Good Charlotte

Good Charlotte Artistfacts

  • 1995-
    Joel MaddenLead vocals1995-
    Benji MaddenGuitar, vocals1995-
    Paul ThomasBass1995-
    Billy MartinGuitar, keyboards1998-
    Dean ButterworthDrums, percussion2005-
    Chris WilsonDrums, percussion2003-2005
    Aaron EscolopioDrums, percussion1995-2001
  • The original members of the pop-punk band, including twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden, all attended La Plata High School in Maryland.
  • Good Charlotte earned international acclaim when their second studio album, The Young and the Hopeless, spawned the breakthrough single "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." The track hit pop and rock charts around the world in 2002/2003.
  • The name Good Charlotte was taken from the 1994 children's book Good Charlotte, part of Carol Beach York's Girls of the Good Day Orphanage series.
  • Joel Madden came under fire for his dangerous habit: chewing plastic toothpicks. An irate Australian dentist worried that The Voice Australia judge's reckless custom would inspire fans to do the same, and ruin their teeth as a result. Joel laughed off the warning and insists the toothpicks actually help him reduce his cigarette habit.
  • The Madden brothers were featured on the MTV prank show Punk'd in 2004 when host Ashton Kutcher involved their car in a towing incident gone wrong.
  • Benji Madden and Cameron Diaz got married on January 5, 2015 at their Beverly Hills home. Madden's sister-in-law, Nicole Richie, and Diaz's friend Drew Barrymore, her sister Chimene and assistant Jesse Lutz served as bridesmaids.
  • After four years of dating that saw the birth of daughter Harlow Winter Kate and son Sparrow James Midnight, Joel married Nicole Richie on December 11, 2010.
  • Billy Martin published his first children's book in 2009, Damious McDreary: A Boy And His Bat.
  • Joel on the first album he ever bought: "I got Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl when I was in the fifth grade because I had a crush on her. The first real record I bought was Nirvana's Nevermind when I was 14."
  • Interest in the band waned in 2011, and they went on hiatus that year. In 2015, they re-formed after 5 Seconds of Summer cited them as an inspiration and extolled them on social media and in the press (Luke Hemmings says they were his first rock concert and the reason he wanted to form a group). "We owe these guys so much," Benji Madden said at a Good Charlotte concert with 5SOS in attendance. "You make us look cool."
  • Joel Madden is an honest guy and has never, ever stolen anything in his life. He told Kerrang: "I think I once took something a long time ago because I was in a rush, but I went and gave it back after the fact! I'm pretty conscientious about stealing, for some reason. I've never taken anything consciously. Even as a kid I was like that."

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