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The Fray
The Fray performing live at Radio One Big Weekend in May 2007.
Background information
Origin	Denver, Colorado, USA
Genres	Piano rock, pop rock, alternative rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Epic Records Sony Music
Associated acts	dfdsf
Website	thefray.net
Members
Isaac Slade Joe King Ben Wysocki Dave Welsh
Former members
Dan Battenhouse Zach Johnson Caleb Slade Dave Hedin Mike Ayars

The Fray is an American piano-rock band from Denver, Colorado.¹ Formed in 2002 by schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King, the band achieved mainstream success with the release of their debut album, How to Save a Life in 2005, which was certified double platinum by the RIAA, and was also certified platinum in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and in the UK. The Fray achieved national success with their first single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which became a top ten hit in the United States. The release of their second single, "How to Save a Life", brought the band worldwide fame. The song charted in the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 and was a top 5 single in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The band released their sophomore self-titled album in 2009. The album's lead single, "You Found Me," reached the number-one spot in Australia and charted in the top ten in the United States, Ireland and Greece. The album debuted at number-one on the Billboard charts² and was certified Gold in the United States, Australia and Canada. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2010.³ While both the albums were commercially successful, critical reception was mixed. The Fray was ranked #84 on Billboard's Artists of the Decade list.⁴

The Fray is notable for using a piano as the lead instrument in their music, instead of the guitar, thus setting them apart from most other rock bands. The piano-rock style of both the albums has led critics to compare The Fray with British piano-driven bands like Coldplay and Keane.⁵⁶⁷ The Fray have also drawn influences from U2, Radiohead, Counting Crows, Something Corporate, Jimmy Eat World, and The Wallflowers.⁸⁹¹⁰

History

Early history (2002)

Isaac Slade (front) and Ben Wysocki (back) performing in Chicago.

In the spring of 2002, former schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King reconnected and began regular two-man jam sessions that led to writing songs. Isaac and Joe later added Zach Johnson on drums and Slade's younger brother Caleb on bass to the band. Caleb was the band's first (and only official) bass player but was eventually asked to leave. Caleb's departure from the band caused a rift in his relationship with Isaac and this rift later became the inspiration for "Over My Head (Cable Car)", which is about the brothers' waning relationship.¹¹ Following this, Johnson eventually left the band as well to attend an art school in New York.¹²

Ben Wysocki, a former band mate of Isaac Slade, then became the drummer for The Fray. Later, Dave Welsh, who was another former band mate of Slade and Wysocki, was added as lead guitarist to the band. While the band has no official bass guitarist, Jeremy McCoy has been the touring bassist since March 2009. Prior to McCoy joining the touring fold, Dan Lavery of Tonic was the touring bassist from March 2007 to February 2009. Prior to Lavery, Jimmy Stofer was employed as the band's touring bassist from 2005 to February 2007.

The band chose their name "The Fray" from a suggestion bowl that was placed at a graduation party for Caleb Slade.¹³ The members of the band first claimed that they found the name suitable because they frequently quarreled over the composition of the lyrics in their songs. However, they have since stated that the band is usually on good terms while composing music, and acknowledges contributions from all of its members.¹⁴

In 2002, the band released Movement EP, a collection of four songs. Very few copies were pressed, and it is currently unavailable for purchase. The next year, they released Reason EP to some local critical acclaim, particularly by Denver's Westword alternative newsweekly.^15161718 Despite these reviews, the band struggled to launch a single. Denver radio station KTCL rejected eight of their songs before the band decided to submit "Cable Car". The song found airplay on a KTCL radio show highlighting local bands, and the radio station received a large number of requests for it soon thereafter. The band changed the name of the song to "Over My Head (Cable Car)", and by the end of 2005, it had become KTCL's most played song of the year.¹⁹

How to Save a Life (2005–07)

Later in 2005, the band was voted "Best New Band" by Denver readers of Westword. Epic Records A&R man Mike Flynn (who later co-produced their debut album) discovered the band through the article in Westword.²⁰ Epic Records officially signed the band on December 17, 2004, and released their debut album, How to Save a Life, in September 2005.

