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Good Charlotte
- Punk pop became a lucrative commodity in
the late 90s, as countless skaters decided to
put down their boards and pick up instruments
in the hope of enjoying the commercial success
achieved by bands such as Green Day and
Blink-182. The Waldorf, Maryland, USA-based
quintet, Good Charlotte, is just one of a
countless stream of similarly styled bands,
using the same chord patterns and vocal
inflections. The band's leaders are twin
brothers, vocalist Joel and guitarist Benji
Madden (b. 11 March 1979, USA), who began
writing songs together at the age of 16.
Influenced by bands such as Rancid and Green
Day, the duo cut a demo tape, and upon their
high school graduation in 1997, relocated to
Berkeley, California, to try to follow in the
footsteps of their heroes Green Day.
Things did not
exactly work out that way, and the twins
returned to Maryland and completed Good
Charlotte's line-up by enlisting second
guitarist Billy (b. William Martin, 15 June
1981), bass player Paul Thomas (b. 5 October
1980), and drummer Aaron. In 2000, Good
Charlotte signed with Epic Records, and the
same year, issued a self-titled debut album.
The band supported the release by touring
steadily throughout the remainder of 2000 and
for much of 2001, during which time they
opened shows for MxPx and travelled as part of
the Warped Tour, while Benji and Joel
regularly hosted the MTV show, All Things
Rock. Aaron left the band prior to the
recording of Good Charlotte's second album,
The Young And The Hopeless. |
