The All-American Rejects
Stillwater, Oklahoma's hook machine. Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler wrote the songs wedged in every 2000s head — 'Swing, Swing,' 'Dirty Little Secret,' 'Move Along,' 'It Ends Tonight' — and then closed the decade with the most cheerful-sounding kiss-off ever recorded, 'Gives You Hell.'
Formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999 around singer-bassist Tyson Ritter and lead guitarist Nick Wheeler, The All-American Rejects broke out with their self-titled 2002 debut and its single 'Swing, Swing' — a top-10 hit at modern rock radio that pushed the album to platinum and made them MTV regulars.
2005's Move Along was the big one: 'Dirty Little Secret,' 'Move Along,' and 'It Ends Tonight' all landed in the top 15 of the Billboard Hot 100, the album eventually went triple platinum, and the band became a fixture of the TRL-and-ringtone middle of the decade — poppier than their emo tourmates, hookier than almost anyone on the radio. Then 'Gives You Hell,' from late 2008's When the World Comes Down, out-did everything: a No. 4 Hot 100 peak and an eventual RIAA Diamond certification for over ten million units.
Billboard ranked them among its top 100 artists of the 2000s, with more than 12 million albums sold worldwide. After the hits cooled, the band never officially quit — and in May 2026 they completed one of rock's more charming comebacks with Sandbox, their first album in 14 years.
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