 Sum 41 is a Canadian pop punk band from Ajax, Ontario made of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard/piano), Jason "Cone" McCaslin (bass), and Steve Jocz (drums).
The band was formed from members of several local high school bands, 41 days into the summer (July 31st) of 1996, hence the name Sum 41. Sum 41 reached mainstream success with the release of All Killer No Filler, which sold over 2 million copies. The album was made popular due to the hit singles Fat Lip and In Too Deep, the former reaching number 1 on the US Modern Rock charts.
Since signing a record deal with Island Records in 1999, the band has released four studio albums, two live CDs, two live DVDs, over ten singles and sold millions of copies worldwide. As of 2006 the band performed more than 600 times and have become famous for their world tours that are usually more than a year-long.
In early 2004, the band contributed to the first Rock Against Bush album by recording the song "Moron", which was also a bonus track in the Japanese import of Chuck.
In late May of 2004, the band traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo along with War Child Canada, a branch of the British charity organization, to document the civil war occurring in the country. Days after arriving, fighting broke out near the hotel the band was staying at in Bukavu. The band waited for the firing to die down, but it never did. A U.N. peacekeeper, Charles "Chuck" Pelletier (also Canadian), called for armoured carriers to take the hotel's occupants out of the hot zone. After 5-6 hours the carriers arrived and the band and the 40 other civilians were taken to safety. The band named their next album Chuck in honour of Chuck Pelletier for taking them to safety. The documentary was made into a film called ROCKED: Sum 41 in Congo, and was later aired on MTV. War Child released it on DVD on November 29, 2005 in the United States and Canada.
Sum 41's album Chuck was released on October 12, 2004. It was a heavy album that had a much more serious mood, without the humor of the band's previous releases. The first single from the album (as well as the only song written after the Congo incident) was "We're All to Blame". The song switching from a fast pace to a slow one represented the band's trip in the Congo, how one minute it was peaceful and the next there were gunshots being fired. The band followed up with "Pieces", which reached the top of the charts in Canada, and "Some Say", released as a single only on Canada and Japan. The last single of the record was "No Reason", released at the same time of "Some Say", but with no video and only on USA and Europe, which reached #16 on Billboard Modern Rock.
Following the Go Chuck Yourself tour, Sum 41 co-headlined a tour in USA along with Good Charlotte with support from Lola Ray and Hazen Street, then Sum 41 opened for Mötley Crüe on their Carnival of Sins tour.
Sum 41 released a live CD, Happy Live Surprise in Japan on December 21, 2005. The CD contains a full concert recorded live from London, Ontario and was produced by Deryck. The same CD was released March 7, 2006 in Canada under the name Go Chuck Yourself. This version was released under Aquarius Records instead of EMI, the band's former label in Canada. The band had an issue with their producer and their management company, Greig Nori and Bunk Rock Music. Since their management company had a contract with EMI, after the band left the company and dropped the producer, the contract was broken. The Japanese version contained a CD with 5 songs from their live performance. It was originally to be a DVD, but the band was unhappy with the way the filming turned out and decided to put out a live CD instead. The footage is being incorporated into a project along with the rest of the film from the tour.
Following their September 11, 2005 show in Quebec City, Quebec, the band went on a touring hiatus, although on April 17, 2006, Sum 41 played at a tribute to Iggy Pop, joining Iggy on stage for "Little Know It All" and "Lust For Life".
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