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O.A.R. music biography continued...

around lead singer/rhythm guitarist Marc Roberge, lead guitarist Richard On, saxophonist Jerry DePizzo, bassist Benj Gershman, and drummer Chris Culos. The quintet attended Ohio State University, where they became an on campus fixture and began releasing independent demos, including The Wanderer (1997) and Souls Aflame (1999). Without any formal marketing or advertising plans, news of their songs such as "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker", "City on Down" and "Night Shift" spread by word of mouth alone, and they began headlining at off-campus venues as well. This exposure paid off; their third album Risen debuted at #11 on the Billboard top internet sales chart. The following year, their fourth album Any Time Now debuted at #156 on the Billboard Top 200. They received offers from various major labels, but signed with Lava Records because they promised not to change alter the group's sound. In 2005, O.A.R. released their fifth album, Stories of a Stranger, which debuted at #40 on the Billboard 200. It yielded the singles "Love and Memories", "Heard the World", and "Lay Down". "Love and Memories" was the band's first single to chart and receive significant radio airplay, peaking at 98 in the Pop 100. In January 2006, O.A.R.'s popularity reached a peak as the band sold out New York City's Madison Square Garden. By October 2006, O.A.R. had officially sold in excess of 1.2 million albums and established themselves as a mainstream success story.



In 2008, O.A.R. released their next album, All Sides, and found many of their songs playing on TV commercials, televised sporting events and other programming. "The thing is O.A.R. has never been just one style. From song to song we like to switch it up," Roberge says. "Maybe in the past we had felt the need to explore just one of those musical alleys and see where it took us. This album is all about recording a variety of experiences with a variety of sounds. Essentially, all sides of O.A.R." With several hits to the album's credit, it's clearly a look that O.A.R.'s fans love.