Weezer

Weezer have spent three decades making rock records that wear their nerdiness openly. Formed in Los Angeles in 1992, the band has been fronted since 2001 by Rivers Cuomo, who sings and plays guitar alongside Patrick Wilson on drums, Brian Bell and Scott Shriner. Their sound has shifted across the years, from the geeky, hook-heavy power pop of the early records to hard rock, orchestral pop and mainstream pop, and the group has sold over 35 million albums worldwide.

The breakthrough came with the self-titled debut of May 1994, known as the Blue Album, which followed a Geffen Records signing the year before. Its videos for "Undone – The Sweater Song", filmed by Spike Jonze in a single unbroken take, and "Buddy Holly", which spliced the band into footage from Happy Days, helped it become a multi-platinum success. Pinkerton (1996) was a commercial failure that later found admirers, while the Green Album of 2001 scored with "Island in the Sun". The Gold Album, Weezer's 20th, arrived in 2026.