Fun (stylized as
fun.) is an American
indie pop band based in
New York City that was formed by
Nate Ruess, formerly of
The Format. After the breakup of The Format, Ruess formed Fun with
Andrew Dost and
Jack Antonoff, of
Anathallo and
Steel Train, respectively.
[2] Fun has released two albums:
Aim and Ignite in August 2009 and
Some Nights in February 2012.
The band is best known for its three hit singles: Grammy Award-winning "
We Are Young" (featuring
Janelle Monáe), "
Some Nights", and "
Carry On". "We Are Young" reached number one on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 and
Digital Songs
charts. It also peaked at number one in the United Kingdom. "Some
Nights" was released as the album's second single in June 2012, peaking
at number three on the Hot 100 chart and becoming Fun's second Top 10
single, as well as the band's second song to reach platinum status in
the United States.
On February 10, 2013, Fun won the
Grammy Award for Best New Artist and won the
Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "We Are Young". Additionally, Fun was a nominee for four other
Grammy Awards:
Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo or Group Performance (both for "We
Are Young") along with Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album (both
for
Some Nights).
[3]
Background
2008: Career beginning and formation
The Format split in February 2008. Immediately afterward, Nate Ruess
asked Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff to join his new project. Dost had
toured with The Format and provided various instrumentation. Ruess met
Antonoff after The Format toured with Steel Train.
[4] The three began working together in
New Jersey within a week. Ruess sang melodies while the other two provided music for them.
[5] The first demo song the band recorded was "Benson Hedges", which was made available free in
Spin's August 20, 2008 article on the band.
[6] Fun approached Steven McDonald, who produced
The Format's album
Dog Problems
with Ruess, to produce their debut album. McDonald was enthusiastic
about the project and stated, "I can’t believe what we’re working on
here. This crushes anything I’ve ever done."
[5]
2009–2010: Aim and Ignite
Recording took place in the fall of 2008. The band's first single,
"At Least I'm Not as Sad As I Used to Be" was made available as a free
download on the band's
Myspace page on April 6, 2009.
[7] Aim and Ignite was released on August 25, 2009 and received positive reviews.
AbsolutePunk.net's
Drew Beringer praised the album, stating it was "what a pop album
'should' sound like" and "the most essential pop album of 2009."
[8] Allmusic
called the album "progressive, but in the best possible way" and
admired Ruess's lyrics for "investigating the larger truths of
life...with a witty approach that keeps the songs bubbling merrily along
on a positive note".
[9] Dave de Sylvia of
Sputnikmusic wrote, "
Aim and Ignite
isn’t the most consistent pop album around," but he ultimately
commended the album as "a superbly mixed and arranged album made by
musicians who clearly understand the limits and potential of pop music".
[10] Estella Hung of
PopMatters
was less impressed with the album. She praised songs "Be Calm" and "The
Gambler", but criticized the lyrics and production of the album's early
tracks. Hung concluded that while
Aim and Ignite is "pretty original to say the least", it "fails to live up to the Format’s last outing."
[11]
Popdose's Ken Shane called the album "an interesting and unusual
listen." Shane applauded the album's songwriting and said "many of the
songs are really good," but he objected to the "cute" production,
desiring to hear the band "in a more stripped-down form." He ended his
review with: "I have a similar problem with Dr. Dog, a band that was
recommended to me by a number of people. I think much of their recorded
work is too fussed over, but when I saw them live and their sound was
more stripped down out of necessity, emphasizing their powerful
songwriting, I thought they were wonderful. Perhaps the same fate awaits
me with Fun."
[12] In reviewing the album,
The Washington Post called some of the arrangements "theatrical, much like those on
Panic at the Disco's 2005 debut".
[13] The album reached number 26 on Sputnikmusic's top 50 albums of 2009. The album peaked at 71 on the US album charts.
Fun began its first North American tour on November 8, 2008 opening for
Jack's Mannequin.,
[14]
as well as opening for them again in February 2010, followed by their
first UK appearances in March. In April 2010, Fun supported
Paramore's headline tour.
[15] The band then embarked on a full UK tour in May. On August 4, 2010, Fun announced that they had signed with label
Fueled by Ramen.
[16]
In 2010 Fun's single, "Walking the Dog", was used in a commercial for the travel site
Expedia.com.
[17] Will Noon (formerly of
Straylight Run) played drums with Fun on tour, according to Noon's Twitter page.
