'''Big Time Rush''' (also known as '''BTR''') is an [[American people|American]] [[boy band]]. The band consists of [[Kendall Schmidt]], [[James Maslow]], [[Carlos Pena, Jr.]], and [[Logan Henderson]]. The band was introduced in the television series ''[[Big Time Rush]]'' which premiered in 2009. The group was signed to a record deal with [[Nick Records]] simultaneously with the television series, and then the group was eventually signed to [[Columbia Records]]. The show ran from November 27, 2009 to July 25, 2013, its last episode being "Big Time Dreams".
'''Big Time Rush''' (also known as '''BTR''') is gay as hell [[American people|American]] [[boy band]]. The band consists of [[Kendall Schmidt]], [[James Maslow]], [[Carlos Pena, Jr.]], and [[Logan Henderson]]. The band was introduced in the television series ''[[Big Time Rush]]'' which premiered in 2009. The group was signed to a record deal with [[Nick Records]] simultaneously with the television series, and then the group was eventually signed to [[Columbia Records]]. The show ran from November 27, 2009 to July 25, 2013, its last episode being "Big Time Dreams".
The band's first [[promotional single]] was the song [[Big Time Rush (song)|"Big Time Rush"]], which was featured in the series' pilot, ''Big Time Audition''. The group eventually started recording their first studio album and in October 2010, Big Time Rush's debut album, ''[[BTR (album)|BTR]]'' was released. The album entered the [[Billboard 200]] at number three, selling over 67,000 copies in its first week, as well as entering charts in countries around the world, including Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Venezuela, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was certified Gold in US and Both Gold and Platinum in Mexico and was certified 5x platinum in Greece in 2014 for selling 60,000 copies. The band's first official single, "[[Boyfriend (Big Time Rush song)|Boyfriend]]" peaked at number seventy-two on the [[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard ''Hot 100'']] and was certified gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA). It also charted in Germany, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Belgium and Austria. making it Big Time Rush's biggest hit single across European, Asian and Latin American Countries to date. As of 2013 the album has sold 5 million copies Worldwide.
The band's first [[promotional single]] was the song [[Big Time Rush (song)|"Big Time Rush"]], which was featured in the series' pilot, ''Big Time Audition''. The group eventually started recording their first studio album and in October 2010, Big Time Rush's debut album, ''[[BTR (album)|BTR]]'' was released. The album entered the [[Billboard 200]] at number three, selling over 67,000 copies in its first week, as well as entering charts in countries around the world, including Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Venezuela, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was certified Gold in US and Both Gold and Platinum in Mexico and was certified 5x platinum in Greece in 2014 for selling 60,000 copies. The band's first official single, "[[Boyfriend (Big Time Rush song)|Boyfriend]]" peaked at number seventy-two on the [[Billboard Hot 100|Billboard ''Hot 100'']] and was certified gold by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA). It also charted in Germany, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Belgium and Austria. making it Big Time Rush's biggest hit single across European, Asian and Latin American Countries to date. As of 2013 the album has sold 5 million copies Worldwide.
Big Time Rush (also known as BTR) is gay as hell Americanboy band. The band consists of Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena, Jr., and Logan Henderson. The band was introduced in the television series Big Time Rush which premiered in 2009. The group was signed to a record deal with Nick Records simultaneously with the television series, and then the group was eventually signed to Columbia Records. The show ran from November 27, 2009 to July 25, 2013, its last episode being "Big Time Dreams".
The band's first promotional single was the song "Big Time Rush", which was featured in the series' pilot, Big Time Audition. The group eventually started recording their first studio album and in October 2010, Big Time Rush's debut album, BTR was released. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number three, selling over 67,000 copies in its first week, as well as entering charts in countries around the world, including Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Venezuela, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was certified Gold in US and Both Gold and Platinum in Mexico and was certified 5x platinum in Greece in 2014 for selling 60,000 copies. The band's first official single, "Boyfriend" peaked at number seventy-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It also charted in Germany, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Belgium and Austria. making it Big Time Rush's biggest hit single across European, Asian and Latin American Countries to date. As of 2013 the album has sold 5 million copies Worldwide.
The group released their sophomore album Elevate in November 2011. The album achieved similar success, selling over 70,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number 12 on the Billboard 200. "Music Sounds Better With U," featuring Mann, was the album's first single and reached number 26 on Billboard's Pop Chart. The album was certified gold in Mexico, becoming the group's second-consecutive certified album in that country. Elevate also achieved Platinum and Gold status in both Mexico and Venezuela and Gold status in Colombia and Ecuador. It sold 2 million copies worldwide earning Double Platinum status. Elevate is Big Time Rush's most successful album released worldwide to earn such a certification.
