5 Seconds of Summer is an Australian pop punk and pop rock band.
They have been called a boy band in the media.
Formed in Sydney in 2011, the band consists of Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, Calum
Hood and Ashton Irwin.
These members were originally YouTube celebrities, who posted videos of themselves covering songs
from various artists in 2011.
From there, they started to gain a small following in 2012 after posting a series of cover versions
of popular songs onto YouTube, then rose to international fame when One Direction invited
them on their Take Me Home Tour.
5 Seconds of Summer released their debut single "Out of My Limit", exclusively in Australia
and New Zealand, in November 2012.
In February 2014, they released "She Looks So Perfect" as their debut worldwide release.
It topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Their self-titled debut studio album was be released in July 2014.
History 2011–12: Origin and debut
5 Seconds of Summer began in December 2011 when Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford and Calum
Hood, who all attended Norwest Christian College, started posting videos of themselves performing
covers of popular songs together on Hemmings' YouTube channel.
Henmmings' first video, a cover of Mike Posner's "Please Don't Go", was posted on February
3, 2011.
Their cover of Chris Brown's "Next to You" received over 600,000 hits.
In December 2011, they were joined by drummer Ashton Irwin, and the four-man line up was
completed.
The band attracted some keen interest from major music labels and publishers, and have
signed a publishing deal with Sony ATV Music Publishing.
Despite having had no promotion apart from on Facebook and Twitter, their first music
release, an EP entitled Unplugged, reached number 3 on the iTunes chart in Australia,
and the Top 20 in both New Zealand and Sweden.
Their international following increased significantly once again when One Direction member Louis
Tomlinson posted the link to their YouTube video of their song "Gotta Get Out", stating
that he'd been a fan of 5 Seconds of Summer "for a while".
5 Seconds of Summer were once again the subject of interest for One Direction following the
release of their first single, "Out of My Limit", on 19 November 2012, this time with
Niall Horan tweeting the link to the video clip.
5 Seconds of Summer spent the second half of 2012 writing and developing their sound
with Christian Lo Russo and Joel Chapman of Australian band Amy Meredith, with whom they
wrote two of the songs that feature on the Somewhere New EP: "Beside You" and "Unpredictable".
The EP was also co-produced by Joel Chapman. 5 Seconds of Summer released their first single
"Out of My Limit" on 19 November 2012, the video clip for the song receiving over 100,000
views within the first 24 hours.
In December 2012, the boys embarked on a songwriting trip to London, where they have written with
various artists including McFly, Roy Stride of Scouting for Girls, Nick Hodgson of Kaiser
Chiefs, Jamie Scott, Jake Gosling, Steve Robson and James Bourne of Busted.
2013–present: 5 Seconds of Summer and international breakthrough
On 14 February 2013, it was announced that 5 Seconds of Summer would support One Direction
on their worldwide Take Me Home Tour.
The tour kicked off at the O2 Arena in London on 23 February 2013, and 5 Seconds of Summer
joined One Direction for shows in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, including seven
shows at Allphones Arena in 5 Seconds of Summer's home town of Sydney.
Whilst on a break from the Take Me Home Tour, 5 Seconds of Summer returned home to Australia
where they played a National headlining tour, with all dates selling out within minutes.
It was around this time when the band began to gain popularity and become more well-known.
On 21 November 2013, the band announced that they had signed to Capitol Records.
5 Seconds of Summer are currently working on their debut album.
On 5 February 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer listed their worldwide debut single "She Looks So
Perfect" for pre-order on the iTunes Store.
Within two days, it had reached the number one position in 39 countries, including Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Spain, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The connection between 5SOS and One Direction extends to both artists being managed by London-based
Modest Management.
This led to 5SOS being called a boy band in the media.
Members of the band have said the group is not a boy band.
Unlike many boy bands, they write their own songs, play their own instruments, and they
are not primarily a dance group.
Nevertheless, the band has attracted a fanatical following of girls just like other boy bands.
In late March 2014, "She Looks So Perfect" was released in UK.
Despite only one day on top in the British iTunes store and ending its week in the lower
end of the top 10, 5 Seconds of Summer became only the fourth Australian band to have a
UK number-one single, and the first to do so in 14 years.
In the following week's chart the song dropped to number 10, which was the biggest drop from
number one since McFly's ""Baby's Coming Back"/"Transylvania" fell from number one to number 20, also in
its second week on the UK chart.
On 5 March 2014, it was announced that 5 Seconds of Summer will once again join One Direction
on the road, supporting them on their 2014 Where We Are Tour in the US, Canada, UK and
Europe.
On 9 April 2014, the She Looks So Perfect EP debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200.
On 13 May 2014, the band announced that their debut album, named 5 Seconds of Summer, will
be released on 27 June 2014 in Europe and Australia with other releases coming later.
The album won a Kerrang!
award; Luke said it was a real honour to win one, as all the band's idols are in Kerrang!.
Influences 5 Seconds of Summer cite Blink-182, All Time
Low, Green Day, Mayday Parade, Boys Like Girls and Busted as their influences.
Discography
5 Seconds of Summer Tours
Opening act Hot Chelle Rae – Whatever World Tour
One Direction – Take Me Home Tour One Direction – Where We Are Tour
Headlining Mini Australian Tour
Twenty Twelve Tour First New Zealand Show
Pants Down Tour UK Tour
5 Countries 5 Days European Tour Stars, Stripes and Maple Syrup Tour
There's No Place Like Home Tour Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour
Awards and nominations References
Sources
External links Official website