1999–2004: Formation and The All-American Rejects The band formed in
Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999 while members Nick Wheeler and
Tyson Ritter were still in high school. It was here that Ritter offered himself for bass duties. Eventually Wheeler and Ritter decided to form the All-American Rejects. In 2000, while still in high school, the group made a demo simply labeled
The All-American Rejects, with Nick Wheeler (drums), Tyson Ritter (vocals, bass), and Jesse Tabish (guitar, vocals). The demo CD was engineered, mixed and mastered by Wheeler. It was also managed by Alisa Ben at Half-A-Cup Entertainment. The demo is now commonly referred to as
The Blue Disc or
The Blue Album. The CD consisted of twelve songs, a few of which would be included on the
Same Girl, New Songs demo made in 2001. Jesse Tabish later split from the group and later became a member of the folk band
Other Lives. Ritter and Wheeler put together the
Same Girl, New Songs EP, which was soon sent to independent
Doghouse Records, where an intern saved the disc from the trash, and revealed it to the label owner. The All-American Rejects were soon signed to a recording contract. In 2001, with producer Tim O'Heir, the band recorded their self-titled debut studio album,
The All-American Rejects. The album and its first single, "
Swing, Swing," were released towards the end of 2002. The group began looking for additional members for a live act. Edmond, Oklahoma resident Mike Kennerty joined on as rhythm guitarist soon before the album was released. Soon after, the band was having problems with drummer Tim Campbell. Campbell was later replaced by drummer Chris Gaylor, who knew and played in another band with Kennerty. The group was then signed by
DreamWorks Records, a subsidiary of film company
DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG). The band hit the road for eight shows in January, and DreamWorks issued a broader-scale distribution of the debut LP. The album peaked at No. 25 on the
Billboard 200 Album chart. The single "Swing, Swing" was also re-issued, which peaked on the
Billboard Hot 100 at No. 60 as well as No. 8 on the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single "
The Last Song" was also released spring 2003, and climbed to No. 29 on the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In November 2003,
Universal Music Group (UMG) agreed to purchase DreamWorks Records from DreamWorks Pictures for roughly $100 million. The label was eventually shut down in January 2005, and during 2004, many DreamWorks artists were reassigned to different labels at UMG.
2005–06: Move Along In July 2005, the All-American Rejects released their second studio album,
Move Along, produced by
Howard Benson. It was released via UMG's
Interscope Records, and the album's first single, "
Dirty Little Secret," was released that summer to radio stations. At the end of 2005, the All-American Rejects embarked on
The Rise of the Fall Tour along with
The Academy Is... and
Rooney. Then, on December 13,
The Bite Back EP was released on the
iTunes Music Store, and on New Year's Eve 2005, the band performed
The Cars' "
Good Times Roll" with
Fall Out Boy on MTV. In 2006, the second single and
title track from
Move Along was released. Within the first weeks after premiering their video, it had been on the
Total Request Live countdown, hitting number-one four days in a row. The single did not chart on the
Billboard Hot 100 until almost six months after its release, in June. On March 15, 2006, the All-American Rejects began a tour of the United States that wrapped up on May 13, 2006. On May 25, the All-American Rejects performed at the first ever
VH1 Rock Honors, covering "
Photograph" by
Def Leppard. In July the band sent a
promotional single from
Move Along, "
Top of the World," to modern rock radio. A music video was created for it from clips of the All-American Rejects on tour and in concert. "
Move Along" was also used to help promote the
Lego Bionicle Inika toy sets in the summer of 2006. The group also participated in a promotion for the sets called "Free the Band". The overall priority of the promotion was that the Rejects got kidnapped by the villainous Piraka whilst sailing on a yacht and people had to assist the Inika on finding and rescuing the band via the website 'freetheband.com.' A competition could also be entered where the winners would receive Bionicle and All-American Rejects merchandise alike. That same year, "Move Along" was featured in the film ''
She's the Man'', which was released by former DreamWorks Records owner DreamWorks Pictures. In September 2006, a third headlining single, "
It Ends Tonight," was released from
Move Along. The video debuted at No. 10 on the VH1 Top 20 countdown. The video also peaked at No. 2 on
TRL. Later in the year the All-American Rejects launched the
Tournado tour in support of
Move Along. The tour kicked off at
Hartford, Connecticut on October 27, and wrapped up at
Champaign, Illinois on December 20. That New Year's Eve, the All-American Rejects performed on a special on Las Vegas' Fremont Street, which also included the bands
OK Go,
Five for Fighting,
Rock Star Supernova, and
Chicago. On December 21, 2024, the album hit 1 Billion streams on Spotify.
