Whatever Happened To Fountains of Wayne?

When I say Fountains of Wayne, you probably think Stacy’s Mom. You may even think one-hit wonder, but you’d be wrong. Fountains of Wayne, an indie pop-rock band from New York, may be most well known for their hit song Stacy’s Mom, but you’ve heard more from them than you might think. Forming in 1995 with Chris Collingwood (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar), Adam Schlesinger (Bass, Vocals), Jody Porter (Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals), and Brian Young (Drums). Young was still the active drummer for the rock band The Posies at the time. Fountains of Wayne brought catchy hooks long before Stacy’s Mom came out with just a towel on and even more after that.

Releasing their self-titled album in 1996, Fountains of Wayne toured the world on that album, featuring songs like Sink to The Bottom and Radiation Vibe. They shared the stage with bands like Sloan, The Smashing Pumpkins and the Lemonheads. That same year Fountains of Wayne wrote and recorded the title song for the Tom Hanks directed, That Thing You Do, a movie about a one-hit wonder band set in the 1960’s.

Fountains of Wayne released their next album Utopia Parkway in 1999. Unfortunately, their label Atlantic Records, dropped the band that same year. The band went quiet for a time after this, but during this time, Adam Schlesinger, co-wrote the songs for the Josie and the Pussycats movie.

In 2003 the band released Welcome Interstate Managers, the album with their penultimate single, Stacy’s Mom. Which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and received a nomination for Best Vocal Pop Performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

But Fountains of Wayne wasn’t done there. In 2005 the band released a out-of-state-plates, a collection of B-Sides and two brand new songs, including the single, Maureen. The next thing to come from Fountains of Wayne was the album Traffic and Weather, released in 2007, featuring the title track Traffic and Weather and the song I-95, which Rolling Stone magazine named number 54 on their top 100 songs of the year.  

In 2011 the band released their fifth album, Sky Full of Holes, in Japan with the label Warner Japan. The band toured on this album through 2012 and then did a few U.S. shows to support the album, touring with Evan Dando and Soul Asylum.

In 2013 Fountains of Wayne called it a day. They never officially announced that the band was breaking up, but in interviews after this point, band members all referred to Fountains of Wayne in the past tense while never explicitly saying they wouldn’t get back together.

Between 2013 and 2021, The band members worked on various independent projects. On April 1, 2021. Adam Schlesinger died from complications related to COVID-19.

The surviving members of Fountains of Wayne got together for one last show after this as a charity concert for pandemic relief dedicated to Schlesinger. Sharon Van Etten, an American singer-songwriter, replaced Schlesinger on bass for the show.

And that’s what happened to Fountains of Wayne. The surviving members still create music in their own ways through various projects, but we can officially say that Fountains of Wayne has written their final chapter and waved goodbye to Stacy’s Mom.

You can follow Joshua James for more fun music history.

Facebook.com/thejoshuajamesshow

Twitter.com RATVJoshuaJames

Instagram joshuajamesmedia7

Comments