(born June 5, 1979)

is the bassist, back-up vocalist, and primary lyricist of Chicago-based band Fall Out Boy.

Pete Wentz was born Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III, in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He attended New Trier High School and North Shore Country Day School, where he was an all-state soccer player. After graduating from high school in 1997, he attended DePaul University where he studied political science, dropping out one semester shy of graduation to focus more on music.^[1]

Wentz recalled in a Rolling Stone interview that his earliest musical memory was listening to The Foundations' song "Build Me Up Buttercup" in the back of his dad's car. ^[2]

Wentz was primarily involved in the Chicago hardcore punk scene and was in several bands in the late 1990s. These included First Born, Arma Angelus (alongside Tim McIlrath, frontman of Rise Against), Yellow Road Priest, and Racetraitor. He and Arma Angelus' bassist Joe Trohman founded the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy after Trohman introduced Pete to a musical acquaintance, Patrick Stump. Andy Hurley agreed to drum part-time, but only joined the band full-time later. In 2004, Arma Angelus, the band in which Wentz was the vocalist/screamer, played its last show.^[3]

In 2002, Fall Out Boy released an EP called Fall Out Boy/Project Rocket Split EP. Soon after, in 2003, the band released Fall Out Boy's Evening Out With Your Girlfriend on Uprising Records.^[4] This album would later be digitally remastered and reissued after the band's second, more successful full-album release Take This To Your Grave, on the independent label Fueled by Ramen Records. Later in 2003, Wentz and the rest of his bandmates signed with Island Records and in 2004 released an acoustic EP and DVD entitled, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue through the new label.

After Fall Out Boy released the My Heart EP, they released their third album, From Under the Cork Tree, in 2005. Wentz wrote the lyrics to the first single, "Sugar, We're Goin Down" with his dad in Chicago; the song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 ^[5]). February 6, 2007, was the release date for Fall Out Boy's fourth full-length album, Infinity On High.

Wentz has been helping Panic! at the Disco, the band he signed to his Decaydance Records label in 2005, with their second album coming in early 2008.^[6]

Wentz has written a book entitled The Boy With the Thorn In His Side, which is a story based on nightmares he had as a child.^[7] The title is a reference to a track on The Smiths' album The Queen Is Dead. He has another book titled, "Rainy Day Kids," which was scheduled to be released February 14, 2006, but has been postponed. It is said to be published in summer 2007.^[8] In addition, Wentz is currently co-writing another book with William Beckett of The Academy Is....

Wentz's company, Clandestine Industries, distributes books and clothing and other merchandise. On August 2, 2007, fashion company DKNY joined a partnership with Clandestine Industries.^[9] Wentz himself has served as a model on the DKNY/Clandestine promo website. ^[10]

Additionally, he owns his own imprint of Fueled by Ramen, Decaydance Records, which has signed several bands, including: Panic! at the Disco,Sweet Blood Stacy. And other models at Buzznet , Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, October Fall, Lifetime, and The Cab. Wentz's tattoo on his pelvis, the Bartskull, is the logo for Decaydance Records, Clandestine Industries, and Bartskull Films.

He also has a film production company called Bartskull Films, which put out the DVD Release the Bats, which stars Wentz, his fellow bandmates, and several of his personal friends. The sequel is currently in the works.

In April 2007, Pete came out with his own signature Squier Precision Bass. It has a black body with a red shell pickguard and special graphics that include Wentz’s own red bat/heart design on the body, plus a black bat/diamond fingerboard inlay at the 12th fret. It also features Wentz’s signature on the back of the headstock.^[11]

Wentz opened a nightclub in New York with his bandmates as well as members of Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is..., and Cobra Starship; the bands' managers are also involved in the enterprise. Called Angels & Kings, the club occupies the former space that housed the Orchid Lounge, on 11th Street near Avenue A. Notable guests, such as Tommy Hilfiger, arrived for the grand opening on Monday, April 30. ^[12]

In February 2005, in what appeared to be a suicide attempt, Wentz took an overdose of the anxiety medication Ativan, and as a result, spent a week in hospital. Commenting on the event to a magazine, he said, "I was isolating myself further and further, and the more I isolated myself, the more isolated I'd feel. I wasn't sleeping. I just wanted my head to shut off, like, I just wanted to completely stop thinking about anything at all." The suicide attempt was soon put into song form, "7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)" and was released on their album, From Under The Cork Tree. After this event, Wentz moved back in with his parents.^[13]

In March 2006, nude photos of Wentz were posted on the Internet to the LiveJournal celebrity gossip community Oh No They Didn't. The LiveJournal poster reported that she received the photos third-hand, and that Wentz originally sent the pictures to a woman with whom he allegedly had romantic interests. After the pictures spread across the Internet, Wentz posted a response on Fall Out Boy's website and blog asserting that the pictures were stolen from his T-Mobile Sidekick, and that after "feeling badly about this for about 24 hours, I am now ready to get back to laughing."^[14] The video for the single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" contains a scene that references to the incident.

In a Blender interview in March 2007, Wentz alluded to being bisexual, stating that he'd kissed males before and that "anybody above the waist is totally fair game."^[15] In the May 2007 issue of The Advocate, Wentz opened up about his sexuality, saying that he is sexually attracted to males but that "I'm not a fan of penises."^[16]

In a Rolling Stone photo shoot, Wentz and singer/actress Ashlee Simpson took a picture together for the opening of Wentz' bar, Angels & Kings, and were labeled as a couple. Eventually the two began to acknowledge the relationship. In mid-2007 Wentz spoke about their relationship to InTouch magazine, saying of Simpson that "I have never met somebody who makes me feel the way she makes me feel," although he denied rumors that the two are engaged.

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