Big Time Rush

Big Time Rush built their reputation on infectious boy-band pop fused with dance-rock and R&B grooves, while simultaneously appearing in their own scripted Nickelodeon series. Between 2009 and 2013 the quartet headlined that hit show and delivered three Billboard 200 entries that all landed inside the Top 20: the self-titled Big Time Rush in 2010, Elevate in 2011, and 24/Seven in 2013. During those years they also notched several Billboard Hot 100 and Top 40 Pop Airplay placements with tracks such as “Boyfriend” featuring Snoop Dogg, “Music Sounds Better with You” featuring Mann, and “Windows Down.” Once the series concluded, the members stepped away for an extended break, returning only in 2021 with a string of new singles that paved the way for their fourth album, Another Life, issued in 2023.

The lineup came together in 2009 around singers and actors Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos PenaVega, and Logan Henderson. They launched simultaneously as recording artists on Columbia/Epic Label Group and as stars of their own Nickelodeon program, also titled Big Time Rush. The series traced the fictional story of four high-school friends—played by and loosely modeled after the actual members—who relocate to Los Angeles, land a recording contract, and rise to become a chart-topping boy band. Music from the group was woven directly into each episode, beginning with the 2009 theme “Big Time Rush” and continuing through singles such as “City is Ours” and “Halfway There,” the latter of which reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both songs appeared on the debut album Big Time Rush, which surfaced in 2010 as the first season wound down. Powered by those earlier releases plus the Top 40 hit “Boyfriend” featuring rapper Snoop Dogg, the record performed strongly overseas and climbed to number three on the Billboard 200.

Elevate arrived in 2011 with contributions from Ryan Tedder, JR Rotem, The-Dream, and additional producers. The set returned the band to the Billboard 200’s Top 20 while claiming the top spot on the Kid Albums chart, and it yielded two Top 40 Pop Airplay singles in “Music Sounds Better with You” featuring Mann and “If I Ruled the World” featuring Iyaz. A year later they made their feature-film bow with Big Time Movie, a London-set spy parody whose soundtrack included Beatles covers; the accompanying album peaked at number 44 on the Billboard 200 and reached the Top Five on both the Kid Albums and Soundtrack Albums tallies.

Their third studio album, 24/Seven, was released in June 2013 and topped both the Billboard 200 and Kids Albums charts. Production credits included OFM, Damon Sharpe, the Blueprint, and others. Alongside the single “Like Nobody’s Around,” the project featured a guest appearance by Karmin on “Song for You.” One month after the album dropped, the television series concluded its run. Following a world tour in 2014, Big Time Rush entered an indefinite hiatus.

During the break each member pursued separate endeavors. Schmidt resumed work with his longtime duo Heffron Drive, while Maslow competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2014 and Celebrity Big Brother in 2018. PenaVega issued the Spanish-language single “Electrico,” also appeared on Dancing with the Stars, and supplied the voice of Bobby Santiago on Nickelodeon’s animated series The Loud House. Henderson began a solo career with the 2016 track “Sleepwalker” and scored a Top 40 hit with “Pull Me Deep,” the lead single from his 2018 album Echoes of Departure and the Endless Street of Dreams - Pt. 1.

In April 2020 the four musicians announced their reunion by unveiling an acoustic version of “Worldwide.” They followed with the single “Call It Like I See It” in December 2021 and “Not Giving You Up” in February 2022. Later that year they launched the reunion Forever Tour, activities that culminated in the June 2023 release of Another Life, their first project on the Bought the Rights label through BMG. The album included the singles “Can’t Get Enough” and “Waves.”