Why Don't We, shortened to WDW, was an American

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

consisting of Jack Avery, Corbyn Besson, Zach Herron, Jonah Marais and Daniel Seavey. They formed in 2016 and released two

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and six

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

s. Because of a lawsuit, the group took a hiatus and cancelled their tour in 2022, and eventually lost the rights to the group name in February 2025, marking the official end of the group.

History

2016–2017: Career beginnings

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. 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". Additionally, the band has appeared in several

vlog A vlog (), also known as a video blog or video log, 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 in one ta ...

s of

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

Logan Paul Logan Alexander Paul (born April 1, 1995) is an American influencer, professional wrestler, Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur, boxing, boxer, and actor. He has over 23 million subscribers on his YouTube channel ''Logan Paul Vlogs'' and has ranked ...

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 Signature Entertainment & Atlantic Records in the United States and by Warner Music Group elsewhere. The album ...

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

". In March 2019, they embarked on the "8 Letters Tour". Why Don't We released a new song each month (except September) in 2019. On January 16, they released " Big Plans", and a music video was released three days later. The song received a gold certification from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

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 a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

, 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" 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. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist rele ...

. 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 A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

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". 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 Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

"With You This Christmas". On December 30, the group released their eleventh and final song of 2019, "Chills". The group then took a nine-month break shortly after the music video release.

2020–2025: ''The Good Times and the Bad Ones'' and lawsuit

On September 29, 2020, the band released " Fallin' (Adrenaline)", the lead single from their second album, '' The Good Times and the Bad Ones''. 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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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'' released. The album was largely self-produced, though it also features the productions of

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and music producer who is the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has collaborated with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Transplants ...

Skrillex Sonny John Moore (born January 15, 1988), known professionally as Skrillex, is an American DJ, record producer, musician, singer. Raised in Northeast Los Angeles and Northern California, he began his career in 2004 as the lead vocalist of the ...

, and

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. The album debuted at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, making it their highest entry on the chart. The band released the single "Love Back" on October 6, 2021. The band then released a cover of Justin Bieber's "

Mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate parasite, obligate parasitic plant, hemiparasitic plants in the Order (biology), order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they ...

" in December that same year. In January 2022, they released their next single in collaboration with Jonas Blue: " 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, the band announced that due to ongoing legal battles with their former management, they would be cancelling the tour and taking a hiatus. After 4 years of legal battles, a trial was finally held in February 2025. Concluding on the 27th, it ended with a mixed verdict. The members (excluding Daniel) would only need to pay a dollar each for breach of contract, but they lost the 'Why Don't We' name and brand to Signature. With this verdict, the band officially ended.

Musical influences

The band has cited

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

as their main musical inspiration, in addition to

5 Seconds of Summer 5 Seconds of Summer, often shortened to 5SOS, are an Australian pop rock band formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 2011. The group consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Luke Hemmings, lead guitarist Michael Clifford (musician), Mic ...

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

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

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, Childish Gambino,

Jon Bellion Jonathan David Bellion (born December 26, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He was born and raised in Lake Grove, New York on Long Island. He is best known for his 2016 single "All Time Low," which peaked at ...

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His music blends various genres including hip-hop, Pop music, pop, Contemporary R&B, R&B, Tra ...

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and

CNCO CNCO was an American latin boy band based in Miami, Miami, Florida. The group consisted of Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez and ZABDIEL, Zabdiel De Jesús; Joel DELEŌN, Joel Pimentel was a member until his departure in M ...

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 had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, but raised in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. 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 a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, but raised in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Besson went to high school in

Centreville, Virginia Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. It had a population of 73,518, making it the most-populous community in Fairfax County as of t ...

. Besson's cousins are Dutch girl group O'G3NE. Before Why Don't We, he had a following on YouNow and released a solo single called "The Only One" to

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

in 2014. His other acoustic single, "Marathon", was also released on the platform. After Why Don't We went on hiatus, Besson released 2 singles on his own. ''Love Me Better'', a song originally recorded and written by Why Don't We, on February 7, 2024, and ''Like That (feat. Armani White)'' on April 12, 2024. On August 2, 2024, Besson released the song ''Panic'', a collaboration with Swedish duo

NOTD NOTD (pronounced "noted") is a Swedish musical production duo composed of Tobias Danielsson and Samuel Brandt. They are best known for their songs "I Wanna Know (NOTD song), I Wanna Know" featuring Bea Miller and "So Close (NOTD song), So Close" ...

. They released a piano version of the song titled ''Panic (After Hours)'' on September 13, 2024. Besson released the single ''Don't Run'' along with a music video on October 2, 2024. He has been in a relationship with social media influencer Lera Clark since 2021. Besson released the single "Tied Up" along with a music video on May 16, 2025.

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". Herron released his first solo single since Why Don't We went on hiatus called 'Caroline' on July 26th, 2024.

Jonah Marais Roth Frantzich

Jonah Marais (born June 16, 1998), the eldest 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, Minnesota, Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), S ...

. 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. Alongside Seavey, Marais co-wrote " I Got You" for

TWICE Twice (; Japanese language, Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Tuwaisu''; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon ...

in 2024. On June 7, 2024, Marais released two solo songs called ''TWISTED LULLABY'' and ''Heaven''. On June 28, 2024, Marais released a 5-track mixtape titled 'The Jonah Marais Mixtape'. On November 15, 2024, Marais released the song ''Slow Motion'', a collaboration with American record producer

Ryan Lewis Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American musician and record producer based in Seattle, Washington. Along with producing his own album, ''Instrumentals'', Lewis produced the albums ''The VS. EP'' (2009), '' The Heist'' (2012), and ...

. On Valentine's Day 2025, Jonah revealed in a joint Instagram post that he is dating singer and songwriter Zia Victoria.

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 (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

. He grew up in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. 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 Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' and finished in ninth place. He also has released multiple songs on his own including his newest singles "Bleed on Me", "Can We Pretend That We're Good?", "Runaway" and "I Tried". The songs were featured on his debut EP 'Dancing in the Dark' released August 11, 2023. Seavey released the single "The Older You Get" on May 9, 2024. The song is the first single from his upcoming debut album, "Second Wind". Seavey released the song ''Other People'' on August 30, 2024. On January 31, 2025, Seavey released "Second Wind", another track from his debut album "Second Wind", which was released on March 7th, 2025. He has been in a relationship with social media influencer Katia Castellano since 2022.

Tours

Headlining *Taking You Tour (2017) *Something Different Tour (2017) *Invitation Tour (2018) * 8 Letters Tour (2019)

Discography

* ''

'' (2018) * '' The Good Times and the Bad Ones'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

iHeartRadio MMVAs

! , - ,

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iHeartRadio Music Awards

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2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Limelights , Best Fan Army , rowspan="2" , , - , Zack Caspary , Favorite Tour Photographer , - , rowspan="2",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Limelights , Best Fan Army , rowspan="2" , , - , Zack Caspary , Favorite Tour Photographer ,

MTV Europe Music Awards

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MTV Video Music Awards

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, Themselves , Push Artist of the Year , , , - ,

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Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

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, rowspan="2", Themselves , Favorite Musical YouTube Creator , rowspan="2" , , - ,

, Favorite Social Music Star ,

Radio Disney Music Awards

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, Themselves ,

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since the 2nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1960 (except in 1967) "for a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that ar ...

, rowspan="2" , rowspan="2", , - , " These Girls" , Best Song to Lip Sync to

Teen Choice Awards

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References

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