Sum 41

Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom Thacker (rhythm and lead guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), and Frank Zummo (drums).

In 1999, Sum 41 signed an international record deal with Island Records and released its first EP, Half Hour of Power, in 2000. The band released its debut album, All Killer No Filler, in 2001. The album achieved mainstream success with its first single, "Fat Lip", which reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains the band's most successful single to date. The album's next singles "In Too Deep" and "Motivation" also achieved commercial success. All Killer No Filler was certified platinum in both the United States and the United Kingdom and triple platinum in Canada. In 2002, the band released Does This Look Infected?, which was also a commercial and critical success. The singles "The Hell Song" and "Still Waiting" both charted highly on the modern rock charts.

The band released its next album, Chuck, in 2004, led by singles "We're All to Blame" and "Pieces". The album proved successful, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard 200. In 2007, the band released Underclass Hero, which was met with a mixed reception, but became the band's highest-charting album to date. It was also the band's last album on Aquarius Records. The band released the album Screaming Bloody Murder, on Island Records in 2011 to a generally positive reception, though it fell short of its predecessors' commercial success. The band's sixth studio album, 13 Voices was released in 2016, through Hopeless Records. IMPALA awarded the album with a double gold award for 150,000 sold copies across Europe. The band's seventh studio album Order in Decline was released on July 19, 2019. It was the band's last album on Hopeless Records. The band's eighth and final studio album, Heaven :x: Hell, was released on March 29, 2024, through Rise Records. The band disbanded in March 2025, following a final worldwide headlining tour and their induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

The band often performed more than 100 times each year and held long global tours, most of which lasted more than a year. The group was nominated for seven Juno Awards and won twice – Group of the Year in 2003, and Rock Album of the Year for Chuck in 2005. Sum 41 was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the song "Blood in My Eyes". From their formation to 2016, Sum 41 were the 31st best-selling Canadian artist in Canada.

Sum 41 has its origins in the band Kaspir, which was formed by Deryck Whibley and Grant McVittie in 1994, inspired by Weezer and Nirvana. As time went on, the band's drummer was replaced by Steve Jocz and the music became increasingly inspired by NOFX, particularly their 1991 album Ribbed. Seeing this change as too sonically dissimilar to their original sound, they decided to form a new band and to change their sound because they sounded "like the early nineties rock music we used to listen to, and don't anymore". The band chose the name "Sum 41" after looking at the calendar and counting how many days it had been from the start of their summer break to the day the Warped Tour was on and seeing that it was forty-one days. The band debuted its new name during Supernova's Battle of the Bands on September 28, 1996. The first lineup to use this name included Whibley, Jocz, McVittie and Jon Marshall. Another early member was bassist Richard Roy who shortly replaced McVittie.

Their first televised live performance was at Jonopalooza, on the Canadian teen talk show Jonovision hosted by Trailer Park Boys star, and Canadian comedian, Jonathan Torrens.

The band met their manager and producer Greig Nori, also the lead vocalist of the band Treble Charger, in 1996 at Jonopalooza, and Whibley convinced Nori to watch his band perform. Nori was not impressed with the band's songs or the original vocalist Jon Marshall and advised Whibley to be the vocalist instead causing Marshall to leave. With Whibley moving to lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dave Baksh, a friend of Deryck and Steve and fellow student at Exeter High School, joined as lead guitarist. During the band's first tour in New Brunswick, the band was involved in a near-fatal car accident, when their Ford Econoline van was broadsided by an F-150; Roy, who was driving the van, quit the band after returning home. Mark Spicoluk briefly filled in as the band's new bassist in 1998, until he was replaced by Jason McCaslin, another friend of the band's and student at Exeter High School, in 1999. In 1996, the band opened for Len.

In 1998, the band recorded a demo tape on compact cassette which they sent to record companies in the hope of getting a recording contract.