Brendon Urie
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| Brendon Urie | |
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 Lead singer and frontman of Panic at the Disco.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Brendon Boyd Urie |
| Born | April 12, 1987 |
| Origin | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Label(s) | Fueled by Ramen Decaydance Records |
Brendon Boyd Urie (born April 12, 1987 in Las Vegas, Nevada)[1] is the lead singer and frontman of the rock band Panic at the Disco. He also plays keyboard, accordion, piano, organ, bass, guitar, cello and drums.
Biography
Early life
Scottish-American Urie was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but became inactive after he graduated. He grew up listening to many Christian Hardcore bands in the area and also learned CPR while learning how to be a vet. Bandmate Ryan Ross says that Urie is no longer "the good Mormon boy we once knew" [2] Urie attended Palo Verde High School, located in the community of Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Panic at the Disco
It was at Palo Verde High School, in his guitar class, that Urie met Brent Wilson. Wilson had asked Urie to try out as lead guitarist for Panic At The Disco, as they were looking for a replacement at the time. A boy named Trevor had previously held this position. [3] Originally, Urie was not the band's lead singer. Rather, the position had belonged to current guitarist and lyricist, Ryan Ross. However, when the band heard him sing backup during a rehearsal, they were impressed with his vocal abilities and unanimously decided to make him the singer. [4] Urie reportedly put so much time into his band during his senior year of high school that he almost did not graduate.
In order to promote their music, the band contacted Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, through LiveJournal, and sent him a link to their PureVolume site along with their two recorded songs, "It's Time to Dance ('Cause Boy Will Be Boys)" and "Nails for Breakfast, and Tacks for Snacks" which at the time were unnamed. Wentz was so impressed that he took a trip to Las Vegas to meet the band in person. After seeing them play acoustically in their garage, he asked if they would sign with his Fueled by Ramen imprint label Decaydance even though they had only two songs and had never played a show. The band then made an agreement with Wentz to record an album in College Park, Maryland once Brendon had graduated from high school. After graduation, Urie's parents strongly encouraged him to attend college, but against their wishes he chose to pursue his interests in music and helped get Panic at the Disco off the ground. Urie was later asked to leave his home and his disapproving parents upon deciding to pursue Panic, and was forced to rent a one room apartment with only his job at a local Smoothie Hut to support himself, as well as help pay for the rent of the band's practice space. [5]
After traveling through Vegas, San Diego, and Los Angeles playing live shows, the band eventually released their first album in September of 2005, entitled A Fever You Can't Sweat Out at which point Urie received his parents full support. The debut album reached #13 on the US Billboard 200 charts and sold over 2.2 million copies since its release. Five singles were released from the album, the highest charting one being "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" at #7 on the USA Hot 100.
They have since made a new album, Pretty. Odd., which was released in the UK on the 24th March 2008 and in the United States on 25th March 2008. Urie wrote two songs on the album, "I Have Friends in Holy Spaces" and "Folkin' Around". Ryan Ross has said that Brendon tends to write a lot of short, show-tunsy songs.[citation needed] Pretty. Odd. has also debuted at #2 on UK's Top 40 Albums chart based on first week sales. To date, it has sold over 500,000 copies.[citation needed] It's first single was "Nine in the Afternoon".