2007–09: When the World Comes Down The All-American Rejects began writing material for their third studio album in December 2006. The band also collaborated with composer
Danny Elfman on "The Future Has Arrived," which was included on the soundtrack of
Disney film
Meet the Robinsons. The song was created in conjunction with the film's musical score. On July 17, 2007, the All-American Rejects released their second live DVD, titled
Tournado, with content from the 2006 headlining tour of the same name. Also during the summer, they covered "Jack's Lament" from
The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was featured on
Nightmare Revisited. The finished album version of the song "
I Wanna" appeared in the movie,
The House Bunny, which was released to theaters on August 22, 2008. Vocalist/bassist
Tyson Ritter played a role in the film, and offered up "I Wanna" for the soundtrack. On September 30, 2008, the first single from
When the World Comes Down, "
Gives You Hell" was released. The All-American Rejects were inducted into the
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, and were awarded with "Rising Star." "Gives You Hell" peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard
Pop Songs chart, No. 1 on
iTunes charts, was the No. 5 most downloaded song of the 2009 year, was certified Diamond by RIAA, and was the No. 1 most played song of the year 2009. The music video for "Gives You Hell" was released November fifth and reached number one on
VH1's Top 20 Countdown. On the sixth, in support of "
Gives You Hell," the band started the
Gives You Hell Tour, which hit many small venues and clubs. Then, on the eighteenth "Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)," another song from the band's upcoming album, was released digitally on iTunes. In the first week of December, the album version of "Real World" was made available for download on Rock Band for the
Xbox 360 and the
PlayStation 3. Three years after the
Move Along album was issued, the group released their third studio album,
When the World Comes Down (produced by
Eric Valentine), on December 16, 2008. After the
Gives You Hell Tour wrapped up, the band embarked on a world tour until coming back to the states to start the
I Wanna Rock Tour, which hit many major venues in the United States. In May 2009, the All-American Rejects released a second single in the United States, entitled "
The Wind Blows," which achieved moderate success. "
I Wanna" was released internationally on July 8 to Australia and the United Kingdom. Another song from
When the World Comes Down, In July, "Real World" was released as a promotional single in the United States, followed by "I Wanna" as a headliner. In late summer the All-American Rejects joined
Weezer,
Fall Out Boy and
Taking Back Sunday for the second half of the
Blink-182 Reunion Tour. On August 15, the All-American Rejects made history, performing alongside
Hoobastank,
Raygun,
Boys Like Girls,
Pixie Lott and
Kasabian as one of the live acts at Asia's very first
MTV World Stage Live In Malaysia concert. This performance gained them recognition in Malaysia.
When the World Comes Down soon sold over 15,000 digital and physical copies in the country. On August 21 the "I Wanna" single was issued to Austria and Germany. In October 2009, the All-American Rejects were forced to cancel shows due to an injury to frontman Tyson Ritter. He performed from a wheelchair with his leg in a brace on September 27 during a show in Tampa, Florida, amid reports suggesting the singer had undergone knee surgery to remove a tumor that had been there for many months. Ritter's leg became infected, and he remained hospitalized for five days. Ritter made a full recovery in time to return to kick off the
Battle Of The Bands Tour with Taking Back Sunday, with the first date at
MSU in Michigan. At the end of 2009, Ritter suffered from
alcohol abuse after ending a six-year relationship. Ritter's way of coping with this issue was to write and record music for the band's next album,
Kids In The Street. The All-American Rejects announced that they would be performing their last show in support of
When the World Comes Down in Hollywood, California on December 14. Since the date soon sold out, the band added a second date at the venue for the next day. However, the group played one more show at the "Jingle Bell Bash" in
Seattle,
Washington on December 19.
2010–13: Kids in the Street In February 2010, the All-American Rejects performed live at the
Vancouver Winter Olympic Games at the Whistler Medals Plaza. They also had
DirecTV performances at
Super Bowl XLIV and a special set aired in February. The band also wrote and recorded the song "The Poison" for the
Almost Alice compilation, a collection of songs representing the 2010
Tim Burton film
Alice in Wonderland. From June 25 to July 18, the All-American Rejects toured the United States and Canada as part of the
Warped Tour 2010 festival. Later that year, the band announced that they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released in early 2012. Songwriters Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter went on numerous writing retreats into secluded parts of the United States; a tradition of writing used on their previously released albums. Recording for the album wrapped up in June 2011, with mixing commencing the following August and concluding early September. On November 14, 2011, Ritter announced that ex
Taking Back Sunday bassist
Matt Rubano had joined the band as their bass player for live performances, but stated that Ritter is still the bass player recording-wise. On December 3, 2011, the group announced that the album would be titled
Kids in the Street and released the song "Someday's Gone" from the album as a free download from their official website, a music video for the track that was filmed over the previous weekend also premiered the same day. The band later announced the track listing for the album on December 16, 2011, and that its first single would be titled "
Beekeeper's Daughter," it premiered in an episode of American teen drama
90210 featuring the band performing the track on January 31, 2012, as well as being released the same day. The album spawned two further singles; "
Kids in the Street" and "
Heartbeat Slowing Down," both of which achieved little success in the US. The All-American Rejects later embarked on their
Shaking Off the Rust tour, which began in
San Luis Obispo, California, United States on January 18, 2012, and continued through the year – some of which they performed as a support act for
Blink-182's
20th Anniversary Tour in the UK – and ended on July 27, 2013. The band performed at Sepang International Center in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on September 27, 2013, alongside
The Wanted and
Five for Fighting as part of the
Arthur's Day celebrations promoted by the
Guinness brewing company. On November 5, 2013, Ritter released a solo song titled "
Air" in order to "tide fans over until the next Rejects record", which Ritter claimed "it's time to start fishing for hooks for", while in an interview with
Variance magazine.
