Panic! At The Disco

Named after a line from Name Taken’s “Panic,” Panic! at the Disco was established by guitarist Ryan Ross, drummer Spencer Smith, bassist Brent Wilson, and vocalist Brendon Urie in 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In March 2005, they became the first band to sign with Pete Wentz’s label, Decaydance Records (now DCD2), quickly rising to fame due to their pop-infused songs with theatrical motifs, unconventional techno beats, and insightful lyrics. Their debut album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, was released on September 27, 2005 while they were on tour opening for Fall Out Boy, and by the next spring, they were headlining their own tour. In May 2006, bassist Brent Wilson was dismissed due to his “lack of responsibility and the fact that he wasn’t progressing musically with the band,” and was replaced by Jon Walker, who had met Panic! while they were touring with The Academy Is…, for whom he was the guitar technician and videographer. At the 2006 VMAs, they received the Video of the Year award for “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.”

In early 2007, the group took a break from touring and retreated to a cabin in Mt. Charleston, Nevada to concentrate on composing their next album. Cricket and Clover, also known as “the cabin album,” was envisioned as a “modern fairy tale” concept album but was eventually shelved as it became overly ambitious. Nonetheless, the abandoned album’s sound influenced the direction they ultimately took with their second album, Pretty. Odd., which departed from the pop-punk and vaudevillian style of their debut record in favor of Beatles-inspired baroque folk.

With the release of Pretty. Odd., the group introduced a new logo without the exclamation point. Guitarist Ryan Ross explained how it was becoming bothersome.

Ross stated, “At least for me, it got a little bit annoying to attempt to write that every time you’re typing the name. It was never part of the name to us… People started writing it, and then it ended up in more and more things like that, so there