The History of One Republic

Conceived by two high-school buddies, Ryan Tedder and Zach Filkins in Colorado, the genesis of future hit-maker, One Republic, drew from elements of classic rock and pop and would go on to become an internet sensation, crossing the 16 million mark in downloads and essentially launching an enormous career.

But before any of that, the high-school duo recruited some friends in their neighborhood and played local Colorado gigs as This Beautiful Mess, comparing notes on their favorite artists including Peter Gabriel and U2. As is the case with many young bands, they then called it a day and went off to college.

With Tedder building a reputation as a songwriter and producer out in LA, he convinced Filkins to make his way west. Putting together a new lineup under the name, Republic, the band was signed to Columbia Records and changed their name to One Republic after the record company suggested Republic might be problematic in light of other bands who shared the same name. After a lenghty stint in the studio to create their debut, as with many young bands, they got dropped from their record label. In the meantime, it was 2005 and the band was gaining an enormous following online, specifically on Myspace, where they were the number one downloaded indie act.

This popularity once again drew the attention of labels like Interscope and even SubPop, but the band felt a creative kinship with Timbaland and his Mosley Music Group. The band signed to Timbaland’s label, while their first single ‘Apologize’ would go on to be a monster international hit, both from the band’s Dreaming Out Loud release, and then remixed for Timbaland’s Shock Value. Dominating the airwaves for much of 2006 and setting airplay records, ‘Apologize’ would be followed up with the successful ‘Stop and Stare’, as well as the singles: ‘Say (All I Need)’ and ‘Mercy’, with the band gaining appearing on the tv show, Smallville and gaining fans worldwide.

Critical success was another story. The album was largely slagged as being derivative, with obvious but savvy nods to 80s sounds like those from Simple Minds and Big Country. Fans didn’t care, and One Republic would go on to sell two million units of their debut worldwide. While corporate rags like Rolling Stone would go on to blast the band (as they had acts like Rush, Van Halen and others over their storied careers), One Republic would connect with listeners with incisive hooks beautifully executed with Tedder’s upper-register vocals.