Biography

Featuring prominent piano riffs and vocals in front of anthemic pop/rock songs, OneRepublic formed in 2002 around singer/songwriter Ryan Tedder and lead guitarist Zach Filkins. The two quickly left their home base of Colorado Springs and relocated to Los Angeles, where keyboardist Drew Brown, bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle, and drummer Eddie Fisher joined the lineup. OneRepublic then signed with Sony BMG's Columbia label in 2003; three years later, however, the band returned from a performance at ~Coachella to find themselves dropped from Columbia's roster. Nevertheless, their popularity continued to soar on MySpace, and Tedder helped raise the group's profile through his own songwriting projects for other artists. Hip-hop producer Timbaland (with whom Tedder had previously worked on several projects) took notice of the group's growing audience and signed OneRepublic to his own Mosley Music Group, a joint venture with Interscope Records. Timbaland also remixed one of the group's most promising tracks, "Apologize," and included it on his own album, 2007's Timbaland Presents Shock Value. The song quickly became a platinum-selling single in many countries, breaking airplay records in the U.K. and America. Later that year, OneRepublic made their official public bow with the full-length Dreaming Out Loud. ~ Andrew Leahey & Stewart Mason, All Music Guide