Adam Lazzara

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Adam Lazzara
Lazzara in 2009
BornSeptember 22, 1981
Sheffield, AL
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Years active1999–present
Spouse
Misha Vaagen
​
(m. 2008)​
Children3
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass guitar
  • harmonica
Labels

Adam Lazzara is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Taking Back Sunday.[1][2] Along with singing lead vocals, Lazzara plays guitar and occasionally the harmonica.

Taking Back Sunday[edit]

Joining the band[edit]

Adam Lazzara initially met the members of Taking Back Sunday at a show in Greensboro, North Carolina. At the performance, Phil Hanratty of the band Errortype:11 was filling in for Taking Back Sunday’s bassist. Lazzara, whose high school band had performed in a show earlier that year with Errortype:11, connected with Hanratty before the show. Hanratty informed Lazzara that Taking Back Sunday’s bassist, Jesse Lacey, had recently left to start his own band, "Brand New," and Taking Back Sunday was looking for a new bassist. He stayed after the show to meet them and asked to try out for the open bassist slot. They said yes, and about a month later, Lazzara drove from North Carolina to Long Island to try out. A week after that, Eddie Reyes, the guitarist of Taking Back Sunday at the time, called Lazzara and asked if he wanted to play with them for a couple of shows. Lazzara booked a flight to New York in 2001 and by the end of that year, he had gone from temporary bassist to the band's frontman.[3][4]

Adam Lazzara with Taking Back Sunday in 2018

Early years[edit]

Taking Back Sunday recorded their first album with Mike Sapone, which was then burned onto CD’s at band members Shaun Cooper and Mark O'Connell’s apartment.[3] In the Spring of 2002, they released their debut album "Tell All Your Friends" with Victory Records.[5] They did two tours after that release and began selling out venues they opened for only a year before.[3] In 2004, they went on to release “Where You Want To Be” which became one of the top-selling independently released rock records of the year. It debuted at No. 3 on Billboard 200 and reached No. 16 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. In the following year, they signed with Warner Bros.[6]

Breakout album[edit]

In April of 2006, Taking Back Sunday put out their third album, "Louder Now". The album contained the hit song "Make Damn Sure"[7] which is largely thought of as their breakout song and is their most successful song to date.[8] It peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 8 on the Alternative charts,[9] and ranked number 52 on Rolling Stone's "The 100 Best Songs of 2006"[10]

Taking Back Sunday today[edit]

Today, the current members of Taking Back Sunday are: Adam Lazzara (lead vocals), John Nolan (lead guitar, keyboards, vocals), Shaun Cooper (bass guitar) and Mark O'Connell (drums), accompanied by Nathan Cogan (guitar) for their live performances

Personal life[edit]

Adam Lazzara was born September 22, 1981 in Sheffield, AL.[11] His family moved to High Point, North Carolina when he was a young child and he attended Southwest Guilford Elementary School, Middle School and High School.[12] Looking back at this time, Lazzara has described himself as a quiet, shy kid who had a stutter[4] and wanted to be a dolphin trainer.[13] At age 13, he was introduced to Nirvana for the first time and began to "live and breathe rock music."[4] He started playing in bands throughout highschool[4] and was inspired by artists like Nirvana, Michael Jackson, and Lifetime and "skateboarded everywhere until I was probably 19 or 20."[14]

"I heard Nirvana and my whole world changed forever. Later on, maybe when I was about 14 years old, an older friend of mine let me borrow Earth Crisis’ Destroy The Machines and Lifetime’s Hello Bastards. [...] that Lifetime record changed my whole world all over again. Even when I listen to it now, it gives me this feeling that I can’t describe. That lead me to searching out bands on labels like Jade Tree and so on."
– Adam Lazzara, interviewed by Mischa Pearlman.[4]

Lazzara was briefly engaged to Chauntelle Dupree, guitarist of Eisley, in 2007, but the pair split before marrying.

He went on to meet Misha Vaagen, a student at UT Tyler and bartender at a local restaurant.[15] They were married in June 2008 and had their first child in January 2009.[11][16] They currently live in North Carolina with their three children. Misha is the author of Manmade Constellations.[17]

In February 2015, Lazzara was arrested for a DWI while in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was released on a $2,500 bond.[18]

Discography[edit]

With Taking Back Sunday

Solo

  • "Because It Works" (2013)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Warped Tour". Cleveland Free Times. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
  2. ^ Curto, Justin (June 22, 2022). "Third Eye Blind and Taking Back Sunday Aren't (Just) Here for Nostalgia". Vulture. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Pearlman, Mischa (May 20, 2019). "An oral history of Taking Back Sunday: "We're not just a band that was in the emo scene. We got past that…"". Kerrang. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Pearlman, Mischa (September 1, 2020). "Adam Lazzara: "Sometimes you don't want to remember the person you used to be... but it helps to make peace with yourself"". Kerrang. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  5. ^ "Tell All Your Friends: 20th Anniversary Edition". victoryrecords.com. Victory Records. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  6. ^ Staff, Billboard (October 6, 2005). "Taking Back Sunday Signs With Warner Bros". Billboard. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  7. ^ "Louder Now Taking Back Sunday". genius.com. Genius. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  8. ^ "Best of Taking Back Sunday". Discotech.me. Discotech. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  9. ^ "Taking Back Sunday, MakeDamnSure". Last.fm. Last.fm. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  10. ^ "The 100 Best Songs of the Year". Rolling Stone. 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Jones, Louis. "Adam Lazzara". BioWikis.com. Bio Wikis. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  12. ^ Poulos, Garrett (July 18, 2018). "TAKING BACK SUNDAY'S ADAM LAZZARA RETURNS TO HIS NC ROOTS". Highlark. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  13. ^ Slessor, Dan (March 20, 2020). "7 things you probably didn't know about Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara". Kerrang. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  14. ^ Ezra Marcus (February 11, 2014). "Taking Back Sunday: Notes From The Past". Vice.com (Podcast). Vice. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  15. ^ "Misha Lazzara's Website". MishaLazzara.com. Misha Lazzara. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  16. ^ Khvan, Olga (April 15, 2014). "Taking Back Sunday Took the House of Blues". Boston Magazine. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  17. ^ "Manmade Constellations". blackstonepublishing.com. Blackstone Publishing. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  18. ^ Hartmann, Graham. "Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara Arrested for DWI". Loudwire. Retrieved September 20, 2022.


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