"Over My Head (Cable Car)" was released as the first single from the album, and it soon became a top 40 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in late 2005, peaking at #37.²¹ The single gained airplay nationally, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the issue marked February 25, 2006. Fourteen weeks later, it reached its peak position at #8 on the Hot 100 chart.²² On the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, the single reached the #2 position.²³ Internationally, the song was a Top 25 hit in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK. The song was the fifth-most downloaded single of 2006.²⁴

While "Over My Head (Cable Car)" was rising on the charts, the song "How to Save a Life" was first featured during a second season episode ("Superstition" aired March 19, 2006) of Grey's Anatomy, and then on a fifth season episode of Scrubs (aired April 25, 2006).²⁵ The song was also featured on the teen drama show One Tree Hill and was also played at the end of Cold Case. Despite not having been originally released as a single, "How to Save a Life" entered the Hot 100 chart on the issue marked April 15, 2006. The song was released as the band's second single. On August 18, 2006, ABC announced that the song would be used for the main advertising promotion for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.²⁶

Only weeks after this promotion started, the song became The Fray's second Top 40 hit in the United States. The song reached the top three of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, surpassing the peak position of "Over My Head (Cable Car)". It became the joint sixth longest charting single of all time on the Billboard Hot 100, tying with Santana's "Smooth", at 58 consecutive weeks. The song also topped the Adult Top 40 chart for 15 consecutive weeks. "How to Save a Life" became a major hit internationally, topping the singles chart in Ireland, Spain and Canada.²⁷ The song also charted in the top five in Australia, Italy and Sweden. It also was the band's first hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at the #4 spot in the UK Singles Chart.²⁸

"Look After You" was released as the third single from the album; the song peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's first single to miss the Top 40. "All at Once" was released as the fourth and final single from the album. It peaked at #20 in the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart.

	"How to Save a Life" "How to Save a Life" from How to Save a Life "Over My Head (Cable Car)" "Over My Head (Cable Car)" from How to Save a Life
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The success of "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and '"How to Save a Life" (both sold over 2 million digital downloads each) brought the band mainstream popularity. The album charted in the top 15 on the Billboard 200 and charted in the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and in the UK.

To promote the album, The Fray began an extensive worldwide tour and also performed on several TV shows including The Tonight Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, and Rove Live in Australia.²⁹ They also released a live album, Live at the Electric Factory: Bootleg No. 1, on July 18, 2006. The concert was recorded on May 21, 2006 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On September 19, they re-released How to Save a Life as a CD/DVD set with exclusive content including a documentary on the making of the album.³⁰ On April 28, 2007, The Fray performed at Grad Nite, an event for graduating high school seniors at Disney's Magic Kingdom.

After How to Save a Life (2007-08)

The band released a live cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" to iTunes as a 2006 Christmas single. The song debuted and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #50, on the strength of a large number of digital downloads.³⁰

The band worked with Reverb, a non-profit environmental organization, for their 2007 summer tour.³¹ On September 4, 2007, the band released another live album, Acoustic in Nashville: Bootleg No. 2, which was recorded in late 2006. The album could only be purchased with the original CD from Target but was made available on the iTunes Music Store on November 13, 2007. On October 16, 2007, the band re-released their 2003 EP, Reason.

The Fray signed on for the 2008/2009 year as an ambassador for VH1's "Save The Music Foundation".³²

The Fray (2008–09)

The band finished recording their self-titled second album (The Fray) at the end of July 2008 for a February 3, 2009 release.³³ The album was produced by Aaron Johnson and Mike Flynn, the same production duo from the band's debut album, and recorded by Warren Huart.³⁴ The Fray filmed a music video in Chicago, for the first single from the album, "You Found Me", directed by Josh Forbes, which debuted on VH1.com on December 9, 2008.

The Fray debuted their single, "You Found Me" on November 20, during a commercial break of the show Grey's Anatomy. It was a one-minute promo with scenes from the upcoming season of ABC's Lost. "You Found Me" peaked at #7 in the Billboard Hot 100 and at #1 in the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks. It became the band's first song to reach the #1 spot in Australia and the band's third song to sell 2 million digital downloads in the United States, after "Over My Head (Cable Car)" and "How to Save a Life". The band performed the song live at the 2008 American Music Awards on November 23.³⁵³⁶ Following the success of "You Found Me", the album - which was released on February 3, 2009 - debuted at the number-one spot on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 179,000 copies in its first week of release.

On March 14, The Fray confirmed on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown that their next single would be "Never Say Never". A video was filmed for this single, and released on the internet only via Myspace on April 24. It premiered everywhere else on May 5, 2009. On May 30, 2009, the music video itself premiered on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown at the number 20 position. The song spent 20 weeks inside the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #32.

