| The Calling | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Current Members: |
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The Calling is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1996 by lead singer and guitarist Alex Band and guitarist Aaron Kamin. They are best known for their hit single "Wherever You Will Go," which topped the Adult Top 40 for 23 weeks—making it the second longest running number one in the chart's history—and was later named the number one song of the decade of 2000s on the Adult Pop Charts by Billboard magazine. It was included on their debut album Camino Palmero (2001), which saw commercial success despite unfavorable critical reception.[1]
Their second album, Two (2004) was supported by the lead single "Our Lives," which was featured in the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics as well as the opening song for the 78th Academy Awards. The band broke up in the following year after its release, and reformed in 2016 following a failed attempt to do so in 2013. Since the formation of the band, there had been several lineup changes, with Band remaining its sole original member.
The band was formed by Alex Band and Aaron Kamin when Kamin was dating Band's sister.[2] Kamin and Band initially began jamming and writing songs as far back as 1996, and began gigging under the band name "Generation Gap" with a drummer who was twice their age. At this stage, the band also included saxophonist Benny Golbin, giving the songs a more jazzy sound reminiscent of Dave Matthews Band. Eventually, Band and Kamin ditched the "Gap" lineup, and briefly switched their name to "Next Door", which itself was a nod to Ron Fair, a veteran music business executive and Band's neighbor.
They quickly found their own sound amongst radio rock acts of the early 21st century such as Matchbox Twenty, Third Eye Blind, Train, and Fastball. By 1999, Fair was impressed enough by the demos to sign them to a development deal with RCA. They changed their name to the Calling.
While the RCA deal was a huge boost, it also created a new problem for Band and Kamin: they had no solid band and, thus, had hardly toured and built a fanbase. Band and Kamin also struggled to get the attention of label heads amid the pop explosion of the new millennium.
Kathy Nelson, then president of film music for The Walt Disney Motion Picture Group, heard the demo to their song "Wherever You Will Go" and decided to include it in the film Coyote Ugly, with the group also performing in the background as cameos. Because of this, Flair worked intensely with Band and Kamin on perfecting the debut album, which took over two years.[3]
Five years after being signed to their record deal and nine months after the film's release, The Calling released their first single "Wherever You Will Go" on May 22, 2001. The song immediately brought them worldwide recognition, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Adult Top 40 for 23 weeks, the second-longest-running number one in the chart's history, behind "Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas. The song was named the No. 1 Adult Pop song of the decade by Billboard magazine.[4] The song was featured prominently in the television series Smallville's first-season episode "Metamorphosis". It was also featured in early trailers in 2001 for the Star Trek prequel series Enterprise. In an episode of the CBS television drama Cold Case, "Frank's Best", the song is played at the end of the episode.
Their debut album, Camino Palmero, was issued on July 10, 2001, and peaked at number 36 on Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),[5] However, the album received generally negative reviews.
Approximately a year later, on April 15, 2002, the Calling released their second single, "Adrienne," which achieved moderate success.
Later, on August 19, 2002, The Calling released their third single, "Could It Be Any Harder", which achieved very little promotion, only charting at number 35 on the Adult Top 40 charts.
In June 2002, Woolstenhulme left the Calling.[6] His replacement was Dino Meneghin.[7] Mohler and Wood left in October 2002.[8] [9]
In 2003, the Calling announced that they began work on their sophomore album, along with a new lineup. On February 10 the same year, the Calling recorded a track for the superhero movie Daredevil, titled "For You". It was released as the third single for the soundtrack album, while also appearing in the EP version. It was used as the closing credits to the film. The band performed the song live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the February 13, 2003, episode. While the song failed to enter the US charts, it did fairly well in Italy, just past the Top 20 at number 19.
On March 29, 2004, they released their lead single "Our Lives" from their upcoming second album, which made its debut on hot adult contemporary radio the same day. It was featured in the 2004 Olympics ceremony, it was used as the opening song of the 78th annual Academy Awards and used as the theme song to the short lived series "Clubhouse" on CBS. The song was well received and charted at number 34 in the Billboard Top 40.[10] It also reached the Top 20 in countries like Denmark and Italy.
In June 2004, the group returned with their sophomore album titled Two. However, Two had disappointing sales compared to their first album and failed to live up to expectations, charting at number 54 on Billboard Top 200.[11]
A final single, "Anything," performed decently with little promotion, charting at number 23 in the Adult Top 40.[10]
After a lengthy world tour in support of the album, despite the lack of support from the label, Kamin and Band decided to disband the Calling. They played a farewell show in Temecula, California on June 6, 2005. Alex then began pursuing a solo career and played occasional shows.
On August 15, 2013, Alex Band reformed the Calling with new members; Sean Kipe on lead guitar, Jake Fehres on bass, and Art Pacheco on drums. The band performed their comeback gig at Bally's Atlantic City on August 17.[12] [13] [14] Work on a new album began in early 2012 and took 10 months to complete, with a planned 2013 release through Universal.[15]
The Calling performed at the Lapeer Days Festival in Lapeer, Michigan, where they performed their old hits, along with new music, including a song titled "Better", which was rumored to be their first single.
On August 18, Band was reportedly abducted by two men that robbed him, beat him severely, and dumped him on train tracks in Lapeer, Michigan. He was taken to an emergency room at a nearby hospital, where he was treated and released.[16] Band reportedly lost a tooth, suffered a mild concussion and needed fifteen stitches to close a wound on his chin.
The abduction gained nationwide notoriety, while the locals at Lapeer were skeptical, as they believed that the abduction was a "hoax" and a "publicity stunt". Band denied all claims that the abduction was planned to promote The Calling's comeback.[17] [18] [19]
After only a few shows, the group had drawn virtually no further publicity and later broke up again.
