Biography
Formed from the ashes of alternative country rock band Uncle Tupelo, Wilco overcame much adversity to become one of America's most influential rock bands. In 1994, after only one full length-studio album, the bickering between Uncle Tupelo founders Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy escalated to the level of irreconcilable differences, and Farrar went on his own to form Son Volt. The remaining Tupelo members formed Wilco, with Tweedy as the main singer songwriter. The first Wilco record, A.M., was released in 1995, and covered much the same alt-country ground as Uncle Tupelo. The album sold modestly and gained some critical momentum, but it paled in comparison to the debut record of Son Volt, so the band felt the release was a failure. Undeterred, Wilco flung themselves into their live performances, booking over 200 shows to support the album and came out of the tour with enough new music for a double album. Released in 1996, Being There cribbed its name from the Hal Ashby/Peter Sellers movie of the same name. Incorporating a move introspective and surreal style, the self-produced 19-song album was better received than A.M. both critically and commercially. The stylistic change reflected upheaval in Tweedy's life, which included the birth of his first child. Before the band went into the studio for their third album, they collaborated with Billy Bragg on an album of Woody Guthrie songs. Although the collaboration was contentious, the sessions produced enough for three volumes of Mermaid Sessions. Volume 1 was released in 1998, volume 2 in 2000, and volume 3 in 2012, as part of a box set. Once the Mermaid Avenue sessions were finished, Wilco returned to the studio to record Summerteeth. With no obvious single, the record label, Warner Bros, demanded that the band re-record one of the songs tailored for the radio. Tweedy finally relented, but neither the single nor the full-length record caught the ear of critics or audiences. Released in 1999 he record performed worse than Being There. The making of their fourth record, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was so full of strife that it sounds like the subject of a movie. In fact, the entire saga was filmed by a documentary crew for the film "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco" (2002). When Warner Bros again believed Wilco had recorded another record with no single, they released the band from their contract and allowed them to keep the masters of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. In September of 2001, the band released the album streaming on-line and created their own viral marketing, which in turn caught the attention of record labels who pursued Wilco to release the record. The band eventually signed with Nonesuch Records (owned by the same corporate umbrella as Warner Bros) to release the album in 2002 and it became their biggest seller up to that time, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. After the critical and commercial success of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2004's A Ghost Is Born, capitalized, becoming the first Wilco record to break into the Billboard Top Ten. The album also earned the band Grammy Awards for best Alternative Music Album and Best Recording Package. After A Ghost Is Born, Tweedy and Wilco decided on a less challenging approach, one that was less experimental and more mellow. The resulting album, Sky Blue Sky, released in 2007, again topped Wilco's previous sales, debuting at number 4 on the Billboard Top 200 and was nominated for Album of the Year at that year's Grammy Awards. Wilco's seventh album, titled Wilco (The Album) , was released in 2009. Again popular with audiences and critics, the album reached number 4 on the Billboard Top 200, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album. To follow-up their self-titled album, the band released The Whole Love on their own newly minted label in 2011 to great critical acclaim. In the summer of 2015, the band released the album Star Wars, first making it available online as a free download several weeks before its physical release. Many critics hailed Star Wars as Wilco's most accessible album in 20 years, noting that the band eschewed the lengthy tracks they had become known for. A companion album largely recorded during the same sessions, Wilco Schmilco, followed in 2016.
