Ryan Ross
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Ryan Ross |
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George Ryan Ross III (b. August 30, 1986 [citation needed] in Summerlin, Nevada) is the lead guitarist, lyricist and back-up vocalist for the band Panic at the Disco.
Biography
Early life
George Ryan Ross was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada to parents Sandra and George. He attended Bishop Gorman High School. He studied creative writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas but dropped out after a semester to focus on music.[1]
Ross has said that his father, who died on July 28, 2006,[2] disliked his life decisions, and that they were not close. However, he said that they were able to work through many of their issues before his father died. Ross grew up with his father, who was an alcoholic, after his parents divorced when he was about 3 years old. After the divorce, Ryan did not maintain a relationship with his mother, nor with his two step-sisters from his mother's previous marriage. Pete Wentz revealed in an interview that Ross doesn't really have a family since his father passed away. In an earlier article of Rolling Stone Magazine, Ryan mentioned that he used to listen to country music. As he grew up, Ross started listening to more mainstream rock with his close friend Spencer Smith.
Ross and Smith met when they were 5 and 6 years old, respectively. Smith recalls in the January 2007 issue of Rolling Stone that Ryan was hitting golf balls across the yard into the neighbors' yards. Ever since then, the two were best friends.
Early musical beginnings
When Ross was twelve, he asked his parents for a guitar for Christmas, thus starting his first collaborations with Smith who was given a drum set. In the first few years, Ross and Smith mostly covered blink-182 songs with Ross on vocals. Their band was called Pet Salamander at that time.[3] Their earlier bands were named Summer League and Pet Salamander before being changed to Panic! At The Disco.
Panic at the Disco
After Ross, Spencer Smith, and Brent Wilson finished with their band, Summer League, the three added Brendon Urie to begin Panic! at the Disco. After his high school graduation, Ross attended the University of Las Vegas for one semester before dropping out to pursue his musical career. Panic was eventually heard by Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, who signed them to his record label, Decaydance, a child label of, Fueled by Ramen. Panic eventually released A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, which included two songs that Ryan wrote about his relationship with his father. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out became a cult hit, with its first single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" winning the Video of the Year Award at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards and peaking at #7 on the US charts.
However, on May 17, 2006, the band officially announced the departure of bassist Brent Wilson. A friend of the band, Jon Walker, filled in for Wilson on one of the upcoming tours and eventually became his replacement. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out eventually went platinum, and the band began a world tour in the later part of 2006. The band also covered "This Is Halloween" on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack and the Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight" on a tribute LP.
Ryan Ross joined up with Fall Out Boy on their song, "The Take Over, the Breaks Over", from their album Infinity on High. Ross led the guest guitar solo.
The band began writing their follow-up album in early 2007, but started from scratch in July 2007. After writing until the beginning of 2008, the band announced they would be mixing their album at Abbey Road Studios. On January 9, 2008, the band announced they would drop the "!" from Panic! at the Disco, being referred to as Panic at the Disco from that point on. The next day, January 10, the album name was officially confirmed as being Pretty. Odd.. Its first single was "Nine in the Afternoon".
References
- ^ "Biography for Ryan Ross (III)". IMDb. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
- ^ The Express, August 9th 2006, p2. [1]
- ^ "Panic! at the Disco Bio" (PDF). Fueled by Ramen. Retrieved 2006-09-03.