In June 2016, Band created a Patreon page to share his work, including demos, unreleased music, covers, upcoming tracks, and behind the scenes footage. His first release from the page was an unmixed demo of a solo track titled "Place Inside of You", a track he performed on a livestream back in 2013.[20]
In October 2016, The Calling reformed with a new lineup and performed in Manila, Philippines the following month. The Australian company "Unbreakable Touring" announced that the band were to perform in areas such as Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Fremantle along with the rock band Juke Kartel and newcomer Mike Waters, but this was later postponed due to visa issues. In July 2017 it was announced that The Calling would be joining Lifehouse as support acts for Live's Australian leg of their world reunion tour.[21]
Band said in an interview with Australian music website "may the rock be with you" in November 2017 that The Calling will be releasing new music soon.[22]
The Calling began to tour around Europe in the beginning of 2020, with locations including the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Austria. Whilst on tour in February, Band spoke in a video interview presentation with Welsh podcast SteegCast. In the video, Band speaks of his future music plans and talks of new material, including even at some point releasing orchestral workings of some of the Calling's best known songs.
The Calling announced their Latin America Tour on their social media to celebrate their 20th anniversary of their debut album, with dates starting in December 2022 in Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Some of the dates were later pushed to May 2023.
In April 2023, The Calling announced a new lineup of the band once again; Band being the lead singer; Daniel Damico returning on lead guitar, and Dom Liberati on bass. The following month they teased production of new music, playing a snippet of a new track titled "Dust".
In July, 2023, The Calling announced that they will be playing an acoustic set for the Pop 2000 Tour in Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas in August 19th, 2023, along with Chris Kirkpatrick, Smash Mouth, O-Town and LFO.[23]
On August 10, 2023, The Calling collaborated with Singaporean ad agency BBH Singapore to headline Income Insurance’s new "Protection" campaign with their new song titled "Fallin' Apart", which was later released as a single;[24] this marks The Calling's first official release of any new material since their last single "Anything" back in 2004. A music video was created and released on August 16, 2023.[25]
The works of a third album began in September 2023. On December 11, 2023, The Calling posted teasers on their social media of the band working in Minneapolis, Minnesota with award-winning record producer John Fields (who had worked on Alex Band's solo album), further confirming that new music is being made, with an expected release date in 2024.[26]
The Calling announced a 25 date Latin tour. Their first single from their upcoming third album, "Stand Up Now", was released independently on May 3, 2024. During their tour, they teased another song titled "Hold On Me", which is confirmed to be their next single.
In August 2024, during a livestream on Instagram, Band announced that The Calling have signed with UTA for management and with CTK Enterprises for representation, and had signed with an undisclosed record label. Band also confirmed that The Calling will release new music in the first quarter of 2025. [27]
When the Calling was formed by the label, the executives pushed the image of a five member rock band; however, lead members Band and Kamin have stated that the band have "always been a two-man group at its core since its foundation, with the other members hired as session and touring musicians."
In November 2003, Wood and Mohler, former members of the Calling, filed a lawsuit against Band, Kamin, and the group's management. They accused them of mismanagement, fraud, and demanded an audit of the funds used during their time in the band. Wood and Mohler alleged that they were promised a portion of the royalties and profits from touring and merchandise. Band and Kamin disputed their right to access any royalty records. Kamin called the suit “totally without merit” and says it was “settled very quickly” with him, Band and their managers.[28] Band and Kamin claimed that the two were not entitled to any records of the royalties.[29]
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, when the Calling was reformed in 2013, whereas Kamin was excluded, lead singer Alex Band filed a lawsuit against Kamin, claiming that has “essentially disappeared from the public eye” and that any trademark rights over the band that Kamin held have "effectively been abandoned".[30] [31]
The complaint was that Kamin would "simply refused to support the Calling on tour" when promoting Camino Palmero. The lawsuit also states that "Kamin prioritized his work on projects with other artists, refused to devote himself to writing and recording with the Calling, and fought Band’s decisions on every aspect of the album."
Kamin disputes the allegations, responding "I don’t know why I was supposed to give him the rights to something that was a representation of our collective talent. I’m sure I could find you proof of all the tours that I was out and about on."
The lawsuits between Band and Kamin have strained the relationship, but despite this, Kamin says he "couldn’t say no" to rejoining the Calling if asked.[32]
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See main article: The Calling discography.
| Year | Association | Work | Category | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Smash Hits Poll Winners Party[33] | Themselves | Best Rock Act | ||
| Best International Act | |||||
| Best Newcomer on Planet Pop | |||||
| MTV Europe Music Award | Best New Act | ||||
| NRJ Music Award | International Duo/Group of the Year | ||||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Music: Breakout Artist | ||||
| "Wherever You Will Go" | Choice Music: Love Song | ||||
| "Adrienne" | Choice Music: Rock Track | ||||
| Billboard Music Awards | Themselves | Hot 100 Singles Duo/Group of the Year | |||
| New Pop Artist of the Year | |||||
| Top Hot Adult Top 40 Artist | |||||
| "Wherever You Will Go" | Top Adult Top 40 Track | ||||
| Top Hot 100 Song | |||||
| Top Hot 100 Airplay Track | |||||
| Top 40 Track of the Year | |||||
| MTV Video Music Brazil[34] | Best International Video | ||||
| 2003 | BDSCertified Spin Awards | 500,000 Spins | |||
| BMI Pop Awards[35] | Award-Winning Song | ||||
| APRA Music Awards | Most Performed Foreign Work | ||||
| 2004 | MTV Video Music Brazil[36] | "Our Lives" | Best International Video |