Lumineers (The) Biography

The Lumineers are a folk rock band, based in Denver, Colorado. The two founding members and songwriters of the Lumineers are Wesley Schultz (lead vocals, guitar) and Jeremiah Fraites (drums, percussion). Josh Fraites, the brother of Jeremiah and best friend of Schultz, died of a drug overdose in 2002. As a way to cope with their loss, Schultz and Fraites began writing and performing together in New Jersey in 2002. Cellist and vocalist Neyla Pekarek joined the band in 2010, after responding to a Craigslist ad. Pianist Stelth Ulvang and bassist Ben Wahamaki joined the band as full-time members in 2012.

The band's self-titled debut album was released on Dualtone Records on April 3, 2012, eventually peaking at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart in January 2013. As of December 2013, their debut album has been certified Platinum in the US and Ireland, with Gold certifications in the UK, Australia and Canada.

In 2002, Josh, the brother of Jeremiah Fraites died due to a drug overdose, at the age of 19. Jeremiah and Josh's best friend, Wesley Schultz began writing songs together to cope with their mutual loss, forming The Lumineers in Ramsey, New Jersey. In regards to this, Schultz has stated, "There's a certain level of growing up overnight that happens. As a band, it adds something that's very elusive — it's hopefulness, but there's also some sorrow behind it, and there's some depth that defines who you are."

When they originally began to collaborate, writing together and playing gigs around New York City, they did so under various names including Free Beer, 6Cheek, and Wesley Jeremiah. Fraites elaborates, "When Wes and I got together, our first band name was Free Beer. It wasn’t serious at first. We were a crappy band doing (terrible) covers. But we slowly started getting away from covers and writing originals. We were doing everything: vanilla singer-songwriter stuff, hard rock, electronic music. There was no focus; it was a mad, random mess."

Schultz and Fraites invited Jason, or Jay, Van Dyke into the band in 2008. According to Schultz and Fraites, Van Dyke responded to a Craigslist ad that summer when the band was still based in New York and was known as 6Cheek. However, he was still a member when the band would change its name to Wesley Jeremiah, before settling on The Lumineers. Schultz has stated the story behind the band's name as being, "We were playing a small club in Jersey City, N.J., and there was a band out there at the time called Lumineers who were slotted for the same time, same day, the next week. The person running the show that night [mistakenly] announced us as The Lumineers."

Continuing into 2013, "Ho Hey" would spend 8 consecutive weeks atop Billboard's Adult Pop Songs chart.Simultaneously, "Stubborn Love", the second single off of The Lumineers, would see two 4-week runs at number 1 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart.

The Lumineers headline shows in the Northeastern US were announced for February 2013 and quickly sold out. Similarly, the band's tours of the UK, Europe, and Australia in early 2013 has sold out all shows, after many shows were moved to larger venues.

"Submarines" was released as the third single on July 30, 2013. The band performed "Ho Hey" and "Submarines" on The Colbert Report in July 2013. In August 2013, "Ho Hey" would become the 10th song to reach a 60th week on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, eventually finishing its run on the Hot 100 after 62 weeks, one of the highest runs in the chart's history.Subsequently, on August 20, 2013, a deluxe edition of their debut album was released, which included 5 bonus tracks, over 25 minutes of video footage, and a 28 page booklet. Several songs by the band were used in the television series Reign. "Scotland", in particular, was used as the theme song for the series. "Scotland" is co-written and features a performance from Van Dyke.

In May 2014, Van Dyke would file a lawsuit against Schultz, Fraites, and The Lumineers, LLC. The lawsuit reads, "In biographic and publicity materials that routinely accompany the numerous record releases of Schultz and Fraites’s current band, Van Dyke has been ostracized and rendered 'invisible' through a false narrative," as well as, "Schultz and Fraites promote false claims that they developed the band and its original material in Denver, with no mention whatsoever of Van Dyke’s significant involvement in developing the band and the Compositions." Van Dyke claims he continued to participate in recording sessions with the band, after their relocation to Denver, and played live shows that took place on the East Coast. Schultz and Fraites have admitted to "occasionally" rehearsing and performing with Van Dyke at performance venues in New Jersey and New York. The band tried to move the lawsuit to the U.S. District Court in Denver, but their attempt proved to be unsuccessful. The Lumineers would file their response to Van Dyke in February 2015, arguing that his claims are without merit and should be dismissed, and also denying his claims of co-writing nine of the band's songs.

The Lumineers continued their musical efforts into 2014; in August they released "Visions of China", a track featured in The Walking Dead. In September 2014, it was announced that The Lumineers began working on their second album. Schultz stated through Instagram, "Well folks, we are back in the studio, chippin away at some new ideas. It’s been one hell of a ride so far and we are excited to be writing again. Thanks and stay tuned."

Fraites and Schultz would compose the music for "The Hanging Tree". "The Hanging Tree" is a song performed by James Newton Howard featuring vocals from American actress Jennifer Lawrence for the 2014 film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, the third installment of The Hunger Games film series. The song appears on both the official score album for the film, and on the digital re-release of the official soundtrack for the film. The lyrics were written by The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins and originally appeared in her novel Mockingjay. Following its release, "The Hanging Tree" debuted in the top 40 of the singles charts of Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song was released to American mainstream radio stations on December 9, 2014.