Lifehouse (band)

Lifehouse

Lifehouse is an American rock band. They came to prominence in 2001 with the hit single "Hanging by a Moment" from their debut major label album, No Name Face. The single won a Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year, beating out Janet Jackson and Alicia Keys for the No.1 Single of 2001. In 2002, they released their follow up album Stanley Climbfall. The band's third album, self-titled Lifehouse, was released in 2005. The band released their fourth studio album, Who We Are, on June 19, 2007. The trio consists of Jason Wade, Rick Woolstenhulme Jr. and Bryce Soderberg, and an additional guitarist while on tour.

History

The group first came together under the name Blyss, and recorded and released their debut album, Diff's Lucky Day, in 1999. The group named the band after Mount Blyss in Colorado where they love to ski.

No Name Face

Main article: No Name Face

In 2000, Lifehouse entered the recording studio to record their first major label release. Five of the twelve tracks from Diff's Lucky Day were remixed and released on No Name Face. Because of his charisma and talent, DreamWorks Records focused their sights solely on frontman Jason Wade, and by the time the debut album was released on October 31, 2000, Wade and Andrade were the only remaining founding members. Shortly after recording the first album, Rick Woolstenhulme replaced Jon Palmer on drums. Lifehouse's international fan base began to grow and while fans of the band considered Wade's lyrics to be deep, questioning, and profoundly spiritual, some found Lifehouse's output to be "drab FM-radio rock."

"Sick Cycle Carousel" was released by the band as the first commercial release single, however it was "Hanging by a Moment" a song written by Jason Wade on the spur of the moment that affirmed the band a place in musical history, being labeled the "Most Played Song of 2001." "Hanging" was only the third song in chart history, after Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs' "Wooly Bully" in 1965 and Faith Hill's "Breathe" in 2000, to be named the number one song of the year on the Billboard Hot 100 without having reached No. 1 on any weekly Hot 100 survey. The third and final single from No Name Face was "Breathing" which, though performing better than "Sick Cycle Carousel," had far less chart impact than "Hanging by a Moment."

The song "Everything" was also used in both the pilot and first-season finale episodes of the future hit WB drama, Smallville, and would go on to be placed on the series' first soundtrack (Smallville: The Talon Mix). This began the long-standing affair between the band and the series, as Lifehouse would go on to have seven songs played during the series' first four seasons, ending with a live performance in the fourth-season prom episode, and landing yet another song on Smallville: The Metropolis Mix ("You And Me (Wedding Version)").

Stanley Climbfall

Main article: Stanley Climbfall

Shortly after a long tour for No Name Face, Lifehouse re-entered the studio to cut their second album Stanley Climbfall. Though the album features all original songs with uniqueness and style similar to the first album, its success was shortlived and its singles, "Spin" and "Take Me Away", were vastly overshadowed by the success of the first album and its singles. Shortly after the release of this album, Rick's brother Sean Woolstenhulme (of The Calling) was officially made the fourth member of the band in June of 2002 after touring with Lifehouse.

In April 2004, Sergio Andrade confirmed that he had decided to leave the band to pursue individual projects. Shortly after this, Sean also left the band to pursue other musical projects such as Abandoned Pools and The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.

Lifehouse

Main article: Lifehouse (2005 album)

Jason Wade and Rick Woolstenhulme remained the active members of Lifehouse. In late 2004, Bryce Soderberg (previously of AM Radio) signed on as Lifehouse's new bass guitarist. On July 6, 2004, they went to Maryland to begin work on their eponymous third album. Lifehouse was released on March 22, 2005 and was produced by John Alagia.

The album's first single, "You and Me," was released for airplay on January 18, 2005. It was written several years prior and was originally performed by Jason Wade in the 2000 independent film All Over Again. The song also appears on the soundtrack to Smallville. One episode, "Spirit," featured the band actually performing it and three other songs from the album ("Come Back Down", "Blind", and "Undone") on the show. The song has also appeared on Boston Legal, Everwood and Medium.

The music video for the album's second single, "Blind", was released October 19, 2005. It stars Tina Majorino (most well-known as Deb from the MTV film Napoleon Dynamite) and features several recent thespians, such as Sarch McClain, Stephen Cheung, and Andy Walters.

