Why Don't We, shortened to WDW, are an American boy band consisting of Jonah Marais, Corbyn Besson, Daniel Seavey, Jack Avery, and Zach Herron. They were formed in 2016 and have released two studio albums and six

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

History

2016–2017: Career beginnings

The band originally formed on September 27, 2016, after having all met in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

a year prior. On October 20, 2016, the group released their debut single "Taking You", a track from their debut EP, ''Only the Beginning'', which was released on November 25 of the same year. They embarked on their first headlining tour, the "Taking You Tour", the next year. Their second EP, ''Something Different'', was released on April 21, 2017. Following the release of their second EP, they embarked on the Something Different Tour, their second headlining tour. The group's third EP, ''Why Don't We Just'', was released on June 2, 2017. In September 2017, the band signed with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

. That same month, ''Invitation'', their fourth EP, was released. On November 23, 2017, they released their fifth EP, ''A Why Don't We Christmas''. In 2018, in support of the ''Invitation'' EP, they headlined the "

Invitation Tour The Invitation Tour was the third headlining concert tour by American boy band Why Don't We, in support of their fourth extended play, ''Invitation'' (2017). The tour began in Cincinnati on February 27, 2018, and concluded in Sydney on August 3 ...

". Additionally the band has appeared in several

vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded i ...

s of

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

Logan Paul Logan Alexander Paul (born April 1, 1995) is an American media personality, podcaster, actor, and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand, but is inactive due to a knee injury. He has over 23 m ...

2018–2019: ''8 Letters'' and 12/12 era

On August 31, 2018, they released their first album, ''

8 Letters ''8 Letters'' is the debut full-length studio album by American boy band Why Don't We. The album was released on August 31, 2018, by Atlantic Records in the United States and by Warner Music Group elsewhere. The album was supported by three sin ...

''. The record debuted at number nine on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and was preceded by three singles: " Hooked", "

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

", and "

". In March 2019, they embarked on the "8 Letters Tour". Why Don't We released a new song each month in 2019. On January 16, they released "

Big Plans "Big Plans" is a song performed by American boy band Why Don't We. The song was released as a digital download on January 16, 2019 by Signature and Atlantic Records. The song was written by Corbyn Besson, Daniel Seavey, Earwulf, Jacob Torrey, Jame ...

", and a music video was released three days later. The song received a gold certification from the RIAA in April 2020. On

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thr ...

, the group released "Cold In LA", along with a music video two days later. On March 20, 2019 they released the humorous song "

I Don't Belong in This Club "I Don't Belong in This Club" is a song performed by American boy band Why Don't We and American rapper and songwriter Macklemore. The song was released as a digital download on March 20, 2019 by Signature and Atlantic Records. The song was writte ...

" featuring American rapper

Macklemore Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; (formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper and songwriter. A native of Seattle, Washington, he has collaborated with producer Ryan Lewi ...

. It was certified gold by the RIAA in August 2020. On April 20, the group released "Don't Change", which was featured on the soundtrack album of the animated film '' UglyDolls''. In May, the group unveiled their fifth song of the year, "Unbelievable". In June, they released "Come To Brazil", inspired by fans frequently asking them to visit the country. On July 26, the band released the song "I Still Do". On August 23, they released " What Am I", penned by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, who previously wrote "

Trust Fund Baby A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "settl ...

". The song was certified gold by the RIAA in June of the following year. On October 25, they released "Mad At You". The following month, the group released the Christmas song "With You This Christmas". On December 30, the group released their twelfth and final song of 2019, "Chills". The group then took a nine-month break shortly after the music video release.

2020–2022: ''The Good Times and the Bad Ones'' and hiatus

On September 29, 2020, the band released "

Fallin' (Adrenaline) "Fallin (Adrenaline)", originally titled "Fallin", is a song by American boy band Why Don't We. It was released on September 29, 2020, as the lead single from their second studio album ''The Good Times and the Bad Ones''. It was the first song t ...

", the lead single from their second album, ''

The Good Times and the Bad Ones ''The Good Times and the Bad Ones'' is the second studio album by American boy band Why Don't We. The album was released on January 15, 2021 by Atlantic Records. The album was supported by three singles: " Fallin' (Adrenaline)", " Lotus Inn" and ...

''. It debuted at number 37 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, their first ever entry. Their second single from the album, " Lotus Inn", was released on December 4, 2020. They starred in a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

documentary titled ''30 Days With'', which showed the last stages of development and behind the scenes content of their then-upcoming album for 30 days. Their third single from the album, "Slow Down", was released on December 17, 2020. On January 15, 2021, ''The Good Times and The Bad Ones'' was released. The album is largely self-produced, although it also features the productions of

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has also performed as a frequent collaborator with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Tran ...

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, and

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

. The album debuted at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, making this their highest entry on the chart. The band released the single "Love Back" on October 6, 2021. The band then release a cover of Justin Bieber's " Mistletoe" in December that same year. In January 2022, they released their next single in collaboration with

Jonas Blue Guy James Robin (born 2 August 1989), known professionally as Jonas Blue, is an English DJ, record producer, songwriter, and remixer based in London. He is known for recruiting young artists for his dance-pop and tropical house productions, wh ...

