AJR is an American
indie pop band founded by brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan Met (formerly Metzger), collectively a trio of vocalists, multi-instrumentalists, and songwriters.[1] The brothers grew up in
New York City, primarily focused on
busking and singing covers until releasing their first album, Living Room, on March 3, 2015.[2][3] As of 2024, they have produced and released five studio albums under the independent label AJR Productions to various record labels.[a]
2005–2013: Street performing and breakthrough with "I'm Ready"
Your early covers on YouTube were kind of what inspired me to get into making covers on my own ... your "Ho Hey" cover ... that was like one of the first covers that I saw that made me want to put out covers.
AJR released their second
EP, 6foot1, on December 20, 2013,[34] later being re-released as I'm Ready - EP via
Warner Music Group on March 25, 2014. They were named
Clear Channel's "Artist on the Rise" for the month of October 2013. By 2014, the band was named
iHeartRadio's Artist of the Month for Top 40 in January.[35]
The band's third EP, Infinity, was released on September 23, 2014. It contains 5 tracks, including the lead single "Infinity". A lyric video directed and produced primarily by AJR was released for the single.[36] The EP was released instead of their debut album, Living Room, which was pushed back to a release date of March 3, 2015. The band expressed the delay in their debut album was because they wanted to add some of their newer music to the project.[37] On October 23, 2015, they released the individual single "
Let the Games Begin".[38]
Their second studio album, The Click, was released on June 9, 2017, including the singles "
Weak", "
Drama", and "
Sober Up" (featuring
Rivers Cuomo). The featured single was both AJR and his first chart-topping song co-written by them;[41] atop Billboard'sAlternative Airplay chart for two weeks in 2018, apart from his band
Weezer.[42] The album, on the AJR Productions label, was released by
BMG in the US,
Ultra Records in Canada, Liberator Records in Australia/New Zealand, and
Black Butter Records in the rest of the world, as were AJR's next two albums. The band's 2018 tour in support of the album, The Click Tour, featured Hundred Handed,
Grizfolk,
Ocean Park Standoff, and
MAX as
openers.[43]
An extended version of The Click was released on September 21, 2018. The Click (Deluxe Edition) included new tracks such as "Role Models", "Normal" and "
Burn the House Down",[44] the latter which the band released in March 2018 as a single and reached number two on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart.[45] Also included was "Pretender – Acoustic", an acoustic version of "
Pretender", which was a collaboration between AJR, EDM artist
Steve Aoki and American rapper
Lil Yachty.[46]
Due to a resurgence in popularity after four years, AJR released a music video for the album's second track, "
The Good Part".[47]
On January 30, 2019, AJR released the song "
100 Bad Days", which would later become the lead single for Neotheater.[48] A music video for the single was released on March 7.[49] The song was additionally included on
Taylor Swift's
Apple Music playlist, "Playlist by ME!", in May 2019, with the pre-
chorus' lyrics being used for Taylor's description of the playlist of songs she loves and appreciates.[50]
On March 10, the band announced their third studio album, Neotheater, which was to be released on April 26. On March 12, the promotional single "
Birthday Party" was released and "100 Bad Days" was performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[51] The second single, "
Dear Winter", was released on April 5 alongside a music video.[52] After releasing on April 26, 2019, Neotheater debuted at number 8 on the US
Billboard 200 and hit number one on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart.[53][13] A show for the Neotheater World Tour was later sold out at
Red Rocks Amphitheatre on October 5, 2019.[54]
On October 25, 2019, the group released "
Dear Winter 2.0", re-imagining the song by "changing the production and upping the emotion".[55]
"
Bang!" was released as the lead single for the band's fourth studio album on February 12, 2020.[56] The song charted in the
Billboard Hot 100 at number eight, making it AJR's first and only
Hot 100 top-ten single.[15] The album's second single, "
Bummerland", released on August 31, 2020,[57] later being performed by the band at the virtual concert "
We the People" on January 17, 2021 for the inauguration of the 46th United States president
Joe Biden.[58]
On December 22, 2020, AJR released "
My Play" as the third single,[59] followed by "
Way Less Sad" as the fourth single on February 17, 2021.[60]OK Orchestra was officially released on March 26, 2021,[61] with the
Blue Man Group featuring on its ninth track, "Ordinaryish People".[62] At the
2021 Billboard Music Awards, "Bang!" received an award for winning "
Top Rock Song", and they performed the song alongside "Way Less Sad".[17]
