R5 (band)

R5
R5 performing live at The Citadel Outlets' 12th Annual Tree Lighting Concert in 2013
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Pop rock
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Hollywood (2012–present)
Website	r5rocks.com
Members	Riker Lynch Rocky Lynch Ross Lynch Rydel Lynch Ellington Ratliff

R5 is an American pop rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2009, the band consists of: Riker Lynch, Rocky Lynch, Ross Lynch (of Disney Channel's Austin & Ally), Rydel Lynch, and Ellington Lee Ratliff. In March 2010, they self-released an EP, Ready Set Rock, and in September released their debut studio album with Hollywood Records.^[1]

R5's debut EP Loud was released on February 19, 2013, which featured the lead single and title track "Loud". The band's first full-length album, Louder, was released on September 24, 2013 and the album not only includes the four songs from Loud but also seven new songs. The lead single from Louder, "Pass Me By", premiered on Radio Disney on August 16. The music video premiered on 29 August on Disney Channel and is available for public viewing on the band's Vevo channel.

History

2009–2011: Beginnings and Ready Set Rock

R5 is made up of a group of siblings born and raised in Littleton, Colorado (brothers Riker Lynch, Rocky Lynch, Ross Lynch and their sister Rydel Lynch), plus a friend from California (Ellington Ratliff). While living in Colorado, the Lynch children went to a performing arts school where they learned to play music and dance. They made up and put on shows for their family and charged them at least a dollar to watch them perform in their basement at a young age as young as four or five. In 2008, Riker (the oldest brother), at 16, decided that he wanted to move to L.A. to pursue an acting career. To accommodate, their parents, Stormie and Mark Lynch, moved the whole family to L.A. so that they could stay together. Opportunity after opportunity arose, and the siblings began their debuts on commercials. Four of the brothers were members of the dance team, the Rage Boyz Crew on the T.V. show So You Think You Can Dance in 2009. In October 2009, the family met Ellington Ratliff at a dance studio in California. Ratliff joined the band on the drums, and R5 was created.

The band self released an EP entitled Ready Set Rock on March 9, 2010, consisting of songs written primarily by Riker, Rocky, Rydel, band coach E-Vega, and vocal coach/songwriter, Mauli B. The EP was produced by E-Vega.^[2] During these early years they played sets throughout Southern California at venues, including the Orange County Fair, the San Diego County Fair, the San Diego IndieFest, the Knitting Factory, and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

2012–present: Loud and Louder

Rocky, Ross and Riker on R5 West Coast Tour, in 2012

In April 2012, the band announced via their website that they had signed a record deal with DMG's Hollywood Records and that they are planning for their first Mini Tour in May.^[3] In Mid-2009 R5 began to make a YouTube web series called R5 TV to "show their fans what they are up to". This has proved to be very successful marketing for the band with over 4 million views to date.^[4] Throughout mid to late 2012 R5 recorded their debut Loud, which was released on February 19, 2013. They worked with producers Emanuel "Eman" Kiriakou and Evan "Kidd" Bogart for the EP.^[5] The EP Charted in the Top 3 of the iTunes chart within 24 Hours of its Release.^[6] One of the four songs on the EP "Here Comes Forever" was written by Riker, Rocky and Ross. Riker has described their debut single "Loud" as "It's like this big huge loud party."^[7]

On August 16, 2013, the lead single from their debut album was premiered on Radio Disney. "Pass Me By" was released digitally on August 20, 2013,^[8] and was available for instant download upon pre-ordering their debut album Louder. The album released on September 24, 2013.^[9] Fans can use the iTunes "Complete My Album" option to purchase the EP,^[10] which will allow them to purchase the entire album at a lower price. "Louder" climbed its way to number 2 on the iTunes charts and was classified as a "Chart-topper" on iTunes end of the year album list.

Members

• Riker Lynch – Bass, Lead Vocals.
• Rydel Lynch – Keyboard, background vocals.
• Rocky Lynch – Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals.
• Ross Lynch – Guitar, Lead Vocals.
• Ellington Ratliff – Drums, background vocals.

Discography

Studio albums

• Louder (2013)

Singles

• Pass Me By (2013)
• Forget About You (2013)
• Loud (2013)
• Say You'll Stay (2011)

Awards and nominations

Tours

The band embarked on a mini Tour Club sponsored by Buena Vista Radio, entitled R5 West Coast Tour during Summer 2012. On June 1, 2012, it was announced that the band would be playing at the Big Ticket Summer Concert performing "Say You'll Stay" in Canada. The event was broadcast on Family Channel, The Big Ticket Summer Concert also featured Tyler Medeiros, Bridgit Mendler, Veronica and Allstar Weekend. The band also performed at the Big Ticket Summer Concert once again in 2013.

• 2012: R5 West Coast Tour
• 2012: R5 East Coast Tour
• 2013: Loud Tour
• 2013: Dancing Out My Pants Tour (https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/dancingoutmypantstour)
• 2014: Louder Tour (http://r5rockstheworld.com/#/explore?country=KZ). This tour venues were chosen by the fans, as R5 designed an interactive map on R5rocks.com, where fans could vote for where they wanted R5 to perform.

References

External links

• r5rocks.com, the band's official website
• R5 at AllMusic
• (https://twitter.com/officialR5), the band's official twitter
• (http://www.youtube.com/user/RikerLynch), the band's old official YouTube channel
• (http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialR5), the band's new official YouTube channel