The song that made 5 Seconds of Summer famous
5 Seconds of Summer is a pop band that consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Luke Hemmings, lead guitarist Michael Clifford, bassist Calum Hood, and drummer Ashton Irwin and they recently released their fourth album CALM. The boys have been together since 2011, but what song actually kickstarted their musical career?
How it All Started
Back in 2011, Luke Hemmings started uploading singing covers on YouTube, where he and his best mates from school, Michael Clifford and Calum Hood, formed the band. Clifford came up with the band name ‘5 Seconds of Summer’ and the first live gig they booked was in their hometown Sydney, Australia at Annandale Hotel on December 3, 2011. Before the live performance, the three band members needed a drummer and after posting about it on Facebook, Ashton Irwin joined the boys. This was the first show all four members played together — which also finalized the members of 5 Seconds of Summer.
After posting covers on YouTube for a while, Louis Tomilson from One Direction tweeted about 5 Seconds of Summer in 2012.
In 2013, One Direction invited 5 Seconds of Summer to join them as their supporting act on their worldwide Take Me Home Tour. From then on, their career skyrocketed. They signed to Capitol Records and released their debut EP, Unplugged, which featured two studio tracks, one studio cover, and one live cover.
The Defining Song
In 2014, 5 Seconds of Summer released their self-titled album on June 27. The first single released from the album, “She Looks So Perfect” was the defining song that made 5 Seconds of Summer famous. It peaked at #14 for Billboard’s Digital Song Sales on June 13, 2014, and the song also won ‘Song of the Year’ at the ARIA Music Awards in 2014.
“She Looks So Perfect” also had the most radio play out of the three singles 5 Seconds of Summer released from their album (“She Looks So Perfect”, “Don’t Stop”, and “Amnesia”) and it peaked at #19 on the US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 on June 6, 2014.
This song made 5 Seconds of Summer gain even more popularity and it was the largest recognition they’ve received so far in their career.
Where are They Now?
The band released its fourth album, CALM, on March 27, 2020, amidst a pandemic and there’s a huge musical difference between “She Looks So Perfect” and their new album. The major difference is the band’s lyrical growth and maturity — which fans and critics have praised CALM for.
Unfortunately, a shipping error with about 10,000 copies of the album was released a week prior to the original release date in the US, subsequently causing CALM to chart a week before it was due. This led 5 Second of Summer’s fourth album to chart #2 on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart.
In their home country, the band earned their fourth consecutive #1 album and became the second Australian band in history to have their first four full-length studio albums debut at #1 on the ARIA album chart.
Although there was a clerical error with 5 Seconds of Summer’s latest album, fans still show support for the band with unconditional love — and his kind of support from fans is allowed to the song that made them famous, “She looks So Perfect.”
“She Looks So Perfect” and the album CALM by 5 Seconds of Summer is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music.
