Panic! at the Disco is a Las Vegas, Nevada pop punk/ electronica band whose 2005 debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out made the Billboard 200 album chart, selling more than 220,000 copies to date.
The band was formed in Las Vegas by schoolmates Ryan Ross on guitar and Spencer Smith on drums. They recruited fellow schoolmates Brent Wilson on bass and Brendon Urie on vocals. Their name was taken from a line in the song "Panic" by Name Taken, in turn a reference to a song of the same name by The Smiths.
In order to get their music heard, the band posted a comment on Pete Wentz's (of Fall Out Boy fame) livejournal linking him to their PureVolume site. Pete Wentz drove out to Las Vegas, as he was so impressed by what he heard, in order to meet and hear them. He then brought them to the attention of Fueled by Ramen Records, who signed them while they were still in high school to Wentz's imprint label Decaydance. They recorded their album in Bethesda, Maryland with producer Matt Squire who had earlier produced Thrice.
The band attracted considerable publicity in the leadup to the release of the album with Spin magazine naming them as their band of the day in early October 2005. The band has also increased in popularity due to their online presence with PureVolume having them consistently in their Top 10 signed band list and reaching #1 on the MySpace chart.
When their first album A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (2005) was released, it debuted at #112 on the Billboard 200 album charts, at #6 on the Billboard independent chart and at #1 on the Billboard heatseeker chart, with nearly 10,000 in first week sales. The band started their first North American tour, supporting Acceptance and Hellogoodbye in September 2005, as well as label mates The Academy Is... in the United Kingdom in January 2006.
