GOOD CHARLOTTE ***

Good Charlotte is an American Rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed on April 1, 1996. They took their name from the children's book Good Charlotte: The Girls of Good Day Orphanage written by Carol Beach York.

 

History

Self-titled Debut (2000–2001)

Good Charlotte's first self-titled album was released in 2000 and was the start of their music career. The album contains three singles: "Little Things", "Motivation Proclamation" and "Festival Song". Aaron Escolopio was the band's drummer for this album, but left the band before The Young and the Hopeless to join his brother's band Wakefield, and was replaced by Dusty Brill.

 

The Young and the Hopeless (2002–2003)

2002's The Young and the Hopeless sold 4.9 million albums and thrust the band into mainstream popularity. Their breakthrough single, titled "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", topped both pop and rock charts around the globe. Singles that were released from the album include "The Anthem", "Girls & Boys", "The Young and the Hopeless" and "Hold On". The band cited Blink-182, Sum 41, NOFX, Social Distortion and Green Day as influences for the album.

The album eventually went on to receive triple platinum certification (three million copies sold) from the RIAA. During the course of the album's success, Good Charlotte landed appearances on Saturday Night Live, CNN, and The Today Show, the covers of Rolling Stone and Alternative Press magazines, and were also featured in The New York Times. They also became popular on MTV, where their music videos were played in heavy rotation on both MTV and MTV2. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" received the "Viewers Choice Award" at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.

The band hired drummers during the recording, release and touring of The Young and the Hopeless due to former drummer Aaron Escolopio having left the band before its release. In 2003, the band added Chris Wilson as a drummer; he was introduced to the band through mutual friends from the group The Used.

Also in 2003, the band made a cameo appearance in the King Gordy video for "Nightmares".

Chronicles of Life and Death (2004–2007)

Good Charlotte's third album, The Chronicles of Life and Death, was released by Epic Records in 2004. The album received mixed reactions from both the music press and Good Charlotte's fan base. The album sold 2.2 million copies. The album has been widely considered a departure from their previous two albums, mixing new elements such as lyrical topics into Good Charlotte's youthful sound. Singles released from the album include the two hits "Predictable" and "I Just Wanna Live", as well as "The Chronicles of Life and Death" and "We Believe". The only single from The Chronicles of Life and Death which managed to chart on the U.S. Hot 100 was the hit "I Just Wanna Live". All of the singles released from the album went top 30 in the UK, except for "We Believe".

In May 2005, after much speculation from fans, it was officially confirmed that Chris Wilson had left the band citing personal health reasons. Benji also told Kerrang! magazine that, for him, "Chris leaving the band was the worst part of 2005". Chris then joined a pop/rock band The Summer Obsession but because of its split in 2007, he currently plays drums in Allegiance To The Fire.

On Good Charlotte's "Noise to the World Tour", performing with Simple Plan and Relient K, the band recruited Dean Butterworth (who had previously played for Morrissey) as the band's temporary drummer. Later, in March 2007, Butterworth was confirmed as the band's permanent drummer.

Benji Madden has claimed in interviews that he feels this record was not as successful as the previous record due to it being "too selfish".

Good Morning Revival (2007–2008)

Good Morning Revival is the fourth album by Good Charlotte and the follow up to 2004's The Chronicles of Life and Death. It was officially released in March 2007, with the precise date varying by country. Good Morning Revival debuted in the top 10 of thirteen countries worldwide including the U.S., giving the band some of their highest international chart positions thus far, and went on to sell 4.5 million copies. At midnight, on January 23, 2007, the record was made available for pre-order on iTunes. When pre-ordered, the single "The River" could be downloaded immediately, while the rest of the album was queued to be downloaded on the release date. Pre-ordering on iTunes also provided the exclusive bonus acoustic version of the song.

The first single from the album, "The River", featuring Avenged Sevenfold's lead singer, M. Shadows and guitarist Synyster Gates, appeared online on January 4, 2007 and was released as the first single from the album in North America. The music video for "The River" was added to UK music channels Kerrang! and Scuzz on April 13, 2007, making it the second single released from the album in the UK. The song charted at #108. "Keep Your Hands off My Girl" was released as the first single in the UK and Australia. "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" charted on the UK Singles Chart at #36 the first week of release through download sales and then climbed to #23 when released in stores. The second single released in North America was "Dance Floor Anthem", with which the band had scored a surprise hit, making it onto eleven different Billboard charts and peaking at #2 in Australia. The "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" video was recently certified gold by MTV International. It was played 3,000 times on over 4 continents during the first half of 2007. On January 1, 2008, Good Charlotte was featured on Tila Tequila's New Year's Eve Masquerade on MTV, as they were the second performance of the new year and performed their hit "Dance Floor Anthem".

