Written by: Abbie Alonzo
It is hard to believe that we have been loving our Aussie boys, 5 Seconds of Summer for eleven years now! We have loved growing up with them and are ecstatic to be getting new music from them! In honor of “COMPLETE MESS” just being released, we wanted to take a trip down memory lane and relive the boys’ “Best Years”! 🥰
Growing up in Sydney, Australia, Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford, and Calum Hood all went to school together. Luke began posting covers on YouTube in 2011, and the three formed a band soon after discovering they all shared a similar taste in music. The first video they posted together was their well-known cover of “I Miss You” by Blink-182. With two guitarists and a bassist, the trio began their search for a drummer. Enter Ashton Irwin! With the band now complete, they posted their first cover with Ashton on YouTube–a rendition of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag.” Shortly after, they began writing their own music with “Out of my Limit” being their first single. This garnered attention from Sony Music and got them a record and publishing deal. 5SOS released their first EP, Unplugged, in June 2012, followed by Somewhere New EP in December. Luke, Calum, Michael, and Ashton were asked to join Hot Chelle Rae on their Australia/New Zealand tour in late 2012 and would later be asked to open for One Direction on their 2013 Take Me Home Tour. This is where things would really skyrocket for this little band from down under! 🌟
After all the success they attained on the Take Me Home Tour, 5 Seconds of Summer was asked to join One Direction again on their 2014 Where We Are Tour! Two months into the tour, 5SOS released their debut self-titled album, with single “She Looks So Perfect” at the forefront. This album began such a defining era in the boys’ careers. With their edgier sound and bad-boy aura, 5 Seconds of Summer was taking the world by storm. Fans began copying their iconic outfits of ripped skinny
jeans, classic band T-shirts and flannels – a style that would later define 2014. In addition to the album, the boys also released four EPs throughout the year: She Looks So Perfect EP, Don’t Stop EP, Good Girls EP, and Amnesia EP. To round out this busy year, the band’s album LIVESOS was released in December and featured live recordings of some of our favorite songs! 🎸
In 2015, 5SOS embarked on their first headlining tour across four continents. Rock Out With Your Socks Out showcased the band’s debut album and featured openers The Veronicas, Hey Violet, and State Champs. Towards the end of the tour, we received She’s Kinda Hot EP, and a month after the tour concluded, the band released their sophomore album Sounds Good Feels Good. Featuring singles like “She’s Kinda Hot” and “Money,” 5SOS toured this album during their headlining summer 2016 tour Sounds Live Feels Live with support from ONE OK ROCK, Hey Violet, and Roy English. 🎤
Luke, Calum, Michael, and Ashton adopted a more mature, alternative sound when it came time to create their third album. Youngblood was gifted to us in June 2018 and featured a sound quite different from that of the band’s first two albums. The boys spent the later half of 2018 on the Meet You There Tour, which spanned four continents. With over a billion streams on Spotify, “Youngblood” also peaked at number one in seven countries upon release! 💜
In 2019, 5 Seconds of Summer collaborated with The Chainsmokers to make the single “Who Do You Love?” Following the release of this song, The Chainsmokers’ World War Joy Tour was announced and featured 5SOS and Lennon Stella as the openers. 🎆
Ready to embark on their fourth headlining tour, the boys announced their No Shame Tour in February 2020. Only one month later, 5 Seconds of Summer released CALM, their fourth studio album. This album featured some of our favorite singles like “Teeth” and “No Shame.” Unfortunately, right around the time of the album’s release saw the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously, this meant the postponement of the No Shame Tour (which will now be taking place this year!). 😱
Though the pandemic put many things on hold, it allowed for the pursuit of hobbies and creative outlets for people everywhere. Ashton and Luke both took advantage of this time to create solo projects, with Ashton releasing his album, Superbloom, in late 2020, and Luke sharing his When Facing the Things We Turn Away From in August of 2021. In addition, Michael took time to go down the avenue of producing music. Michael and Luke also shared exciting news with the world in 2021: Michael got married to Crystal Leigh and Luke got engaged to Sierra Deaton! We could not be happier for them! 😍
The boys also celebrated their 10 year band-iversary in late 2021! 5SOS commemorated their formation with a 10 year special on YouTube that consisted of live performances of old songs, skits, and reminiscing on their journey thus far. They took us year-by-year through the
highs and lows of their careers and
made us SO excited for this year! 🔥
Now that we have recapped the boys’ iconic careers, we are looking towards the future! We are so happy that 5SOS will be able to tour again this year! What was previously called the No Shame Tour has fans speculating that we may see a name change, possibly to the Take My Hand Tour. We know that 5SOS has SO much in store for us, including yesterday’s new release “COMPLETE MESS”! We were instantly obsessed with this song and the stunning video that came along with it! The video featured the boys in the desert dressed in beautiful primary colors--possibly hinting at a new era! With this being the second single behind “2011” the boys have released, we cannot wait to see what will come next! 🤩
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