It was December 2009 and The All-American Rejects were in celebration mode. The band — which lead singer, bassist, and lyricist Tyson Ritter and his long-time friend guitarist Nick Wheeler formed as teenagers in Stillwater, Oklahoma, before being joined by guitarist Mike Kennerty and drummer Chris Gaylor in 2002 — had just wrapped up touring behind their third album, 2008’s When The World Comes Down. The Rejects played to ecstatic audiences across the globe, thanks to scoring their first international hit, “Gives You Hell,” which also spent four weeks at No. 1 at Top 40 radio, became the No. 1 most-played song of 2009 at the format, and went on to sell four million copies in the U.S. alone. After finishing a tour that capped 10 years in the music industry — during which time the Rejects also released a self-titled platinum debut in 2003 and the double- platinum Move Along in 2005, as well as a string of well-received singles — Ritter should have been on top of the world. Instead, he found himself feeling utterly lost.
“I decided that I needed a major life change, so I did a massive spring cleaning and rid myself of everything that was normal and domesticated,” says Ritter, who, when the tour wrapped, ended a long-term relationship and moved to Los Angeles, “which I swore I’d never do unless it was to date Winona Ryder and lose my craft,” he jokes. “I've been in a band since I was 17. I was in a relationship since I was 17. So here I was, at 25, still feeling 17 in every way, because I'd just come off the road after being on it my entire adult life.”
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