Following the release of OK Orchestra, AJR collaborated with the American bands
Weezer and
Daisy the Great, releasing a remix of Weezer's "
All My Favorite Songs" on May 12, 2021,[63] and a remix of Daisy the Great's "
Record Player" on August 31, 2021.[64]
On April 22, 2022, the band announced that a new song would be released before the
OK Orchestra Tour resumed. AJR signed to
Mercury Records/
Republic Records in May 2022,[65][66] and officially released the song "
I Won't" through the label on July 29 with an accompanying music video.[67] On November 12, the band released a video teaser announcing their new album, abbreviated as TMM,[68] and released the follow-up single "
The DJ Is Crying for Help" on November 18.[69] On January 27, 2023,
Quinn XCII released "Too Late", featuring AJR.[70] The song appeared as track 7 on Quinn's fifth studio album, The People's Champ.[71] The single came after the cancellation of 2020's Everything Everywhere Tour, which would have seen both artists performing alongside each other.[72]
On April 21, 2023, the band released the album's third single, "
The Dumb Song". The next day, a music video was released detailing the events of the one-and-a-half-year-long process of creating the song.[73] The band
surprise released a lyric video for a new song titled "
God Is Really Real" on July 3, detailing the brothers' relationship with their father, Gary, who was
terminally ill at the time of its release.[74] The band announced later that day that Gary had died.[75] On August 28, AJR announced the album's title, The Maybe Man, with a release date of November 3. The album's tracklist and artwork was revealed on September 12, and the band released the fifth and final single "
Yes I'm a Mess" on September 29 with a music video on October 25.[68][76] On October 11, 2023, AJR announced that the release date of The Maybe Man had been delayed by one week to November 10.[77] On November 8, 2023, AJR announced The Maybe Man Tour, the band's first arena tour, beginning in 2024.[78]
Personal life
The brothers are
Jewish.[79] Their parents are Gary Metzger, an architect, and Laurie Marvald, who began her career as an architect, attending
Cornell University, then moving on to entrepreneurship. Laurie created and was one of the original founding partners of AJR Productions, LLC. She held an executive and management role until 2022.[citation needed]
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (March 2024)
The brothers are singer-songwriter themselves.[88] Being known for as a
DIY band, they emphasize writing, producing, and mixing all of their own music collaboratively from their living room studio.[89][1] AJR describes their musical style is a mixture of many different genres such as
dubstep,
doo-wop,
hip-pop and
theatrical musical like
Broadway,[90][1] whereas the band has been categorized as
indie pop by the news and magazine.[61][91]
On May 14, 2020, the band announced the cancellation of their upcoming tours due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, stating via Twitter that "it’s more important to us that [our fans] are safe".[130]
On July 21, 2020, AJR announced their drive-in show, "A night in your car with AJR", which took place on August 19, 2020, in Philadelphia.[128] Two days later after the first show had sold out entirely, they announced a second show for Philadelphia which took place on August 20. The first show saw the debut of "
Bummerland".[131]
On November 19, 2020, AJR announced their first virtual concert, AJR's One Spectacular Night, which took place on December 26, 2020. The livestream was interactive, allowing viewers to clap after songs and change the camera to both simulate a live concert and experiment with livestreaming.[129]
On March 31, 2017, AJR released the charity single "
It's On Us" to support sexual violence survivors across the United States.[138]
$1 from every tour ticket sold will go towards Planet Reimagined, a non-profit organization co-founded by Adam Met that trains the climate leaders of the future, teaching them how to combine thought and advocacy for measurable impact to fight the climate crisis and deliver fair solutions for people and the planet.[139]
^Maloni, Joshua (October 29, 2014).
"Interview: AJR is A-mazing". Niagara Frontier Publications.
Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
^Cabison, Rosalie (January 2, 2013).
"Billboard 200". Billboard.
Archived from the original on October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
^Prendergast, Mackenzie (October 29, 2019).
"AJR Electrifies Red Rock". EHS Nest Network.
Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
^Ellwood-Hughes, Pip (August 10, 2022).
"AJR release new single "I Won't"". Entertainment Focus.
Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
^Dzurillay, Julia (November 17, 2022).
"Why AJR Changed Their Last Name". ShowBiz Cheat Sheet.
Archived from the original on April 30, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.