III
WENTZ
Peter

• 1. Music career
• 1.1. Arma Angelus and other early projects (1993–2002)
• 1.2. Fall Out Boy (2001–2009, 2013–present)
• 1.3. Black Cards (2010–2012)

Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy, since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lead singer and songwriter for Arma Angelus, a metalcore band. During Fall Out Boy's hiatus from 2009 to 2012, Wentz formed the experimental, electropop and dubstep group Black Cards. He owns a record label, DCD2 Records, which has signed bands including Panic! at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes.

Fall Out Boy returned from hiatus in February 2013, and have since released three number-one albums; Save Rock and Roll, American Beauty/American Psycho, and Mania.

Wentz has also ventured into other non-musical projects, including writing, acting, and fashion; in 2005 he founded a clothing company called Clandestine Industries. He also hosts the TV show Best Ink and runs a film production company called Bartskull Films, as well as a bar called Angels & Kings. His philanthropic activities include collaborations with Invisible Children, Inc. and UNICEF's Tap Project, a fundraising project that helps bring clean drinking water to people worldwide, People magazine states that "no bassist has upstaged a frontman as well as Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy." He is also a minority owner of the Phoenix Rising FC, a USL Championship team.

Music career

Arma Angelus and other early projects (1993–2002)

Wentz was primarily involved in the Chicago hardcore punk scene and was in several bands in the late 1990s. He formed his first band, First Born, in 1993. By the mid-1990s, he became an infrequent bass player for Racetraitor.

Wentz formed the metalcore band Novena (later renamed to Arma Angelus) soon after, along with Adam Bishop of XshroudX and Extinction; Daniel Binaei of Racetraitor; and Timothy Miller. The band cycled through six bassists before recruiting Tim McIlrath, who had recently departed from Baxter. They released their debut EP the Grave End of the Shovel in 2000. Around this time, Binaei's partial relocation of California led to hiring of Jay Jancetic of Extinction. McIlrath then departed from the band in 2000, in order to focus on Transistor Revolt and The Killing Tree, leading to the band's recruitment of, XshroudX and Restraint member, Christopher Gutierrez. In 2001, the released their debut album Where Sleeplessness Is Rest From Nightmares. In support of the album they toured with Throwdown and Hatebreed, and performed at Hellfest. These tours also saw the recruitment of bassist Joe Trohman, after Gutierrez's departure, however Trohman's severe stage fright led to the band bringing him back mid-tour, and residing Trohman to selling merchandise.

Around this time, Wentz also played in Birthright, Extinction and Yellow Road Priest. He and Arma Angelus' bassist Joe Trohman founded the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy after Trohman introduced Wentz to a musical acquaintance, Patrick Stump. Andy Hurley agreed to drum part-time, but only joined the band full-time later. In 2002, Arma Angelus, played its last show.

Fall Out Boy (2001–2009, 2013–present)

In 2002, Fall Out Boy released an EP called Fall Out Boy/Project Rocket Split EP. Soon after, in 2003, the band released their mini-LP Fall Out Boy's Evening Out with Your Girlfriend on Uprising Records. This album would later be digitally remastered and reissued after the band's third, successful full-album release From Under the Cork Tree, on the major label Island Records. In 2003, the band released their first full-length album, Take This to Your Grave through Fueled By Ramen. Fall Out Boy signed with major label Island Records in 2003 and in 2004 released an acoustic EP and DVD entitled, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue.

Their third album, From Under the Cork Tree, was released in 2005. Wentz wrote the lyrics to the lead single, "Sugar, We're Goin Down" with his dad in Chicago; the song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent months in the top 50 of the Hot 100, marking five weeks in the top 10 and fourteen weeks in the top 20. The band's major label debut album has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA as well as "Sugar, We're Goin Down."

In 2007, Fall Out Boy's fourth album, Infinity on High was released to major success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 260,000 sales, spurred by the lead single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", which reached the top ten in the US & UK and topped the charts in New Zealand. The second single, "Thnks fr th Mmrs" sold more than 2 million units in the US. The band's fifth studio album, Folie à Deux was released on December 13, 2008, and debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200. The band toured extensively in support of their albums.

In November 2009, the four band members announced they will be taking an indefinite hiatus, saying they were unsure of the future of the band. Wentz has said that his personal reason for taking a break is that he feels that his name and marriage to pop singer Ashlee Simpson had become a hindrance for the band. He added: "I think the world needs a little less Pete Wentz".

On February 4, 2013, Fall Out Boy unexpectedly announced their return, along with an album and single with which all four members contributed. Once again, Wentz had main control of song writing duties. On April 12, 2013, the band released a new album entitled, Save Rock and Roll, featuring the lead single My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up), and dates for a new tour. The band played their first show in over three years on the night of February 4 in Chicago. 'Save Rock and Roll' peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 154,000 copies in its first week, becoming the band's 4th consecutive top 10 album. With Fall Out Boy, Wentz toured heavily throughout 2013 and 2014 on the album, selling out arenas worldwide, with bands such as Paramore on the Monumentour. In October 2013, they released a new EP, PAX AM Days which they recorded in a two-day session with producer Ryan Adams.

Sixth studio album American Beauty/American Psycho was released to become the band's third Billboard 200 No. 1 album, debuting with 192,000 first week sales and 218,000 equivalent album units. The album was preceded by the triple Platinum top 10 single Centuries. Uma Thurman was released to mainstream radio on April 14, 2014, and peaked at 22 on the 'Billboard' Top 100, and were certified as Platinum in August 2015.

In April 2017, Fall Out Boy released Young and Menace, the lead single for the seventh studio album. The band's seventh album Mania was officially released January 19, 2018, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it the band's third consecutive and fourth chart-topping debut overall.

In 2018 Fall Out Boy headlined Wrigley Field in the band's hometown of Chicago, marking a milestone in their career as their first headline show at a stadium.

Black Cards (2010–2012)

In July 2010, Wentz, with singer Bebe Rexha, guitarist Nate Patterson, and drummer Spencer Peterson, formed the ska/electropop band Black Cards. Originally, the band had planned to release a full-length LP in the summer of 2011. However, after several delays, the departures of both Patterson and Rexha, and general uncertainty about the band's future, the group reshuffled, scrapping the original album and announcing plans to release a mixtape, write new material, and continue to remix tracks by other artists.

With regards to the band's sound, Wentz has said that during the time he took off to spend with his family, he began to be inspired by Jamaican reggae songs such as Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" and The Gladiators' "Warriors". Wentz then contacted producer Sam Hollander (Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, Hey Monday) and discussed the idea with him to mash up ska, dance and reggae with 80s British rock and pop to create a new experimental sound.

On January 12, 2012, the band announced via Facebook that vocalist Bebe Rexha was no longer a member of the group.