"Jimmy Eat World" has been added to your list of bookmarked artists
close
Jimmy Eat World
Biography
Once a trailblazing name in the mid-'90s emocore scene, Jimmy Eat World steadily rose to national prominence by embracing a blend of alternative rock and power pop that targeted the heart as well as the head. While the band's influence widened considerably with 1999's Clarity -- an album that has since emerged as a landmark of the emo genre -- it was the band's self-produced follow-up (specifically the infectious single "The Middle") that crowned them as major figures in commercial rock. The emo label proved difficult to shake throughout the 2000s, even when subsequent albums Futures and Chase This Light did little to evoke the hard-edged sensitivity of Clarity, but Jimmy Eat World nevertheless remained a league above the generation of emocore torch-bearers they'd helped influence.

Jimmy Eat World formed in February 1994 in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, AZ. Jim Adkins (vocals/guitar) and Zach Lind (drums) had met while attending Mountain View High School; years of playing in local bands had also introduced them to locals Tom Linton (guitar/vocals) and Mitch Porter (bass). The four musicians joined forces and derived the band's moniker from an argument between Linton's younger brothers, Ed and Jimmy.