Good Charlotte

Biography: Good Charlotte was established in 1996 when brothers Benji (lead guitar and vocals) and Joel, (lead vocals) decided to start a band. The first member they added to the group was Billy Martin. At the time Billy was playing in his own band but later dropped out and became Good Charlotte's guitar player. In later weeks Paul Thomas joined the three guys as their bass player. A month or so down the road, (former) "Good Charlotte" member Aaron Escolopio (then 16), joined as the drummer. After months of trying to form a band they finally had one. They named the band from a children's book entitled 'Good Charlotte'. After months of trying to get signed Benji and Joel got a phone call at home saying that the record label just signed them. Sadly the boys found that it was a prank call and their hopes became to crumble. Although months later after trying for so long, he band finally got a record deal with 'Epic Records', a huge record lable. The band began writing new songs and finally it was time to hit the studio to record their first album in which they self-entitled it "Good Charlotte". After months work in the recording studio the bands album was finally done and was released on September 26, 2000. The bands album did amazing and sold over thousands of copies in its first few days. That was an amazing thing for a new band to do. Good Charlotte later began planning a tour. While in the process of doing so, the band was offered a slot in the 2001 W.A.R.P. tour. The band was then on the road for three non-stop months. After the tour was done the band also did shows in places such as Australia and New Zealand (where their album went platinum). The band was given an opportunity to do a music video for their song 'Little Things'. The band took the opportunity and later made the video, which was directed by Dave Meyers. Although the video didn't do as well as it hoped their band was still, later offered another chance to make another music video, this time it was for 'The Motivation Proclamation'. The video got excellent playtime and was a hit. Good Charlotte also was able to make video's for their songs, 'The Festival Song' and 'Undergrads', which was the theme to the show. After touring and promoting for close to two years, the band decided it was time to began writing songs for their next album. While writing their album, Benji and Joel were offered a deal with MTV to host a new music show called "All Things Rock". The guy took the deal and the show premiered in September of 2002. The two of them would host the show in the New York studio as well as on the road with them. As "Good Charlotte" headed back into the studio, a problem arose. Good Charlotte's drummer, Aaron decided that he wanted to leave the band. After almost three years, Aaron decided that he had enough. The band try to find a replacement, but they had no such luck. They found one person to record the album with but that was all. After three months of recording the album was ready to be released with the title "The Young and The Hopeless". The record was released on September 12, 2003 and did incredible with sales. The album sold thousands of copies the day it was released. As the band began going on tour again and creating more music videos, they finally found a drummer. (present) Drummer, Chris Willson joined the band. The band shot their first video "The Anthem" with Chris in January of 2003. The band was finally complete again. Now after five years of being together, the band is still doing tours and at the moment is in the studio working of their third album. The album is to be released sometime in the Spring of 2004. Throughout this time the band has grown as a whole and the members have grown as individuals. But no matter what their music is the same, it still totally kicks ass! … Expand