Joseph Mark "Joe" Trohman (born September 1, 1984), is an American musician, songwriter, composer, singer, and record producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the American rock band Fall Out Boy, as well as the lead and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things. Fall Out Boy began as Trohman and Pete Wentz's side project from the hardcore punk scene they were involved with, and the band has scored three number one albums on the US Billboard 200.
Early life[]
The son of a cardiologist, Trohman was born in Hollywood, Florida. He was raised in South Russell, Ohio, before his family moved to the Chicago area. His family is Jewish, although he noted to JVibe, "I think we were more Jewish culturally than we were religiously because after my brother's bar mitzvah, we stopped going to synagogue entirely." Trohman and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, and Trohman played bass with Wentz in a band called Arma Angelus.
Musical career[]
Trohman became involved with the Chicago hardcore scene, with his first band being Voices Still Heard he formed with friends. At the age of sixteen, he joined local band Arma Angelus and spent a summer touring as the group's bassist. He developed a friendship with the group's singer, Pete Wentz, and the pair discussed forming a more melodic band influenced by groups such as Green Day. Trohman then met Patrick Stump in a Borders bookstore, and recruited him to join the band, which was subsequently named Fall Out Boy.
With bassist Pete Wentz as Fall Out Boy's primary lyricist and vocalist Patrick Stump as the primary composer, Fall Out Boy reached mainstream success with its major label debut, From Under the Cork Tree. Released in 2005 by Island Records, the album debuted on the US Billboard 200 at No. 9, won several awards and achieved double platinum status after selling more than 2.5 million albums in the United States. The album spawned two top 10 hits; "Sugar, We're Goin Down" which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has sold more than 2 million digital downloads in the US, and "Dance, Dance", which peaked at No. 9 and certified platinum. To support the album, the band headlined tours around the world in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, the band released the follow-up album Infinity on High, to major chart success, debuting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 260,000. The album was certified platinum one month after its release. Infinity on High's lead single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", reached No. 1 on the defunct-Pop 100 and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Thnks fr th Mmrs", sold more than 2 million copies in the US. In 2008, the band released their fourth studio album, Folie à Deux, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 with 150,000 first week sales and was later certified gold. The band opened for Blink-182's 2009 reunion tour and shortly released their first greatest hits compilation album, Believers Never Die - Greatest Hits, in November 2009 before announcing an indefinite hiatus. Patrick Stump embarked on a solo career and Pete Wentz created the DJ duo Black Cards. Trohman and Fall Out Boy bandmate Andy Hurley started a band called The Damned Things with Anthrax members Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano and Every Time I Dievocalist Keith Buckley and bassist Josh Newton. They released their debut album in 2010, Ironiclast. Trohman then began work on a new band With Knives with Newton, releasing a debut EP, "Schadenfreude" in April 2012. In February 2013, Fall Out Boy reformed and became Trohman's primary music focus. They released their comeback album, Save Rock and Roll, and toured year-long in support of it. In October 2013, they released a new EP, PAX AM Days. They released their sixth studio album, American Beauty/American Psycho, in January 2015, spearheaded by the Platinum top 10 lead single "Centuries". In January 2018, M A N I A, their seventh studio album was released.
Personal life[]
Trohman has two daughters, Ruby Trohman (born in April 2014) and Zayda Mae Trohman (born in March 2018), with wife Marie Wortman Goble. His house in Chicago was featured in a 2007 episode of MTV Cribs. His mother died on January 11, 2015.