: " Don't Wake Me Up", followed by "Let Me Down Easy (Lie)" in April, “Just Friends” on May 13, and “How Do You Love Somebody” on May 31. The band's North American tour, The Good Times Only Tour, was scheduled to commence in June 2022, but was canceled due to the litigation between Why Don't We current manager Randy Phillips and former manager David Loeffler. The band rescheduled the tour with new dates beginning in July. However, on July 6, exactly three weeks before the tour's first show, the band announced that due to ongoing legal battles with their former management, they would be cancelling the tour and going on a hiatus.

Musical influences

The band has cited

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

as their main musical inspiration, in addition to 5 Seconds of Summer, Boyz II Men,

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, Childish Gambino,

Jon Bellion Jonathan David Bellion (born December 26, 1990) is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He was born and raised in Lake Grove, New York on Long Island. He is best known for his song "All Time Low," along with his writing and producing cred ...

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

and

CNCO CNCO is a Latin American boy band based in Miami, Miami, Florida. The group consists of Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez and Zabdiel De Jesús; former member Joel Pimentel departed the band in May 2021. They won a five-ye ...

Band members

Jack Robert Avery

Jack Robert Avery (born July 1, 1999) was born in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, but raised in

Susquehanna, Pennsylvania Susquehanna Depot, often referred to simply as Susquehanna, is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on the Susquehanna River southeast of Binghamton, New York. In the past, railroad locomotives and railroad cars ...

. Avery released a solo single called "Liar" in 2016 and was part of the meet-and-greet tour "Impact", which members Zach Herron and Corbyn Besson were also a part of. He also starred in a short film called ''Fearless Five''. On April 22, 2019, Avery's former girlfriend, Gabriela Gonzalez, gave birth to their daughter.

Corbyn Matthew Besson

Corbyn Matthew Besson (born November 25, 1998) was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, but raised in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Besson went to high school in

Centreville, Virginia Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 73,518 as of the 2020 census. Centreville is approximately west of Washington, D.C. History Colonia ...

. Besson's cousins are Dutch girl group

O'G3NE OG3NE ( ) is a Dutch three-piece music group. The group is made up of sisters Lisa, Amy, and Shelley Vol, the latter two of the three being fraternal twins. In 2007, they represented the Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 wit ...

. Before Why Don't We, he had a following on

YouNow YouNow is a American broadcasting service where users stream their own live video content or interact with the video streams of other users in real time. The service is available on its website, on Android and iOS apps. As of August 2015, the ...

and released a solo single called "The Only One" to iTunes in 2014. His other acoustic single, "Marathon", was also released on the platform.

Zachary Dean Herron

Zachary Dean Herron (born May 27, 2001), the youngest member of the group, was raised in

. Growing up, he sang in the choir. Before Why Don't We, Herron covered songs on YouTube and also produced two singles himself, "Timelapse" and "Why".

Jonah Marais Roth Frantzich

Jonah Marais Roth Frantzich (born June 16, 1998), the oldest member of the group, grew up in

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), St. Croix River, across from H ...

. Before Why Don't We, Marais had a following on YouNow and released an album, ''When the Daylight's Gone'', in 2016 and went on the 2014 DigiTour.

Daniel James Seavey

Daniel James Seavey (born April 2, 1999), born in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

. He grew up in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. A main producer of the band, he can play over 20 instruments by ear. As a child, his father would take him to do street performances on the city's art walks. Seavey competed on season 14 of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' and finished in ninth place. He also has released multiple songs on his own including his newest singles "Bleed on Me" and "Can We Pretend That We're Good?".

Tours

Headlining *Taking You Tour (2017) *Something Different Tour (2017) *

(2018) * 8 Letters Tour (2019)

Discography

* ''

'' (2018) * ''

'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

iHeartRadio MMVAs

! , - , 2018 , Themselves , Fan Fave New Artist , ,

iHeartRadio Music Awards

! , - , 2018 , Themselves , Best Boy Band , rowspan="4" , , - , rowspan="2", 2019 , Limelights , Best Fan Army , rowspan="2" , , - , Zack Caspary , Favorite Tour Photographer , - , rowspan="2", 2020 , Limelights , Best Fan Army , rowspan="2" , , - , Zack Caspary , Favorite Tour Photographer ,

MTV Europe Music Awards

! , - , 2018 , Themselves , Best Push , ,

MTV Video Music Awards

! , - , 2018 , Themselves , Push Artist of the Year , , , - , 2019 , Themselves , Best Group , ,

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

! , - , 2018 , rowspan="2", Themselves , Favorite Musical YouTube Creator , rowspan="2" , , - , 2019 , Favorite Social Music Star ,

Radio Disney Music Awards

! , - , rowspan="2", 2018 , Themselves ,

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, rowspan="2" , rowspan="2", , - , "

These Girls ''These Girls'' is a 2005 film directed by John Hazlett and starring David Boreanaz, Caroline Dhavernas, Holly Lewis, Amanda Walsh, Colin C. Berry and Donnell Makenzie. Based upon the play of the same name by Vivienne Laxdal, its plot concern ...

" , Best Song to Lip Sync to

Teen Choice Awards

! , - , rowspan="2", 2018 , Themselves , Choice Music Group , rowspan="2" , rowspan="2", , - , "

" , Choice Song: Group , - , rowspan="3", 2019 , Themselves , Choice Music Group , , rowspan="3", , - , Themselves , Choice Summer Group , rowspan="2" , - , "

" , Choice Song: Group

Explanatory notes

References

"In the Limelight" Autobiography of the boys

External links

* {{authority control 2016 establishments in California American boy bands Atlantic Records artists Musical groups established in 2016 Musical groups from Los Angeles Vocal quintets