Who We Are

Main article: Who We Are (Lifehouse album)

Their fourth album, entitled Who We Are, was released on June 16, 2007. The album's release was followed by a tour with The Goo Goo Dolls and Colbie Caillat, which began June 15 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ. The album features Wade, Woolstenhulme and Soderberg as its lineup.

The band claims that the album will "rock a little harder" than their self-titled album, Lifehouse.. The album was recorded in Kiefer Sutherland and Jude Cole's recording studio, Ironworks Studios, in Los Angeles.

It has also been confirmed by Rick Woolstenhulme that after their tour with the Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse will go on a "world-wide headlining tour."

Lifehouse has been touring with Ben Carey from Australia as their guitarist

The first single to this album was "First Time", released on April 24, 2007. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 48 in May.

"First Time" topped at #3 on the Hot Adult Top 40 Charts. The band's new single, "Whatever It Takes," was released to radio stations October 29, 2007.

The music video for "Whatever It Takes" premiered on Yahoo Music on Friday, November 16, 2007.

The song "Who We Are" was used in an advertisement on A&E to promote their orginial programming.

The song "Broken" appeared on the episode "Lay Your Hands On Me" of Grey's Anatomy and "In Birth and Death" of Criminal Minds. The song also appeared on One Tree Hill February 25, 2008. Broken was also played in the season finale of MTV's The Hills. As of January 24, 2008, it has peaked at #2 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart (The equivalent of #102 on the Hot 100).

Other songs

Shortly after his death, the band performed an acoustic rendition of George Harrison's "Something" on Last Call With Carson Daly. The band has also covered the Keane single "Somewhere Only We Know" live on Yahoo Music. Lifehouse has also stated that Keane is one of their favorite musical groups. In 2007, the band did a cover of The Rolling Stone's "Beast of Burden" for the Stripped Music Sessions. The band says that they wanted to "pay homage to the godfathers of rock". Since the Stripped Sessions were released onto the internet, the band added that song to their setlist at concerts.

"Fairytales and Castles", "What's Wrong With That", and "Fool" originally appeared on the indie record "Diff's Lucky Day", but re-recorded versions can be found on the album Hanging by a Moment, produced only in Australia and released on June 5, 2001.

Jason Wade recently wrote the song, "From Where You Are" for Allstate's Teen Driving Program. The single was made available on iTunes on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. Surprisingly, the song which had very little radio air-play and was not on any album, but was made available of purchase on iTunes, reached #40 on the Billboard charts. It was the first song that was written expressly for a commercial to make it onto the charts since 1972's "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" .

Lifehouse released their own version of the holiday classic "Silent Night" on iTunes on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007.

Discography

Main article: Lifehouse discography

• 2000 - No Name Face
• 2002 - Stanley Climbfall
• 2005 - Lifehouse
• 2007 - Who We Are

Performances

On Tour

Lifehouse toured with Goo Goo Dolls in Summer 2007. Lifehouse also had their own headlining tour in 2007, after they went on tour with Goo Goo Dolls. The tour ended in December.

Lifehouse announced on FOX's New Year's Eve Special that they will be having a major city headlining tour in 2008. The tour is called The Disarray Tour. Tour dates were released on January 10th, 2008 on the band's website. Saluting the Rockies, Matt Nathanson and HoneyHoney will be the opening acts on the tour.

Lifehouse has been touring with Ben Carey from Australia as their guitarist.

References

• Powell, Mark Allan (2002). "Lifehouse". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music (First printing ed.). Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. pp. 529–530. ISBN 1-56563-679-1.

External links

Official Websites

• Geffen Records
• Lifehouse on MySpace
• Lifehouse RSS Feed
• Lifehouse on MTV.com

Lifehouse on IMDb:

• Lifehouse at IMDb
• Jason Wade at IMDb
• Sean Woolstenhulme at IMDb

Miscellanea

Cover Stories:

• Lifehouse on the cover of the February 20th, 2008 issue of iProng Magazine

Reviews:

• Review of Lifehouse's Who We Are

Media Downloads:

• Lifehouse Media
• Lifehouse France Gallery

Fan Sites and Communities:

• http://www.freewebs.com/lifeh0use/
• Lifehouse-France
• My Precious Music
• Lifehouse Fan Forums
• Brazilian Lifehouse Fans
• German Fanpage
• Live in the X Lounge IV - "Hanging By A Moment" (2001)
• FR*A Interview with Lifehouse