Denver, CO · piano rock · pop-rock

The Fray

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Piano-led mid-2000s radio balladry that soundtracked more television drama than most composers manage — 'How to Save a Life' forever mid-montage.

Isaac Slade and Joe King grew up a few years apart at Faith Christian Academy in Denver and both played in church worship bands before reconnecting in 2002 to start writing songs together. Early lineups included Slade's brother Caleb on bass; his departure and the strain it put on the brothers' relationship later inspired the song "Over My Head."

The band settled with Slade on piano and lead vocals, King on guitar, Ben Wysocki on drums and Dave Welsh on guitar. Their sound centres on piano rather than guitar, with midtempo arrangements and vocal melodies pitched for scale, a combination that placed them among the more widely heard American rock bands of the mid-2000s.

Their debut album, How to Save a Life, was released by Epic Records in 2005 and went quadruple platinum in the US. "Over My Head (Cable Car)" reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and the title track climbed to number three and became a hit in several other countries; both singles received Grammy nominations. The songs were licensed heavily to television.

The band's self-titled second album topped the Billboard 200 in 2009 and was certified platinum. Its lead single, "You Found Me," reached the top ten and the album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album, cementing the Fray's run as one of Billboard's Artists of the Decade.

Scars & Stories (2012) and Helios (2014) met more mixed reviews and smaller sales, and a 2016 greatest-hits set closed out the band's run with Epic. Isaac Slade left the Fray in 2022, and the remaining members carried on as a trio, releasing the EP The Fray Is Back in 2024.

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piano rockpop-rock