, composer
, record producer
, and music critic. He is the composer
, lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist
of Fall Out Boy
, an American rock
band from Wilmette, Illinois
, and is also a solo artist. Stump has been credited for being a soulful vocalist suitable for R&B, as well as one of the best voices in pop punk
. With Fall Out Boy he placed singles in the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100
and their 2007 album Infinity on High
reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200
, with two more albums peaking in the top 10.
I'm not a drummer anymore, on my gravestone, if there is one, if anyone writes anything about me besides hopefully being a dad, it would be that I sang in my band when I was in my 20s. So I was like, "Yeah, I should probably focus on this a little more," so I just practiced a lot. (When asked about his singing.)
What you want if you're asking that question is a specific time in your life to come back to you, and that will never happen. You will never be 15 years old again. I could write, verbatim, another Take This To Your Grave, and you won't feel the same way. It's not going to mean anything to you because it wouldn't mean anything to me.
Sometimes people associate getting big with selling out, which is funny because that's not something you necessarily have choice in. That's not a matter that is entirely up to you and at the same time, who hasn't sold out? If you've heard of a specific artist, they're big enough--they got to you. Where do you draw the line between what's big and what's too big?
I don't mind if someone thinks I'm a sell out. I go to bed happy knowing I do what I do and I'm not doing anything for reasons of money, and if I were trying to pick up chicks, I'm doing a horrible job. And if I wanted to drive awesome cars, I'm doing a really bad job there too.
If you're trying to get a lot of money and attention and cars and just stuff like that, being in a band is a really bad way to do it, because it takes a lot of work, it's constant work, it's very grueling, and you don't really have time to spend money. So that would probably not even make my top 10 list of ways to make a lot of money, because records aren't selling anymore. The richest musician in America still doesn't even come close to a mid-level athlete.
I've heard a lot of really awful, negative things said about Pete, and it's like, “Dude, you don't even have a clue how honest and real that guy is” for the amount of crap that people talk about him. Pete said it, and it's true, they make you into a wrestling character. And it's also like reality TV editing. It's really easy to cut somebody in rolling their eyes when that might not have even happened next to the thing that it's being shown next to.
There was a weird moment where—I was still a drummer, I always saw myself as a drummer—and we got nominated for a Grammy, that was really crazy, and I was sitting there and Stevie Wonder was on stage and I remember thinking "Wow, I really need to take [singing] more seriously!"
There's something really personal about your voice, where if people talk shit on your guitar, "Ugh, he played out of tune," etc., you can, in your head, blame it on something else, but when you fuck up with your singing, that's part of you [...] So I guess I'm an insecure enough dude that I just went back and really studied and tried to sing better.
Pete's my best friend, I was the best man at his wedding, I love that man to death. I'd take a bullet for him.
There's so many accusations that are so ridiculous about Pete Wentz that are taken as the gospel—people just assume that he posted pictures of his penis on the internet. That is the stupidest fucking thing thing I've ever heard. Why on earth would you ever do that?