Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed on April 1, 1996. They took their name from the children's book Good Charlotte: The Girls of Good Day Orphanage written by Carol Beach York.
Good Charlotte's self-titled album was released in 2000 and was the start of their music career. The album contains three singles: "Little Things", "Motivation Proclamation" and "Festival Song". Aaron Escolopio was the band's drummer for this album, but left the band before The Young and the Hopeless to join his brother's band Wakefield, and was replaced by Dusty Brill.
2002's The Young and the Hopeless sold 4.9 million albums and thrust the band into mainstream popularity. Their breakthrough single, titled "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", topped both pop and rock charts around the globe. Singles that were released from the album include "The Anthem", "Girls & Boys", "The Young and the Hopeless" and "Hold On". The band cited Blink-182, Sum 41, NOFX, Social Distortion and Green Day as influences for the album.
The album eventually went on to receive triple platinum certification (three million copies sold) from the RIAA. During the course of the album's success, Good Charlotte landed appearances on Saturday Night Live, CNN, and The Today Show, the covers of Rolling Stone and Alternative Press magazines, and were also featured in The New York Times. They also became popular on MTV, where their music videos were played in heavy rotation on both MTV and MTV2. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" received the "Viewers Choice Award" at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
The band hired drummers during the recording, release and touring of The Young and the Hopeless due to former drummer Aaron Escolopio having left the band before its release. In 2003, the band added Chris Wilson as a drummer; he was introduced to the band through mutual friends from the group The Used.
Good Charlotte's third album, The Chronicles of Life and Death, was released by Epic Records in 2004. The album received mixed reactions from both the music press and Good Charlotte's fan base. The album sold 2.2 million copies. The album has been widely considered a departure from their previous two albums, mixing new elements such as lyrical topics into Good Charlotte's youthful sound. Singles released from the album include the two hits "Predictable" and "I Just Wanna Live", as well as "The Chronicles of Life and Death" and "We Believe". The only single from The Chronicles of Life and Death which managed to chart on the U.S. Hot 100 was the hit "I Just Wanna Live". All of the singles released from the album went top 30 in the UK, except for "We Believe".
In May 2005, after much speculation from fans, it was officially confirmed that Chris Wilson had left the band citing personal health reasons. Benji also told Kerrang! magazine that, for him, "Chris leaving the band was the worst part of 2005". Chris then joined a pop/rock band The Summer Obsession but because of its split in 2007, he currently[when?] plays drums in Allegiance To The Fire. Time for a roasting.
On Good Charlotte's "Noise to the World Tour", performing with Simple Plan and Relient K, the band recruited Dean Butterworth (who had previously played for Morrissey) as the band's temporary drummer. Later, in March 2007, Butterworth was confirmed as the band's permanent drummer.
Good Morning Revival is the fourth album by Good Charlotte and the follow up to 2004's The Chronicles of Life and Death. It was officially released in March 2007. The first single from the album, "The River", featuring Avenged Sevenfold's lead singer, M. Shadows and guitarist Synyster Gates, appeared online on January 4, 2007 and was released as the first single from the album in North America. The music video for "The River" was added to UK music channels Kerrang! and Scuzz on April 13, 2007, making it the second single released from the album in the UK. The song charted at #108. "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" was released as the first single in the UK and Australia. "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" charted on the UK Singles Chart at #36 the first week of release through download sales and then climbed to #23 when released in stores. The second single released in North America was "Dance Floor Anthem", with which the band had scored a surprise hit, making it onto eleven different Billboard charts and peaking at #2 in Australia. The "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" video was recently certified gold by MTV International. It was played 3,000 times on over 4 continents during the first half of 2007.[citation needed] On January 1, 2008, Good Charlotte was featured on Tila Tequila's New Year's Eve Masquerade on MTV, as they were the second performance of the new year and performed their hit "Dance Floor Anthem".
Good Charlotte's fifth album was released on November 2, 2010. Describing the sound to MTV news, Joel Madden said it would sound a lot like Blink-182. Joel Madden went on to say in the same MTV interview that "There's nothing dance-y on the record, though, at all, which is different from our last one," further implying a movement away from the sound of Good Morning Revival. On December 3, 2008 Kerrang! magazine announced that Good Charlotte would be releasing their fifth studio album, Cardiology in 2009. The title of which, according to Joel, comes from the lyrical content of the album, which he explained is "all connected to the heart". Madden also added that they had already written 20 songs for the new album, and are said to be heading back to their pop-punk roots.
The band frequently tweeted during the recording process, giving updates to fans. On the August 25, 2009 Benji announced on the official Good Charlotte website that the band were in the final stages of tracking and recording the album. At the time, the album was being produced by Howard Benson, who is known for such albums as My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, and The All-American Rejects' Move Along. However, the band didn't feel right about the sound of the album because of Howard Benson's emphasis on its commercial success. On January 24, 2010 Good Charlotte announced they had finished the album, but were going to completely scrap it and record with a different producer, Don Gilmore, who also produced their first and fourth records, Good Charlotte and Good Morning Revival.
Good Charlotte released their first single "Like It's Her Birthday" from the new album on August 24, 2010. The band posted the song online August 5, 2010, and wrote on their website that if the YouTube video of the song receives more than 100,000 views, they will post another song from the album. The video reached 100,000 views on August 15, 2010 and the band released "Counting the Days" as a video on their YouTube channel and announced that it will be the second single from the album. The music video for "Like It's Her Birthday" has cameos from The Maine's lead singer John O'Callaghan and guitarist Kennedy Brock and Boys Like Girls' lead singer Martin Johnson and guitarist Paul DiGiovanni.
On September 13, 2010, it was announced that Good Charlotte will be headlining the 2011 Kerrang! Relentless Tour, with supporting acts Four Year Strong, Framing Hanley, and The Wonder Years.
On November 5, 2010, Good Charlotte's former label, Sony Music, released a Greatest Hits compilation for Australia, spanning 16 singles from the band's four studio albums released on that label. The compilation was later released in the US on January 6, 2011, and in Japan on February 16, 2011.
Band members
* Joel Madden – lead vocals (since 1996)
* Benji Madden – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (since 1996)
* Paul Thomas – bass guitar (since 1996)
* Billy Martin – lead guitar, keyboards, piano (since 1998)
* Dean Butterworth – drums, percussion (since 2005)
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