On Twitter, the band announced that 'Syndicate' was their next single from the album. The song was released on 12 January, 2010 for radio airplay.³⁷³⁸ The music video premiered on 9 February, 2010 on Yahoo! Music.³⁹⁴⁰ The song debuted at #25 on the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.⁴¹

A documentary, titled Fair Fight, directed by Rod Blackhurst ⁴²⁴³⁴⁴ was sold with the first 300,000 copies of the second album.³⁵⁴⁵

Since The Fray (2009 - Current)

In February 2009, The Fray wrote a song called "Be the One". The demo version of the song was released on 11 November, 2009.⁴⁶⁴⁷ The band also covered Kanye West's song "Heartless".⁴⁸ The cover managed to chart at number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, while also receiving an unprecedented amount of radio airplay. A video for the cover was released worldwide on iTunes on August 11, 2009. Both songs were included in the deluxe edition of the band's sophomore album. "Heartless" was also included in their live album, The Fray: Live from SoHo.⁴⁹

The band released their third live album, The Fray: Live from SoHo on April 7, 2009. The special pass version of the album made by iTunes contained a live performance of "Heartless" and a music video for "Never Say Never".

On 10 November, 2009, the band released a deluxe edition of The Fray which contained a second disc of never before released songs, including "Heartless".⁵⁰

The Fray was featured on the Timbaland album, Shock Value 2, which was released on December 8, 2009. They were featured on the song "Undertow", which, despite not being released as a single, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #100, the week ending November 28, 2009.⁵¹

On December 21, 2009, The Fray released five acoustic Christmas songs for free download from the band's official website and their new fanpage. The Christmas EP contained the songs "Away in a Manger", "O Come All Ye Faithful", "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel", "Silent Night" and "The First Noel".⁵²

The band is currently working on their third studio album.⁵³

Musical style and songwriting

How to Save a Life consisted of a mix of mid-tempo piano driven pop-rock tracks and power ballads.⁵⁴⁵⁵ The band's sophomore release did not see a change of style. However, the album spread the spectrum of the music: the pop-rock songs were faster and more energetic, while the ballads were softer than the ballads on the first album.⁵⁶

Lead vocalist and pianist Isaac Slade's vocals feature falsetto and a strong American accent. His vocal style on the debut album was marked by a simple and emotive style.⁵⁷ On the sophomore release, however, his vocals, while retaining the basic style on the debut album, were stronger, edgier and more aggressive, most notably on the tracks "We Build Then We Break" and "Say When".⁵⁸ His use of falsetto also increased on the second album.

The lyrics on both albums revolve around life's problems and issues. Common themes include troubled relationships, growing up, the problem of evil, war and happiness. The honest and emotional nature of the lyrics⁵⁹⁶⁰ has also had critics labeling The Fray as emo, comparing them to mainstream emo acts like Jimmy Eat World and Something Corporate.⁶¹ In an interview, Slade stated: "We're not like real rocking rockers; we'd rather write about feeling and emotions".⁶²

Awards and Nominations

2006

• Billboard Music Award — Digital Album of the Year for How to Save a Life (Won).
• Billboard Music Award — Digital Album Artist of the Year (Won).
• Billboard Music Award — Digital Songs Artist of the Year (Won).
• Billboard Music Award — New Artist of the Year (Nominated).⁶³

2007

• Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Over My Head (Cable Car)" (Nominated).
• Grammy Award — Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "How to Save a Life" (Nominated).⁶⁴
• Teen Choice Award — Choice Music: Breakout Group (Nominated).⁶⁵

2009

• Teen Choice Award — Choice Music: Rock Track for "You Found Me" (Nominated).⁶⁶

2010

• Grammy Award — Best Pop Vocal Album for The Fray (Nominated).
• Grammy Award — Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for "Never Say Never" (Nominated).³

Band members

Current members

• Isaac Slade – lead vocals, piano (2002-present)
• Joe King – guitar, backing vocals (2002-present)
• David "Dave" Welsh – lead guitar (2003-present)
• Ben Wysocki – drums, percussion (2003-present)

Former members

• Dan Battenhouse – bass guitar, backing vocals (2002–2004)
• Zach Johnson – drums, percussion (2002–2003)
• Caleb Slade – bass guitar, backing vocals (2002)
• Mike Ayars – lead guitar (2002–2003)

Touring members

• Jeremy McCoy – bass guitar, backing vocals (2009–present)
• Dan Lavery – bass guitar, backing vocals (2007–2009)
• Jimmy Stofer – bass guitar, backing vocals (2004–2007)

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

• Official band website
• UK Official band website