Yellowcard Artistfacts

Yellowcard song list

Yellowcard Artistfacts

1997-2017, 2022-
Ben DobsonVocals1997-1999
Ben HarperLead guitar1997-2005
Todd ClaryRhythm guitar1997-2000
Warren CookeBass1997-2002
Longineu W. Parsons IIIDrums, percussion1997-2014
Sean MackinViolin1997-2017, 2022-
Ryan KeyVocals1999-2017, 2022-
Alex LewisBass2003-2004
Pete MoselyBass, piano2004-2007
Ryan MendezLead guitar,2005-2017, 2022-
Ian RondillaPiano, bass2006-2007
Josh PortmanBass2012-2017, 2022-
Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, Yellowcard started out as a hardcore punk band with Ben Dobson as frontman, but shifted to pop-punk when Ryan Key took over as lead vocalist. Key brought the group to Southern California, where they signed with Capitol Records and released their breakthrough album, Ocean Avenue (2003).
The band takes its name from a soccer penalty signal, which they adopted as a party term whenever one of their mates did something stupid at a gathering. For instance, if you spill your beer, you would get a yellow card for the party foul.
They released their early material through Takeover Records, an independent punk label co-founded by the band's original lead guitarist, Ben Harper.
Sean Mackin never wanted to be a musician, but his mom forced him to take violin lessons every day. "Even after I fell in love with music, I never was like, 'I'm going to play music for the rest of my life,'" he told Encore. "I thought I would be a violin teacher or in business somewhere. It just kind of worked out where my friends and I wrote some songs and people liked listening to it."
Key married Alyona Alekhina in 2013 shortly after the professional snowboarder suffered an accident on the slopes that left her paralyzed below the waist. The pair married in her hospital room. Their relationship and the trials of her rehabilitation inspired several Yellowcard tunes, including "Lift a Sail," "One Bedroom," and "Madrid."
Key is a huge Star Wars fan and has a full sleeve of the franchise's characters on his right arm.
Ever wonder what it'd be like if the cast of Star Wars filled in for Yellowcard? Key came up with a lineup when speaking with Florida Today in 2014:

Luke Skywalker: lead vocals
Han Solo: drums ("he likes to party)
Chewbacca: bass
C-3PO: lead guitar ("he's so focused and calculated and planned out")
Princess Leia: violin
Sean Mackin is a thyroid cancer survivor. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2011.
Starting in 2008, the band took a three-year hiatus. During this time, they worked odd jobs; Key chopped down trees in Georgia, Parsons drummed for Adam Lambert, and Mackin sold cars.
The wildest moment Ryan Key witnessed during one of Yellowcard's shows was in 2006 when they played at Mix Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with 50,000 fans in the crowd.

"The entire place was a giant mosh pit, and in the middle of it, the fans made a human pyramid that was three people high and hoisted a Brazilian flag with a Yellowcard logo in the middle of it, Key recalled to Billboard. "It was iconic and I'll never forget it."
Yellowcard broke up in 2017 but reunited in 2022. In 2025 they released Better Days, their first album since 2016.
The band took some time off after releasing their 2007 album Paper Walls. Their record label was in upheaval, and as Ryan Key said, "We were all just emotionally exhausted at that point."

During their break, Key worked for his uncle in tree care; Sean Mackin sold cars; and Longineu W. Parsons III became Adam Lambert's drummer. Yellowcard returned to action in 2010 and released their next album, When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes, in 2011.

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