2013–2024: Unofficial hiatus and other projects The band headlined the
Slam Dunk festival tour in the UK on the Bank Holiday weekend of May 2014, alongside other bands such as
Goldfinger,
Letlive,
We the Kings and
Zebrahead. Following occasional performances of touring for 18 months and a concert with
Musikfest, Wheeler announced in an interview with the former that the band plans to begin recording for their fifth studio album in the fall of 2013. He went on to describe the intended creative process as "in the moment", saying they plan to write as well as record new material in the studio rather than write in advance. The group performed at Universal Studios Orlando annual Mardi Gras event,
Wabash College, and Manhattan College in the spring of 2015. A new song by the band titled "
There's a Place" is featured in the trailer for the 2015 film
Miss You Already, in which Ritter also stars. The song and its music video were released on October 30, 2015. On July 21, 2016, Tyson Ritter announced a new single from the band, entitled "DGAF." The song was performed live for the first time that night, which also marked the start of the band's tour with
Blink-182. The band performed at Emo Nite LA's 2nd anniversary at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA in December 2016. On April 1, 2017, Tyson Ritter announced a new single from the band due out that summer, entitled "
Sweat." On June 13 the band officially announced the song via social media. They released their two-song EP, "Sweat" and "Close Your Eyes" on July 7, 2017. The All-American Rejects have written and recorded about 10 new songs as of June 2017. The band toured in the summer and fall of 2017, playing both new singles. Although the band is keeping quiet about the songs and album name, Ritter said in an interview with grammy.com that the next two songs to be released would be "Send Her To Heaven" (a song played on the 2017 summer/fall tour) and "Demons." "Sweat" charted at number 21 on the Hot Rock Songs chart, number 10 on Digital Rock songs chart, and later charted at 29 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart, in the month of October. On February 8, 2018, Tyson Ritter said that the band was no longer signed to Interscope Records, saying that the band intended to release music "without all the politics that come into play when signed to a major label," citing the process of the label paying top 40 stations to play their music as not for them, and not what music is about. It was later announced on July 10, 2019, that
Epitaph Records had signed the band. On the following July 16, The All-American Rejects released the 3-track single "
Send Her to Heaven," followed by its music video. The band later released the single "Me Vs. The World" on November 20, 2020, stating that all of its proceeds would be donated to the
MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund which aims to support employees in the music industry who have been out of work since the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic. On August 21, 2020, the band released a 14 song collection to Spotify titled 'Rejects Faves' that contains band-picked favorites from their four studio albums. On November 30, 2020, when asked if the band would be releasing new material in an interview with RADIO.COM, Tyson Ritter stated that "it's not likely that the band is going to make another record anytime soon if ever, it's given birth to these other projects that I've started." He also quoted
Joni Mitchell, adding that "as an artist or as a songwriter you need to know when to stop." On January 18, 2022, The All-American Rejects were announced as part of the
When We Were Young Festival with headliners
Paramore and
My Chemical Romance. The festival took place in October 2022 and had three dates. The band were set to return for the 2024 event, but backed out on October 11 due to "management change." On August 2, 2024, the band headlined the Dearborn Homecoming Festival in
Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of
Detroit. They co-headlined with
The Verve Pipe. On August 30, 2024, they teased a new song to be released the following September 13, but did not reveal the title. It was then revealed to be a cover of "
Flagpole Sitta" by
Harvey Danger.
2025–present: Sandbox On March 22, 2025, the band announced a new album,
Sandbox, with the title track being released as the lead single on April 24. In May 2025, the band went viral playing a series of pop-up "
House Party Tour" shows. The band played at a bowling alley, a barn, and on college campuses throughout the Midwest. The album's second single, "Easy Come, Easy Go", was released along with a music video on June 4, 2025. On July 22, 2025, "Easy Come, Easy Go" debuted at 37 on the
Alternative Airplay chart, their first song to enter this chart since 2009. In August 2025, the band began hosting pop-up signings for a limited tour edition of their vinyl release,
Sandbox, confirming that the full album was scheduled for release in February 2026. Later that year, the band announced that they – alongside
Boys Like Girls – would be opening for the
Jonas Brothers on their
Jonas20: Greetings from Your Hometown Tour of North America, began in August 2025. They were intended to be an opening act consistently starting in October, but announced on November 9 that they'd be pulling out of the rest of the tour dates due to Ritter needing vocal rest. == Musical style and legacy ==