The Reason

Hoobastank formed in Agoura Hills, California in 1994 and spent years grinding the Los Angeles club circuit before their 2001 self-titled debut went platinum on the strength of "Crawling in the Dark" and "Running Away." But it was the title track of their second album, The Reason — released December 9, 2003 — that swallowed the band's identity whole. Composed by guitarist Dan Estrin with lyrics by frontman Doug Robb, the song traded their post-grunge crunch for a slow-building confession of a chorus, and radio could not get enough of it.

Released as a single on January 26, 2004, "The Reason" debuted at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 that March and climbed for three more months before peaking at number two, ultimately logging 38 weeks on the chart. It became the inescapable soundtrack of 2004's sentimental moments — dedications, prom slideshows, season finales — and earned two nominations at the 2005 Grammys, including the songwriters' prize itself, Song of the Year, alongside Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

The song's ubiquity cut both ways: it made Hoobastank a household name and simultaneously reduced them, in the public memory, to one enormous apology. Two decades on it thrives as a karaoke standard and an internet-meme punchline in roughly equal measure — the fate of any song that was ever truly everywhere.