The History of Panic! At The Disco
December 13, 2017
By: Camille Jackson
Panic! At The Disco is a well known pop-punk band, especially among alternative rock fans. It was first formed in 2004 by childhood friends Ryan Ross and Spencer Smith. They soon invited Brent Wilson who, in turn, offered Brendon Urie a place in the band too. When they first started up, Ryan was the lead singer, with Brendon as the back-up. However, when he found out how good Brendon was at singing, he told Brendon that he could be the lead instead.
Their debut studio album (‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’) was released in 2005. The album was popularized by the well-known second song on the album, ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’. In 2006, the band fired Wilson and subsequently replaced him with Jon Walker. During their second album, which was released in 2008, they were heavily influenced by ‘60s bands, most likely The Beatles, The Zombies and the Beach Boys. With this album- ‘Pretty. Odd.’- they moved into a different style than the one they previously had. Ross and Walker, who liked the new direction they were going in, left soon after they finished touring for that album; this was mainly due to the fact that Brendon and Spencer wanted to make additional changes to the sound of their music and expand the new experimental style.
Continuing as a duo, Urie and Smith released their single ‘New Perspective’. Not too long after that, Dallon Weekes and Ian Crawford became touring members of the band. In 2010, however, Weekes was officially recognized as a full-time member of the band. This was around the same time that they were finishing up recording their third album, ‘Vices & Virtues’, which they then released in 2011. The album was recorded only by Brendon and Spencer, as Dallon wasn’t officially a member yet.
As a three person band they released their fourth album ‘Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!’ in 2013. Prior to the release of the album, Spencer unofficially left the band due to health issues. Brendon and Dallon being the only members left, carried on with the band.
In 2015, Smith officially left the band; soon after that, Weekes went back to being only a touring member. Urie, being the only remaining full-time artist in the band, continued making music. He released the single ‘Hallelujah’ in 2015 and officially circulated the full ‘Death of a Bachelor’ album in 2016.
According to https://www.theodysseyonline.com the fans of Panic! (sometimes abbreviated as P!ATD) are often referred to as ‘Sinners’ because of the lyrics in the single ‘Hallelujah’: All you sinners stand up, sing Hallelujah (Hallelujah)
Show praise with your body
Stand up, sing Hallelujah (Hallelujah)
Many of the band’s songs are empowering and emotionally relatable, for instance the single ‘Girls/Girls/Boys’, is a song about love and who is allowed to love who.
Sources:https://www.wikipedia.org/ https://www.theodysseyonline.com
Stary Marie • Jan 20, 2021 at 12:08 pm
This article was wonderful! I’m writing a book for a school project on the history of P!ATD and it helped a lot! Thanks 🙂
Love to all my fellow sinners out there! ❤️
Victoria • Oct 8, 2020 at 5:34 am
Thanks so much for writing this. You actually helped me with a school assignment. Love to all my fellow Sinners and P!ATD fans 🙂
Makenzie • Nov 13, 2019 at 9:30 am
I’m doing a school project and this website really helped so thank you. We should have more sinners out there. We are the best group ever!
Bridget • Jul 13, 2018 at 1:57 am
I didn’t know about the band until my sister introduced me and now I am in love. I was really confused about their history but this website cleared it all up.
AriszaG Gonzalez • Feb 1, 2018 at 11:04 am
I love Panic At The Disco and honestly they’re underappreciated. I love how you explained why they are so great and such, good job.
Hailey Davis • Dec 14, 2017 at 3:18 pm
I like how you went over most of the history of the band.
Kayla Looney • Dec 14, 2017 at 2:59 pm
I love how much detail you put into this and know I know a lot more things than I originally did. I love P!ATD but I never knew how the band formed. Thank you for teaching me something today!
Max Belbin • Dec 14, 2017 at 1:52 pm
I love your article! It was incredible accurate and interesting, glad to know there are other Sinners out there
Max Belbin • Dec 14, 2017 at 1:53 pm
*incredibly
Renee Jessen • Dec 14, 2017 at 1:08 pm
I love P!ATD music and I didn’t know a lot of this info. So thank you for giving me more info about P!ATD
Maya Zola • Dec 14, 2017 at 10:33 am
im actually a big fan of P!ATD and didnt know a lot of this info but now i do