Orson (band)
Encyclopedia
Orson was a BRIT Award
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

-winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

 from Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, formed in 2000.

Career

Originally the band called itself Halogen. Recently, it was also known as Dr. Lady. Their self-financed first album, Bright Idea, released by Mercury Records in 2006, was produced in Los Angeles by Noah Shain and achieved chart success in the UK with the first single, "No Tomorrow". The album reached number 1 in their respective categories.

The band first played on UK radio during a live session on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

's Dermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary
Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2...

 Show. Following this they appeared at the 2006 Virgin Mobile V Festival in Staffordshire and Chelmsford in the UK. In Chelmsford, the lead singer exclaimed, "It's good to be home!" This is because the band moved to London from Los Angeles in 2006.

Lead singer Jason Pebworth said in an interview that the band's musical influences are Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, Flaming Lips, Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...

 and Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

.

The band also appeared on UK football based TV show Soccer AM
Soccer AM
Soccer AM is a British Saturday-morning football-based comedy/talk show, predominantly based around the Premier League...

. When asked which team they supported, they replied "No one". They were therefore allocated Rotherham United, for whom they eventually played a benefit gig at a venue in the Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

 tourist attraction Magna Science Adventure Centre
Magna Science Adventure Centre
Magna Science Adventure Centre is an educational visitor attraction, appealing primarily to children. It is located in a disused steel mill in the Templeborough district of Rotherham, England. The site is formerly home to the Steel, Peech and Tozer steel works...

.

Signed to Universal Publishing, Pebworth and George Astasio remain successful writers and producers under the name The Invisible Men
The Invisible Men
"The Invisible Men" are a songwriting and production trio based in London. The team are Jason Pebworth and George Astasio and Jon Shave ....

, along with colleague Jon Shave, formerly of Xenomania. They have already had hits with artists like The Noisettes and Gabriella Cilmi, and also work with new artist Jessie J.

Kevin Roentgen is currently pursuing a solo career with his project Praying Hands, as well as continuing to write and produce for other artists. His other venture, Hott Mess, released an EP on itunes called Love Is Cheap in June 2009.

Johnny Lonely continues to perform as well as managing new artists as 'Lo Pro' in Los Angeles, and performed with Roentgen on the Hott Mess EP.

Chris Cano works continuously as a drummer and toured with mega-band Ozomatli.

Members

The band consists of:
  • Jason Pebworth - vocals
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

    , song writer
  • George Astasio - guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

  • Kevin Roentgen
    Kevin Roentgen
    Kevin Roentgen is a singer/songwriter/producer and guitarist for Brit Award-winning American rock band Orson, who sometimes performs under the moniker, Praying Hands. Roentgen is previously known for fronting L.A...

     - guitar and backing vocals
  • Johnny Lonely - bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Chris Cano - drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

  • Ciaran Patrick Collins
    Ciaran Patrick Collins
    Ciaran Patrick Thomas Collins former guitarist for British pop band Orson.-Personal life:Collins left Orson shortly before their rise to fame in 2005....

     - Guitar and backing vocals

Studio albums

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
US
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

AUT
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

FRA
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

GER
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

IRL
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...

SWI
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

UK
2006 Bright Idea
Bright Idea
Bright Idea is the debut album by the Hollywood band Orson. Originally self-released in 2005, it was released commercially on May 29, 2006 in the UK and was released internationally on June 13, 2006....

  • Released: May 29, 2006
  • Label: Mercury
    Mercury Records
    Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

  • Formats: CD
    Compact Disc
    The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

    , digital download
    Music download
    A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

51 29 48 32 38 1
  • UK
    British Phonographic Industry
    The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...

    : Platinum
  • 2007 Culture Vultures
    Culture Vultures
    Culture Vultures is a 2007 indie rock album by American band Orson. The album was released on October 22, 2007 but it leaked online on October 20, 2007....

  • Released: October 22, 2007
  • Label: Mercury
  • Formats: CD, digital download
  • 25

    Singles

    Year Title Peak chart positions Album
    UK
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

    UK Download
    UK Official Download Chart
    The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...

    2006 "No Tomorrow
    No Tomorrow
    "No Tomorrow" is the debut single by American pop rock band Orson. It was released on 27 February 2006, eventually climbing to the top of the UK Singles Chart three weeks after its release. "No Tomorrow" is the lead single from Orson's 2006 debut album, Bright Idea...

    "
    1 1 Bright Idea
    "Bright Idea
    Bright Idea
    Bright Idea is the debut album by the Hollywood band Orson. Originally self-released in 2005, it was released commercially on May 29, 2006 in the UK and was released internationally on June 13, 2006....

    "
    11 8
    "Happiness" 27 68
    "Already Over" 174
    2007 "Ain't No Party" 21 18 Culture Vultures

    Other contributions

    • The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show
      The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show
      The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show is a 2-disc compilation album of BBC Radio 2 popular music recordings, released in the United Kingdom in July 2007...

      (2007, EMI
      EMI
      The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

      ) - "I Can't Go For That"

    In popular culture

    • Their single "Tryin' to Help" featured in the 2006 romantic comedy It's a Boy/Girl Thing.
    • Nominated by Q magazine for "Best New Artist of 2006" along with Lily Allen
      Lily Allen
      Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...

      , Arctic Monkeys
      Arctic Monkeys
      Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...

      , Corinne Bailey Rae
      Corinne Bailey Rae
      Corinne Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds, who released her debut album Corinne Bailey Rae in February 2006....

       and The Kooks
      The Kooks
      The Kooks are an English indie rock band formed in Brighton, East Sussex, in 2001. Formed by Luke Pritchard , Hugh Harris , Paul Garred , and Max Rafferty , the lineup of the band remained constant until 2008 and the departure of Rafferty...

      .
    • Orson appeared at the "Concert for Diana
      Concert for Diana
      Concert for Diana was a concert held at the then new Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 1 July 2007, which would have been her 46th birthday; 31 August that year brought the 10th anniversary of her death...

      " on 1 July 2007.

    External links

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