Story of the Year

Story of the Year
Story of the Year in 2009
Background information
Also known as	67 North (1995–1998) Big Blue Monkey (1998–2002)
Origin	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres	Post-hardcore pop-punk emo melodic hardcore alternative rock
Years active	1995–2011 2013–present
Labels	Epitaph Maverick SharpTone
Members	Dan Marsala Ryan Phillips Josh Wills Adam Russell
Past members	John Taylor Perry West Greg Haupt Philip Sneed
Website	storyoftheyear.net

Story of the Year is an American rock band formed in St. Louis, Missouri,^[2] in 1995 under the name 67 North.^[3] The band eventually changed their name to Big Blue Monkey in 1998, and then subsequently changed it again to Story of the Year in 2002, after the release of their self-titled EP on the indie label Criterion Records. At the time, they claimed they had discovered that a blues group named Big Blue Monkey already existed. Later, on their podcast "Page Avenue Crew", they clarified that they just did not care for the name and had just made up the excuse of another band having the same name.

It would not be until eight years after forming that Story of the Year saw its first piece of commercial success in its major label debut album, Page Avenue (2003), containing the popular singles "Until the Day I Die" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day". A second album, In the Wake of Determination, followed in 2005, but did not achieve the commercial success of its predecessor. The band released their third album, The Black Swan, on April 22, 2008, which was their first release on Epitaph Records, followed by 2010's The Constant.

On August 11, 2017, Story of the Year teased a 90-second clip of a new song off their crowd-funded fifth studio album. The pledge campaign began in November 2016 and was completely funded in less than three days. The band used high-profile producer Aaron Sprinkle and mixers Tom Lord-Alge & J Hall to complete their fifth studio album. They confirmed via the pledge site that the new album will be titled Wolves, which was released through PledgeMusic on December 1, 2017. The album's wide release was on December 8, 2017. And in March of 2023 as a 4 Piece band again, but this time with Sneed gone and the return of Bassist Adam Russell, the band saw the release of “Tear Me To Pieces”, an 11 track epic with a story to tell and a return to their roots. Everything from the sound to the album cover was a tip of the cap to where they first found global fame with “Page Avenue”, and a lyric that speak volumes to their teenage fans of the early 2000’s, as they face modern life as 30-50 somethings.

They followed this up with a world tour in 23-24, selling out shows globally and still putting on the high energy performances they became renowned for in their early days of touring. A band who still, 20+ years later, means the world to their fans and continues to tell the stories that speak to all our Real Lives.