Runner Runner is an American

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band founded in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

in 2008. They were the first band signed to a joint venture between

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

Merovingian Music Merovingian Music also abbreviated as MRV or MRV Music, is a non-genre specific record label in Red Bank, New Jersey. The label was founded by Jack Ponti who is also CEO of the company. Shortly after, independent label owners Gregory Edgerton and ...

and C.E. Music, a subsidiary of

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

's Worldwide Pants, Inc.

History

Runner Runner was founded in

by its current members,

Ryan Ogren Ryan John Ogren (born 1979 or 1980), also known as Ryan OG, is an American songwriter, record producer and vocal producer signed to Prescription Songs. He began his musical career playing in the band Don't Look Down, and then later Over It and ...

, Peter Munters, Jon Berry, Nick Bailey, and James Ulrich. The five friends came together after their previous projects, Over It,

Rufio Rufio was an American rock band from Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States, in 2000. They released four studio albums: ''Perhaps, I Suppose'' (2001); ''MCMLXXXV'' (2003); ''The Comfort of Home'' (2005); and'' Anybody Out There'' (2010). ...

and Don't Look Down, had dissolved. Their name originated from Ryan Ogren and Jon Berry's love of poker. The term "runner runner" is poker slang, used when a player makes a hand with both the turn and river cards. The band posted "Dedicate" on their

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

profile in May 2008, followed by "The Break Up Song" a month later. A music video was released for "Dedicate" in October 2008. They first started touring in 2009, opening for

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young (American musician), Adam Young, who created the project while exp ...

and headliner

Relient K Relient K () is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman during their third year in high school and time at Malone University in Canton. The band is named after guitarist ...

. They performed at

The Bamboozle The Bamboozle was an annual three-day music festival which was held in New Jersey from 2003 to 2012, and was scheduled for a 2023 revival in Atlantic City by its founder. Every year, new bands competed for spots during the two days. The event ...

festival and appeared on the 2009

Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a Concert tour, touring Rock music, rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music ...

. In April 2010, it was announced that the band had signed to

EMI Group EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

, and would release their debut album through the imprint

later in the year. On May 5, 2010, "So Obvious" was posted online; a music video was released for it on June 15, 2010. They began touring with

Secondhand Serenade Secondhand Serenade is the solo project of American rock musician John Vesely. Vesely has released four studio albums to date under the name Secondhand Serenade. His debut album used multitrack recording to create the sound of a band using techn ...

and

The White Tie Affair The White Tie Affair (also known as TWTA) is an American pop music, pop band from Chicago, Illinois, made up of vocalist Chris Wallace (musician), Chris Wallace, guitarist Sean-P, drummer Tim McLaughlin and keyboardist Ryan McLain. In early 200 ...

in June 2010. In August they began their first headlining tour, and closed out the year touring briefly with 2AM Club, and then with

Forever The Sickest Kids Forever the Sickest Kids (sometimes abbreviated as ''FTSK'') is an American pop punk band from Dallas, Texas. The band first signed with Universal Motown Records and released its debut album, ''Underdog Alma Mater'', on April 29, 2008. The band' ...

. Their national television debut was on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' on July 20, 2010. They were also featured on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' on September 27, 2010. Runner Runner's debut single, "So Obvious", received moderate radio airplay. The band's second single to go to radio was "Hey Alli" and was a free download as part of iTunes "Single of the Week" program. Two music videos were released for this single. The first featured the band in an intimate studio setting with a raw acoustic performance. The second video didn't feature the band but rather focused on the story behind the song and its lyrical content. On February 15, 2011 Runner Runner released their self-titled debut album. To educate their fans and the public on the music industry, an open letter titled "A Call to Arms" was posted on Runner Runner's official website and various social profiles. In June 2011 Runner Runner started a U.S. tour opening for co-headliners

Yellowcard Yellowcard is an American rock band who formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1997. Their official lineup currently consists of lead singer Ryan Key, lead guitarist Ryan Mendez, bassist Josh Portman and violinist Sean Mackin. Primarily a pop- ...

and

Good Charlotte Good Charlotte is an American rock band formed in Waldorf, Maryland, in 1995. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of Joel Madden (lead vocals), Benji Madden (guitar, vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Martin (guitar, keyboards), and ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

* ''Your Greatest Hits'' (July 2007) * ''Breakup Makeup'' (September 2008) * ''Stripped'' (September 2008) * ''The Summer'' (July 2009) * ''Under The Covers'' (December 2009) * ''Acoustic Acoustic'' (October 2010)

Singles

Other releases

References

External links

Official Myspace page

Official Facebook page
{{Authority control Capitol Records artists Musical groups established in 2008 Pop punk groups from California