[18]
To celebrate the Paramore UK tour and the band’s new single "Walking
the Dog", Hassle Records gave away a free download of an acoustic
version of the track.
[19]
2011–present: Some Nights
On May 17, 2011, the band released "C'mon" as a joint single with
Panic! at the Disco, whom they opened for on their 2011
Vices & Virtues Tour. On November 7, 2011, the band announced that their next album would be titled
Some Nights. Its first single, called "
We Are Young" featuring
Janelle Monáe, has since been used in several other media including television series
Gossip Girl,
[20] 90210,
[21] Glee, and
Chuck,
[22] commercials for
Chevrolet[23] and
Apple,
[24] and in the trailer for
Judd Apatow's film
This Is 40.
[25]
On December 12, 2011, the band's song "One Foot" was available for instant streaming and free download on
Nylon's website.
[26]
On February 13, 2012, the band released an album stream of Some Nights
on their website along with a note from Ruess thanking fans for their
ongoing support. Ruess states he is "over the moon about what you're
about to hear and falling asleep knowing that as soon as I wake up, this
will no longer be a dream."
[27] (It was released on February 21, 2012 through
Fueled by Ramen).
[28] On February 17, 2012, Fun played to a room full of Music Industry executives, Radio Programmers and Music Supervisors at
Sunset Sessions, held at the Rancho Bernardo inn,
San Diego.
[29] On February 29, 2012 the band kicked off the start of their North American tour in support of Some Nights.
[30]
On March 7, 2012, Fun's single "We Are Young" reached the No. 1 spot on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. This makes Fun the first multi-member rock band to have a No. 1
Billboard debut on the Hot 100 since
Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" in December 2001/January 2002.
[31]
On April 11, 2012, Billboard.com announced that Fun's "We Are Young"
also made Digital Sales history. As the song was at the No. 1 spot on
the
Billboard Hot 100 for a sixth consecutive week, it has become
the first, and at this time only, song that has ever gained 300,000+
downloads for seven weeks straight.
[32] The group performed "We Are Young" on the
2012 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 11, 2012.
The song "We Are Young" made an early appearance during the
2011 Pacific-12 Football Championship Game. The chorus played underneath a montage of highlights featuring
University of Oregon players.
Jimmy Fallon recalled the band performing on
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on June 22, 2012: "They did
Some Nights and just hit a homer, it was incredible. People who didn't even really know them were like, 'Oh, that's those
We Are Young guys? I love them!"
[33]
In September 2012, the song "Some Nights" was featured in the
National Championship video for the
2011 University of Alabama football team. The video featured home videos of fans watching the
2012 BCS National Championship Game.
On April 1, 2012, "We Are Young" was used for
WWE's promotional video for
The Rock vs.
John Cena at
WrestleMania XXVIII.
On October 24, 2012, the music video for the album's third single, "Carry On", was released.
[34] "Carry On" is the third song from
Some Nights to enter the
Billboard Hot 100.
On November 3, 2012 Fun performed the songs "Some Nights" and "Carry On" on
Saturday Night Live.
[35]
The group performed at the
55th Grammy Awards, held February 10, 2013.
Entertainment Weekly
predicted that "We Are Young" would bring home the Grammy in the
categories "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" (writing, of the
latter, "'We Are Young' is the kind of anthem this category is made
for"), and that
Some Nights
would win for "Best Pop Vocal Album." "We Are Young" won the Grammy for
the "Song of the Year" category. Fun also won the Grammy for "Best New
Artist". They were nominated for "Record of the Year".
[36] Nate Ruess, after winning for
We Are Young,
jokingly said, "I don't know what I was thinking, writing the chorus
for this song. If this is in HD, everybody can see our faces, and we are
not very young."
[37]
On February 26, 2013 Fun released the music video for "
Why Am I the One", the fourth single from the album.
As of August 2013, there has been mention of Fun working on a new album in early 2014 after their
Most Nights Tour ends.
[38]
Members
Discography
- Studio albums
- EP albums
- Live at Fingerprints (2010)
- iTunes Session (2013)
Awards
Fun is the winner of two
Grammy Awards, two
Teen Choice Awards, and one
Billboard Music Award .
In 2010, they won Best Pop/Rock Song at the
Independent Music Awards for "All the Pretty Girls".
Sensation of Stage (GATRAnews/Edward Luhukay)
