New Found Glory

Coral Springs, Florida band New Found Glory broke into the mainstream as part of the early-2000s wave of pop-punk acts, rising to the upper tier of the genre alongside Good Charlotte and Saves the Day. Their breakthrough third album, Sticks and Stones, peaked at number four on the U.S. charts in 2002, only to be bested two years later by their Top Three effort Catalyst. Even though the scene had veered in a more hardcore direction by the end of the decade, NFG maintained their fast-paced momentum in the ensuing years, scoring U.S. indie chart-toppers in 2009 (Not Without a Fight), 2017 (Makes Me Sick), and 2020 (Forever + Ever x Infinity). The band was formed in mid-1997 by vocalist Jordan Pundik, bassist Ian Grushka, drummer Joe Moreno (replaced by longtime drummer Cyrus Bolooki after the group's first release), and guitarists Chad Gilbert (previously the vocalist for Shai Hulud) and Steve Klein. Having recently graduated from high school, the bandmates wasted little time in amassing a cult following. Renowned for their energetic live shows, A New Found Glory toured up and down the East Coast in the late '90s, selling out the entire pressing of their 1997 debut EP, It's All About the Girls, along the way. (The EP was released by Fiddler Records, which later reissued Girls with new cover art in 2003.) The group's full-length debut effort, Nothing Gold Can Stay, followed in 1999 on Drive-Thru Records, and the album was reissued later that year when NFG signed a major-label contract with MCA. Another EP, 2000's From the Screen to Your Stereo, found the boys tackling a number of cover songs; the disc also paved the way for the release of the band's first gold-selling album, the self-titled New Found Glory, which appeared later that year. The latter album marked the official debut of the group's new moniker, which dropped the indefinite article "A" from their original name. A high-profile tour with blink-182, an opening slot on the Warped Tour, and an appearance in the teen flick American Pie 2 helped increase NFG's exposure, and they went back into the studio at the end of 2001 to work on a follow-up record. The results of those recording sessions were released in the summer of 2002 as Sticks and Stones. Propelled by the hit single "My Friends over You," New Found Glory snagged a headlining spot for the 2002 Warped Tour and watched their album climb to gold certification. After the tour and its resulting hype, the band then reentered the studio with a newfound restlessness. The result, issued in May 2004, was Catalyst, which found their sugary punk-pop steeped in new influences ranging from hardcore to thrash to new wave. The concert DVD This Disaster: Live in London appeared later that year, documenting the band's strength as a live act. Catalyst peaked at number three on Billboard's Top 200 and eventually went gold, propelled in part by the success of "All Downhill from Here." Hooking up with producer Thom Panunzio (Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty), NFG released their mature fifth full-length, Coming Home, in September 2006. As before, they immediately hit the road in support of the album, adhering to a lengthy schedule of headlining dates throughout the U.S. and U.K. with the Early November and Cartel in tow. The second edition of From the Screen to Your Stereo arrived in 2007, featuring pop-punk covers of songs like Lisa Loeb's "Stay" and Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me." The group then joined the roster at Epitaph Records and set to work on a new album, Not Without a Fight, with blink-182's Mark Hoppus in the producer's seat. Two years later, NFG went back to working with producer Neal Avron, who had worked with them on Sticks and Stones and Catalyst, for their seventh long-player, Radiosurgery. Kill It Live, a live album that also featured a trio of new studio tracks, arrived in 2013. That same year, the band parted ways with guitarist Klein after he was charged with several counts of lewd acts with underage girls. However, rather than replace Klein, the remaining bandmembers decided to continue on as a four-piece with Gilbert handling all the guitar duties. In 2014, the four-member New Found Glory delivered Resurrection, which found them diving into their punk roots with a renewed sense of purpose. The album was re-released in 2015 as Resurrection: Ascension, featuring two new studio tracks and a reworked version of "Vicious" with Paramore's Hayley Williams. In 2017, NFG celebrated their 20th anniversary with the release of their ninth album, Makes Me Sick, and a tour during which they would play several of their best-loved records in their entirety. The album featured the singles "Happy Being Miserable" and "Party on Apocalypse." A deluxe reissue, Makes Me Sick Again, arrived the year after with a pair of additional tracks. In 2019, the band closed out the trilogy started in 2000 with From the Screen to Your Stereo, Vol. 3. Rising into the Top Ten on the U.S. Independent Albums chart, the soundtrack covers set featured their takes on hits from the '80s to the 2010s and included Frozen's "Let It Go" and "The Power of Love" from Back to the Future. New Found Glory returned with their tenth full-length effort, Forever + Ever x Infinity, in 2020. Produced with Steve Evetts (Lifetime, Saves the Day), the riff-packed set included the single "Greatest of All Time." An expanded version of the LP, Forever + Ever x Infinity... And Beyond!!!, appeared the following year and included six bonus tracks. Months later, the band issued December's Here, a spirited collection of holiday tunes featuring the appropriately thoughtful "Somber Christmas." That December, Gilbert was diagnosed with pheochromocytoma, a rare form of cancer. He ultimately recovered after a difficult year of treatment, and his experiences informed the band's next record, Make the Most of It, released early in 2023 by Revelation. Their first fully acoustic album, it featured seven new songs, and seven live acoustic versions of songs from their back catalog recorded at their 2022 "NFG Unplugged" concert.
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