
Stop and Stare
It reached number four in the UK and topped the UK Rock Chart.
Q 17What was the title of OneRepublic's second album, released in 2009?
Waking Up
It charted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell over a million worldwide.
Q 18Which 2010 single made Rolling Stone's list of the best whistling songs of all time?
Good Life
It peaked at number 8 on the Hot 100 and went 4× Platinum in the US.
Q 19Which song was the lead single from the band's second album?
All the Right Moves
It peaked at number 18 on the Hot 100 and was certified 2× Platinum.
Q 20Which 2010 Nicolas Cage fantasy film used the song Secrets?
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The track also appeared in Gossip Girl, Lost, Nikita and CSI: Miami.
Q 24What was the first global single from the 2013 album, released that January?
If I Lose Myself
It went top ten across Europe but stalled at 74 on the Hot 100.
Q 25Where did Counting Stars peak on the US Billboard Hot 100?
Number two
It matched Apologize and went to number one in the UK and Canada.
Q 26Counting Stars was the first video by a band to reach what YouTube milestone?
1 billion views
It hit the mark on 29 October 2015 and has passed 4 billion views since.
Q 27Tedder began writing Counting Stars while waiting for which star to arrive at a session?
Beyoncé
He was working in a Hamptons house rented by Jay-Z and Beyoncé in summer 2012.
Q 28What is happening upstairs in the Counting Stars music video?
A church congregation
The band play on the ground floor beneath it; James Lees directed.
Q 29Who co-produced Counting Stars with the band's frontman?
Noel Zancanella
Tedder called it one of his two favourite songs on Native.
Q 30In which city's Studio Faust Records was 'Love Runs Out' recorded?
Prague
Tedder meant it to be Native's first single but could not find a chorus in time.