The band made multiple U.S. and international TV appearances in support of the album. First, Good Charlotte appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 9, 2007, the Outdoor Stage on Jimmy Kimmel Live on April 11, and on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on April 27. Joel and Benji Madden, Good Charlotte's lead singer and guitarist respectively, co-hosted the Australian MTV Video Music Awards with Fergie on April 29, 2007 where the band also won the "Viewers Choice Australia" award for "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl". In August 2007, the band embarked on Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveShow tour, as Timberlake's opening act. Good Charlotte supported Timberlake throughout his second leg North American dates. They were present for the August 16, 2007 show in Madison Square Garden, which was taped for a HBO broadcast.

In 2008, Good Charlotte appeared on the Three 6 Mafia track off of their new CD Last 2 Walk called "My Own Way".

On November 25, 2008, "Greatest Remixes" was released. This compilation album includes 15 songs from previous Good Charlotte albums remixed by other artists such as Metro Station, Junior Sanchez, William Beckett from The Academy Is..., Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, and The White Tie Affair featuring Mat Devine of Kill Hannah.

Cardiology (2009–present)

Good Charlotte's fifth album was released on November 2, 2010. Describing the sound to MTV news, Joel Madden said it would sound a lot like Blink-182. Joel Madden went on to say in the same MTV interview that "There's nothing dance-y on the record, though, at all, which is different from our last one," further implying a movement away from the sound of Good Morning Revival. On December 3, 2008 Kerrang! magazine announced that Good Charlotte would be releasing their fifth studio album, Cardiology in 2009. The title of which, according to Joel, comes from the lyrical content of the album, which he explained is "all connected to the heart". Madden also added that they had already written 20 songs for the new album, and are said to be heading back to their pop-punk roots.

The band frequently tweeted during the recording process, giving updates to fans. In late July 2009, Joel Madden mentioned that they were close to track listing the album. On August 9, 2009, Benji Madden mentioned on his twitter that they had yet to record the songs but they were written. On the August 25, 2009 Benji announced on the official Good Charlotte website that the band were in the final stages of tracking and recording the album. At the time, the album was being produced by Howard Benson, who is known for such albums as My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, and The All-American Rejects' Move Along. However, the band didn't feel right about the sound of the album because Howard Benson focused on making it a commercial success. On January 24, 2010 Good Charlotte announced they had finished the album, but were going to completely scrap it and record with a different producer, Don Gilmore, who also produced their first and fourth records, Good Charlotte and Good Morning Revival.

Good Charlotte released their first single "Like It's Her Birthday" from the new album on August 24, 2010. The band posted the song online August 5, 2010, and wrote on their website that if the YouTube video of the song receives more than 100,000 views, they will post another song from the album. The video reached 100,000 views on August 15, 2010 and the band released "Counting the Days" as a video on their YouTube channel and announced that it will be the second single from the album. The music video for "Like It's Her Birthday" has camoes from The Maine's lead singer John O'Callaghan and guitarist Kennedy Brock and Boys Like Girls's lead singer Martin Johnson and guitarist Paul DiGiovanni. "Like It's Her Birthday" is available as a free track on "Tap Tap Revenge 3"

On the 13th of September 2010 it was announced that Good Charlotte will be headlining the 2011 Kerrang! Relentless Tour. On 25 October 2010, the full album was released on the band's official MySpace page as a free stream.

On 5 November 2010, Good Charlotte's former label, Sony Music, released a Greatest Hits collection, spanning 16 tracks from the band's four studio albums released on that label.

In 2011 Good Charlotte will Headline a tour around Australia with US band, Boys Like Girls, and Australian band, Shortstack

Activism

Billy Martin is an active vegetarian. Joel Madden was reported to be vegetarian, but has not confirmed this. Benji Madden won PETA's vegetarian of the year. In the past they actively supported PETA's animal rights campaigns. Members of the group recorded a track, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", on PETA's Liberation CD and appeared at PETA's 25th Anniversary Gala and Humanitarian Awards Show. Group members have also demonstrated against KFC's treatment of chickens.

The twins have also posed for the YouthAIDS Aldo "Aldo Fights AIDS" dog tag campaign. They stand face to face with their arms crossed.