In June 2013, Big Time Rush released its third studio album, 24/Seven. The group's third offering debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, marking the second time the band debuted inside the top five. 24/Seven sold over 36,000 copies in its first week of availability and has sold 110,000 copies in US and more than 1 millions copies worldwide. "Like Nobody's Around" was released as a promotional single while the title track 24/Seven was released as the album's first single on June 19, 2013 along with a full-length music video. The single entered various radio charts worldwide on release, not including airplay in the United States. They also had a summer break tour for their third studio album 24/Seven with Victoria Justice which was from June 2013 to August 2013. It ended in September 2013 in Australia for Slimefest. As of November 2013,Big Time Rush have sold more than 21 million records Worldwide, making them one of the best selling boy bands of all time.
Nickelodeon signed Big Time Rush to a record deal in 2009 simultaneously with the television series, Big Time Rush. Then, Nickelodeon partnered with Columbia/Epic Label Group to produce the show and include the original music to the show. For the series, their debut single, "Big Time Rush", was released on November 29, 2009.[1] Officially announced by Nickelodeon, the series was first broadcast in the U.S. in November 2009, until it was eventually released worldwide.
It debuted during a one-hour special preview of the series and it is currently the show's opening theme. The series also saw the releases of other singles including "City is Ours" and "Any Kind of Guy". Big Time Rush also covered a Play song titled "Famous". The song was released on iTunes on June 29, 2010. Another song, "Halfway There", was released to iTunes on April 27, 2010 after its premiere on the series.[2][3] The single has become their first to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 93 due to strong digital sales.[4]
On September 21, 2010, Big Time Rush released a promotional single, "Till I Forget About You", to promote the release of their debut album.[5] The album, titled BTR, was released on October 11, 2010. Soon after the release, the band went to Baltimore on October 12, 2010 to do an autograph signing at Arundel Mills Mall. The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 67,000 copies in its first week of release. The album also peaked at number 4 on the Internet Albums chart and number one on the Soundtracks chart. Its track "Big Night" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 79, making it their highest peaking song. The album was later certified Gold for shipments of 500,000 copies in the U.S., over 30,000 copies were sold in Mexico resulting in its second level of Gold, later on received a platinum certification in mexico for selling 60,000 copies and was also certified 5x platinum in Greece for selling 60,000 copies and it has sold over 5,000,000 copies worldwide.[6] In November 2010, it was announced that a Christmas special of Big Time Rush would debut later that month, and that a Christmas EP would be released to coincide with the episode. The EP, titled Holiday Bundle was released on November 30, 2010. They covered "All I Want for Christmas is You", originally performed by Mariah Carey, with fellow Nickelodeon star Miranda Cosgrove, but was not released as so. Instead it was released as just them and it came with a new Christmas beat, "Beautiful Christmas". both releases went on to become one of the few best selling holiday songs of all time on iTunes.
On February 15, 2011, "Boyfriend" was released as the band's first official single to mainstream US radio.[7] "Boyfriend" peaked at number seventy-two on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their most successful song to date. It peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Pop Songs chart in March 2011. A remix of "Boyfriend" which featured New Boyz was leaked onto the internet. Big Time Rush was nominated for MTV's Breakthrough Band award honor in 2011 as well.[8] Big Time Rush has made several appearances at KCA (Kid's Choice Awards.) Also, Big Time Rush was nominated for the 2013 Premios Oye! award in Mexico (similar to the Grammy award in the United States), with their single "Boyfriend" nominated for the Best International English Song of the Year. However, they lost to Rihanna's single "Diamonds".
The group announced they would be recording their second studio album, just after Nickeloden renewed the series for a third season.[9] On July 22, 2011, the band released a promotional single, "If I Ruled the World" featuring Iyaz, in anticipation of their second album, Elevate. Elevate was released on November 21, 2011 and debuted at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling over 70,000 copies in its first week. Though for a lower peaking than their previous, the album sold more copies than the previous album.[10] The first single, "Music Sounds Better with U", written by the band and Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, was released on November 1, 2011. The song peaked at number twenty-six on the US Pop Songs.
To promote the release of their second album, the group had their first headlining tour, the Better With U Tour, which took place over sixteen dates in February and March 2012. JoJo opened for Big Time Rush for the first five dates, while One Direction opened for ten of the sixteen dates.[11] In late February, Big Time Rush announced a national summer tour starting July 5 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.[12][13]Cody Simpson, Rachel Crow and Leon Thomas III will be the opening acts in the American venues, whereas Victoria Duffield and Tyler Medeiros will be opening in the Canadian cities.
