R5 is made up of a group of siblings born and raised in Littleton, Colorado (brothers Riker Lynch, Rocky Lynch, Ross Lynch, sister Rydel Lynch and another brother who is not in the band, Ryland Lynch). While living in Colorado, the Lynch children went to a performing arts school where they learned to dance. They made up and put on shows for their family and charged them at least a dollar to watch them perform in their basement at a young age, as young as four or five. In 2008, Riker (the oldest brother), at 16, decided that he wanted to move to L.A. to pursue an acting career. To accommodate, their parents, Stormie and Mark Lynch, moved the whole family to L.A. so that they could stay together. Shortly after moving, the second eldest brother, Rocky Lynch, picked up guitar and soon taught Riker and Ross how to play as well. Opportunity after opportunity arose, and the siblings began their debuts on commercials. Four of the brothers were members of the dance team, the Rage Boyz Crew on the T.V. show So You Think You Can Dance in 2009. In October 2009, the family met Ellington Ratliff at a dance studio in California, in which he was also a member of the aforementioned Dance Crew. Ratliff joined the band on the drums and Rydel picked up the piano/keyboard (she had taken lessons previously), and R5 was created.
In Mid-2009, R5 began to make a YouTube web series called R5 TV to "show their fans what they are up to" on Riker's YouTube Channel (Which they then switched to a new channel February 2012). This has proved to be very successful marketing for the band with over 4 million views to date.[1] Throughout mid to late 2012 R5 recorded their debut Loud, which was released on February 19, 2013. They worked with producers Emanuel "Eman" Kiriakou and Evan "Kidd" Bogart for the EP.[2] They made their first self-created music video for their song "Can't Get Enough of You" on September 4, 2010 which received 768,992 views.[3]
The band self released an EP entitled Ready Set Rock on March 9, 2010, consisting of songs written primarily by Riker, Rocky, Rydel, band coach E-Vega, and vocal coach/songwriter, Mauli B. The EP was produced by E-Vega.[4] During these early years they played sets throughout Southern California at venues, including the Orange County Fair, the San Diego County Fair, the San Diego IndieFest, the Knitting Factory, and Six Flags Magic Mountain.
In April 2012, the band announced via their website that they had signed a record deal with DMG's Hollywood Records and that they are planning for their first Mini Tour in May.[5] The EP Charted in the Top 3 of the iTunes chart within 24 Hours of its Release.[6] One of the four songs on the EP "Here Comes Forever" was written by Riker, Rocky and Ross. Riker has described their debut single "Loud" as "It's like this big huge loud party."[7]
On August 16, 2013, the lead single from their debut album was premiered on Radio Disney. "Pass Me By" was released digitally on August 20, 2013,[8] and was available for instant download upon pre-ordering their debut album Louder. The album released on September 24, 2013.[9] Fans can use the iTunes "Complete My Album" option to purchase the EP,[10] which will allow them to purchase the entire album at a lower price. "Louder" climbed its way to number 2 on the iTunes charts and was classified as a "Chart-topper" on iTunes end of the year album list.
On December 25, 2013, the second single from Louder was released titled (I Can't) Forget About You. Shortly after, it was announced that they would release a music video on 2014. The official video was released in the band's official website on January 15, 2014. It features the band members being in different kinds of crazy adventures while in Japan. On February 5, 2014, the band embarked on the first leg of their first ever world tour starting in Warsaw, Poland. They toured numerous cities in Europe including shows in, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany,Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, England, Scotland and Ireland and also one show in Israel. They ended their European tour with their last show in Dublin, Ireland.
R5 also announced their second studio album scheduled to be released in 2014.[11][12] Riker revealed that their second album will likely be sounding "more mature" and Ross has started writing songs for it.[12] The band also performed on the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. R5 is set to perform at the Radio Disney Music Awards on April 26.[13][14]
On April 24, 2014, the band appeared on Ryan Seacrest's popular KIIS-FM radio show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Here, it was announced that they would be the opening act at the Wango Tango music festival, performing alongside other famous artists such as Maroon 5, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Paramore, OneRepublic, Christina Aguilera and lots more.[15]
The band cites Elvis Presley, The Beatles and the The Rolling Stones as the biggest musical influence.[16] The band has also mentioned Mcfly, Fall Out Boy.,[17][18] The Killers, Neon Trees, Walk the Moon, Maroon 5, Jack White,Bruno Mars,[19] The Script[20]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Radio Disney Music Awards[21] | Best Music Group | Themselves | Nominated |
| Best Acoustic Performance | "Loud" | Nominated | ||
| Teen Icon Awards[22] | Iconic Band/Group | Themselves | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Radio Disney Music Awards | Best Music Group | Themselves | Nominated[23] |
| That's My Jam | "Loud" | Nominated[23] | ||
| Favortie Roadtrip Song | "Pass Me By" | Nominated[23] | ||
| Best Band | Themselves | Won | ||
| Show Stopper Award | Themselves | Won |
