5 Seconds of Summer: 11 Years and Counting

By Dani McKenzie | 6 February 2023

December 3, 2022 marked the 11-year anniversary of 5 Seconds of Summer, a career marked by growth, reinvention, self-reflection, a true love and gratitude for the "5SOS fam," and, of course, iconic music.

From their humble beginnings posting covers on YouTube, lead singer Luke Hemmings, bassist Calum Hood, guitarist Michael Clifford, and drummer Ashton Irwin have left a mark on both their fans and the world of music. 5SOS have evolved in front of our eyes, staying true to themselves through multiple eras of their career. From the raw acoustics of their Unplugged EP in 2012, to the magnum opus that is 5SOS5, they continue to make music that moves people—both physically and emotionally.

With songs for any situation (nostalgia, heartbreak, mourning, a coming of age late night car ride tunnel scene, you name it), 5 Seconds of Summer continue to carve their tallies into music history.

Their most recent album, 5SOS5, released September 23, 2022, is a beautiful homage to their past and a physical representation of their present state as a band. The members have often spoken about their experiences in the music industry, their struggle to find themselves as artists and people in a world that didn’t always accept them or allow them to be true to themselves. Seeing their success and fulfillment in their entirely self-made, self-produced album brings an enormous amount of pride and happiness from the fan perspective.

Being able to hear about the making of 5SOS5 from the band's interviews and updates after months of anticipation made me realize how lucky I am to have supported 5SOS through so many eras: in eleven years, they have grown up in front of our eyes, pushed back against the industry, and stayed loyal to themselves and their fans. I am so proud to see them grow into their true, unapologetic selves. Eleven years is a long time, but I hope it will only be a fraction of the impact that they continue to make.

5SOS have an impressive platform, which they’ve used to spread important messages for many years. The impact of their sophomore album, Sounds Good Feels Good (2015), for example, brought them widespread attention, garnering hundreds of hours of radio play and countless new fans along with the creation of the "New Broken Scene". As young newcomers to the industry, they led a trend of speaking openly about mental health and other issues faced by today’s youth. While promoting the album, they shared candidly about their own mental health struggles. On the record, they invoked a classic punk-rock sound to reflect the depth of these struggles.

Michael Clifford became quite well-known for saying, when the band was asked about their message: “We want to make sure that (kids) know that it’s okay to not be okay.” In 2019, 5SOS created their own philanthropic brand, Friends of Friends, established to “bring people together to celebrate art, music and culture, focused on making a positive impact in the community and the world.”

5SOS put their all into everything they do. They leave everything on stage, pieces of themselves in their music, and the rest seems to settle in their frankly inexplicable relationship as a band, as brothers. It is rare to find a band that has remained as tightly knit and genuinely caring of each other and their relationship as 5SOS have, after so many years. This is likely a factor that draws their dedicated fan base to them: A love for each other, for their music, and for the people who have supported them to get to where they are now.