2005-Wesley SchultzLead vocals, guitar, keyboards2005-
Jeremiah FraitesDrums, keyboards2005-
Jay Van DykeDrums2008-2009
Maxwell HughesGuitar2010-2011
Neyla PekarekCello2010-2018
Ben WahamakiBass2012-2015
The Lumineers debuted in the midst of the nu-folk boom of the 2010s with the catchy single "
Ho Hey," but their so-called overnight success was a long time coming. New Jersey natives Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites tried to make it big in New York City until the high cost of living drove them out west to Denver, Colorado. There, they found a home in the open-mic scene and added a third member, cellist Neyla Pekarek, in 2010. While their 2012 self-titled debut drew comparisons to fellow rustic-folk enthusiasts Mumford & Sons, the Lumineers stood apart with a minimal musical style with an emphasis on melody, which also formed the basis of their future albums.
Before they were The Lumineers, the group went through a variety of names - including Wesley Jeremiah, 6Cheek, and Free Beer - until they accidentally adopted another band's name. While introducing Schultz and Fraites' act, an emcee at a Jersey City club got them confused with a band called Lumineers who were slated to perform at the same time the following week. The duo took the stage as The Lumineers, and the rest is history.
Schultz and Fraites started making music together to cope with their grief over the death of Fraites' brother, Josh, who was also Schultz's best friend. Josh, who died of a heroin overdose in 2001, partly inspired the band's third album, III, which follows the story of a fictional family whose lives are affected by addiction.
Lumineers is also the name of a dental veneer company, but Schultz won't be their spokesperson any time soon - he already has nice teeth. "I won 'Best Smile' in high school," the singer
told People in 2012. "It's a pretty big deal."
In 2022, Schultz gave Spin magazine a list of five albums he can't live without: Nick Drake's Pink Moon, The Kinks' Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, Joni Mitchell's Blue, Dope Lemon's Smooth Big Cat, and Billy Joel's The Stranger.
Schultz has a tattoo of the word "Love" on his forearm in his late father's handwriting. His dad, who died of cancer in 2007, also inspired the Lumineers' tunes "
Long Way From Home" and "
Gun Song."
When "Ho Hey" took off before the release of their debut album, The Lumineers caught the attention of major labels who wanted them to sign a multi-record contract. Instead, the band made a shrewd move to protect their creative freedom and opted for a one-record deal with the indie label Dualtone Records, which they continued to do with their first five albums.
When Pekarek answered the band's Craigslist ad for a cello player, the Colorado native was just looking to kill time until she figured out what she actually wanted to do. As it turned out, she wanted to be a solo artist. In 2018, she announced her departure from the band and, the following year, released her first album, Rattlesnake.
In the band's early days, Jay Van Dyke briefly served as their drummer, leaving fellow stickman Fraites to take up the piano, even though, he recalls, "I couldn't play a piano chord to save my life." Luckily, he became quite adept at playing the instrument and even released a pair of solo piano instrumentals, Piano Piano (2021) and Piano Piano 2 (2024).
The Lumineers earned two Grammy Award nominations at the 2013 ceremony: Best New Artist and Best Americana Album. They lost the former to the pop-rock band Fun, of "
We Are Young" fame, and the latter to Bonnie Raitt for
Slipstream.