Their single, "Windows Down", was released on June 25, 2012. With its success, the song peaked at 37 on the US Pop Songs and 15 on the US Heatseekers Songs.[14] The song then debuted at 97 on the Hot 100.[15] It was included on a re-release of the group's second album, Elevate. The summer single also took the number one spot at MTV Brazil on the top 10 videos of 2012.[citation needed] Windows Down also made it to the top of the charts in Singapore, and was their second straight number one single on the top 30 Malaysian singles radio chart,[citation needed] making it their overall best selling single of the year. As of 2013, Windows Down has sold over 1 million copies around the world.[citation needed]
The band announced they would be starring in their full-length 2012 film, Big Time Movie. The movie features them travelling to London, England. In Big Time Movie, the four members of the band Big Time Rush head to London for their first big world tour but instead get mixed up in a mission to save the world. The film was released on 10 March 2012 in the US, while a Germany release was on 22 September 2012.[16] Due to the promotion, the group recorded cover of The Beatles songs and released an EP, Big Time Movie Soundtrack EP.[17] However, the film received mixed to positive reviews from most contemporary film critics, many comparing them to The Monkees but praising their fun, carefree image.[18][19] However, the film was a commercial success, having over 13 million views in a week.[20]
On August 6, 2012 Nickelodeon renewed the Big Time Rush series for a 13-episode fourth season, production started on January 7, 2013. The band also released a song titled "Like Nobody's Around" for the new season. It is on their third album. On April 15, in an interview on Cambio, Big Time Rush announced that "24/seven" would be released sometime in early June 2013 and that the fourth season of "Big Time Rush" will air on May 2, 2013. On April 18, Big Time Rush revealed that "24/Seven" would be released either June 4 or 11, 2013. On April 20, nine tracks from the album (plus "Song for You" without the Karmin vocals and "Get Up" with only Kendall's vocals) was leaked. On June 4, EW released the full 10-song Standard version of 24/Seven online.[21] The Deluxe version of 24/Seven has also been leaked on YouTube and a different version of "Love Me Again" was leaked with it. EW released a different version of "Get Up" and "Song For You" than what was leaked previously.
Big Time Rush's 3rd album 24/Seven was released on June 11, 2013 and revealed the album cover and track list April 29, 2013. It was certified Both Gold and Platinum like their previous two albums BTR and Elevate in Mexico. It was also certified Gold in Venezuela and Colombia. 24/Seven entered the charts in more than 30 different countries and was No.1 in most of them.
On March 29, 2013, the Summer Break Tour was officially announced by the band. It was also revealed that Victoria Justice would join the band on this tour. The tour began on June 21, 2013 and ended on August 15, 2013 in Mexico. They members of big time rush are currently on a short hiatus pursuing other ventures personally. Big Time Rush are also currently nominated for best Group, best Album and best Live Act for the upcoming ceremony in Monte Carlo, Monaco at the Salle des Etoiles Venue for the 24th annual World Music Awards on May 27, 2014. voting is still open and the band as of press time is not confirmed to make an appearance. [citation needed]
Artistry
Musical style and themes
Because the group is associated with the TV series and children network Nickelodeon, they have been presented as a "child-friendly" group, but have musical differences. In a review of their first studio album, BTR, Jessica Dawson from Common Sense Media wrote: "Big Time Rush is a standout, not only because of their boyish charm and good looks, but because their music is a cool blend of synth-pop, hip-hop, and boy-band harmonies."[22]
Public image
Carlos Pena, Jr. was interviewed September 2012, and talked about if Big Time Rush could exist outside of their series, where he replied;
"I think the music could stand alone, but I don’t know if it would be as powerful. The show has definitely been our main audience. We have four million kids watching. So when you put a song out, four million kids hear it. When you put a song on the radio, you’re not going to have four million people listening. It’s a blessing and a curse being on Nickelodeon — it’s gotten us where we are now, though some people are standoffish to us because of that. But we have to be grateful that Nickelodeon gave us this opportunity. Abandoning the show would not be the best idea."[23]
The group has been compared[by whom?] to recent boy bands such as One Direction and The Wanted. However, recent boy bands including One Direction and The Wanted have also not received rave outcomes.[24] Michael O'Connell from The Hollywood Reporter said "One Direction is but one group in this resilient and timeless fad. They follow the recent success of fellow Brits [The Wanted] and Nickelodeon's cross-market creation [Big Time Rush]. One [One Direction] is fluke. Two [The Wanted] is a coincidence. And three [Big Time Rush] is a trend that you want to father your unborn children.'[25]
Melinda Newman from Washington Post stated "In the grand tradition of boy bands, these acts share certain traits with their similarly manufactured pop ancestors: Members of the Wanted and Big Time Rush auditioned for their parts at a casting call. The members of One Direction were put together by Simon Cowell after trying out individually for the British edition of “The X Factor.”"[24] However, she positively compared them to The Monkees by saying "Big Time Rush is similar to the Monkees with its own TV series as a launchpad, and the group appeals to kids, tweens, Teens and also Adults. They are also credited as the pop group that have once again restored creditably, relevance and for relaunching boy bands back into the public eye once again."[24]
In Parade Magazine's 2012 poll, Big Time Rush was voted the "Best Boy Band In the World," topping both One Direction and The Wanted. Over 800,000 votes were cast. The quartet was featured on the cover of the August 5, 2012 issue of Parade. An interview and photo set highlighting the group's win that coincided with the honor was featured in the same issue.[26][27][28] The magazine's web site also featured the group amongst its list of "Greatest Boy Bands of All-Time," along with the bands NSYNC, and Backstreet Boys. The Washington Times Magazine ranked Big Time Rush Number 15 of their Top 20 Best Boy Bands of the decade in 2012, and number 28 on the pop goes the charts website of the Top 40 Best Boy Bands of the past 25 years in 2013.[29]
