The Rembrandts are an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

duo, formed by Danny Wilde and Phil Solem in 1989. They had previously worked together as members of Great Buildings in 1981. The Rembrandts are best known for the song " I'll Be There for You", which was used as the main theme song for the

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sitcom '' Friends''.

History

Wilde was a member of 1970s cult recording act The Quick, and had released several mildly successful solo albums in the 1980s. Wilde and Solem had been in the power-pop quartet Great Buildings, a band that released one album for

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in 1981 before dissolving. After establishing themselves as The Rembrandts in 1989, Solem and Wilde recorded a self-titled album largely in Wilde's home studio. From this album, the group had their first success during 1990 with " Just the Way It Is, Baby", which scored at number 14 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

. The self-titled album scored number 88 on the

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. The next album ''Untitled'', of 1992, featured the minor successes "Johnny, Have You Seen Her?" and "Chase the Clouds Away". Another track from the album, "Rollin' Down the Hill", was used in the film ''

Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey a ...

''. " I'll Be There for You," the theme for the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

'' Friends'', reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart for several weeks before being released as a single and peaking at No. 17 on the

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Billboard chart. The single has been released in other countries, including the UK, where it reached No. 3 in 1995 and No. 5 in 1997. The success of '' Friends'' has caused a greater awareness of the band, and led to greater sales of their recorded albums. The song was also featured on the '' Friends Soundtrack'' album. An earlier, previously unreleased version of "I'll Be There for You" with different lyrics was included on their ''Unreleased Stuff'' album. In 1997, the duo split, with Solem returning to Minneapolis to concentrate on his band Thrush. In 1998, Wilde released the album '' Spin This'', credited to "Danny Wilde + The Rembrandts". In 2000, Solem and Wilde reunited, and released the album '' Lost Together'' as The Rembrandts the following year. In 2005, the band released an album of re-recorded favorites called ''

Choice Picks ''Choice Picks'' is a compilation album by the American pop rock duo The Rembrandts. The album contains re-recorded versions of the group's biggest hits, as well as other favorite songs from the group. There are two versions of ''Choice Picks'', ...

''. There are two versions of ''Choice Picks'', one released through

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which features the new track "Chasin' Down a Rainbow". The other version was released on the

Fuel 2000 Fuel 2000 is an independent record label, formed in 1994 as part of the Fuel Label Group. One of the biggest independent record labels, it has amassed a catalog with over 20,000 master recordings. Since its inception, the company has released ove ...

label, with the new track "Don't Give Me Up". In 2006,

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released a collection called ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'', a 20-song career-spanning retrospective that included material from the lone Great Buildings album, ''Apart from the Crowd''. In 2016, the pair reunited and announced that they would release a new album. ''Via Satellite'' was released in 2019.

Mainstream success

Despite achieving success with " I'll Be There For You", the duo has been dismissive of the song. Phil Solem in 1995, said "We don't want to hang our hats on the theme from a TV show... 've been working too long at our craft for that." The same year, the duo tried to apologize for the song on MTV News' "The Year in Rock".

Legacy

In 2014, Rolling Stone ranked them the 20th best Two-Hit wonder of all time. Insider, placed them on their list of the "Best One-Hit Wonders of All Time".

Members

* Danny Wilde (born June 3, 1956, Houlton,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, U.S.) * Phil Solem (born July 1, 1956,

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

)

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

*

at Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Rembrandts, The American power pop groups Jangle pop groups Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Musical groups reestablished in 2000 East West Records artists Atlantic Records artists Atco Records artists Alternative rock groups from California American pop rock music groups