Biography
Date of Birth
5 December 1979, Wilmette, Illinois, USA
Birth Name
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III
Nickname
Petah
Pete
Petey
Peter Pan
Pistol Pete
Peterpanda
Pete! At The Disco
Peter Panda
Tampa Bay Tommy
Height
5' 7" (1.7 m)
Mini Biography
Pete Wentz, the bassist and primary lyricist for the Chicago-based band Fall Out Boy, was born Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III in Wilmette, Illinois. He is the son of Dale (Lewis), a high school admissions counselor, and Pete Wentz, an attorney. His grandfather, Arthur Winston Lewis, served as U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone. Pete's father is of German and English descent, while Pete's maternal grandparents were both from black Jamaican families. Pete grew up in the Chicago hardcore punk scene, and was in several bands before Fall Out Boy, including Firstborn, Arma Angelus, 7 Angels of the Apocalypse / Culture of Violence, Extinction, Forever Ended Today, and Yellow Road Priest. He grew up with band member Joe Trohman. Fall Out Boy is the 4th band that Pete Wentz and Andrew Hurley have done together.
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. It is named after a song by The Smiths. He has another book titled "Rainy Day Kids," which was scheduled to be released February 14th, 2006, but has been postponed because he was unsatisfied with some of the material. In addition, Wentz is writing another book, alternating chapters with William Beckett of The Academy Is....
Wentz has a company called Clandestine Industries, which distributes books and, more notably, clothing, among other things. Additionally, he owns his own imprint of Fueled By Ramen, Decaydance Records, which has signed on several bands, including: Panic! At The Disco, October Fall, Gym Class Heroes and The Hush Soundand Lifetime . He also has a film production company called Bartskull Films, which has released the DVD "Release the Bats", a film about Peter, his friends both in and outside of Fall Out Boy, and many Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen bands.
Trivia
He owns Clandestine Industries.
He wrote a book called The Boy With a Thorn in His Side.
He wrote all the songs on "From Under The Cork Tree".
Owns his own record label, Decaydance Records.
Was an all-state soccer player.
Plays bass guitar.
The eldest of three children. Has a younger brother and a younger sister.
Plays the piano.
Has two dogs - Hemingway (an English Bulldog) and Rigby.
[April 2008] Announced engagement to Ashlee Simpson.
Ex-brother-in-law of Jessica Simpson.
Married girlfriend Ashlee Simpson on May 17, 2008 in an intimate ceremony at her parents' home in Los Angeles.
[May 2008] Is expecting his first child with wife Ashlee Simpson.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 29 when his ex-wife Ashlee Simpson gave birth to their son Bronx Mowgli Wentz on November 20, 2008.
Ex-son-in-law of Joe Simpson and Tina Simpson.
Just finished his American tour with Fall Out Boy. And, in January, he's going to start their European tour. [December 2005]
Starting his US tour with Fall Out Boy. [March 2006]
Recently opened his own bar in New York City called Angels and Kings. [April 2007]
Has just completed US Honda Civic Tour with Fall Out Boy, will be touring in early fall/winter. [July 2007]
Became a father for the 2nd time at age 35 when his girlfriend Meagan Camper gave birth to their son Saint Lazslo Wentz on August 20, 2014.
Pete's paternal grandparents, Roy Albert Wentz and Phyllis Norbury, were both of German and English descent. Pete's maternal grandparents, Arthur Winston Lewis and Dolores Laura Kirlew, were both born in New York, and all of their own parents were black Jamaican immigrants. Pete's grandfather Arthur, who was a cousin of General Colin Powell, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone (from 1983 to 1986).
Pete and his longtime partner Megan Kemper welcomed their 2nd child first daughter Marvel Jane on Mothers day weekend.
Trademarks:
Hoodies
Guyliner
Quotes
If you know me you know how uncool I am. I stutter, wear bad clothes, make bad jokes, make conversation uncomfortable, the list goes on. Thank you for making me feel okay.
You can live with me in this house I've built out of writers blocks.
My parents treat me like I'm 14. They make me clean my room and stuff like that. They're always like "I don't care what MTV says you are.
See, there's the bands that you say you like to sound smart, and there's the bands you say you like to get laid. And then there's the bands you really listen to. -Rolling Stone Interview
We're sick of hearing people say "that band is so gay" or "those guys are fags". Gay is not a synonym for shitty. If you want to say something's shitty, say it's shitty. Stop being such homophobic assholes!
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. - Rolling Stone Magazine On Ativan O.D Incident
Underwear. It's like a god damned leash. It also constantly reminds me of how funny I look naked.
I guess we're just one of those bands that just polarizes people. Some people worship the ground we walk on, and some people say we're ruining music and should just shut out mouths. If you want to keep either of those opinions, you should try not to engage us in a real conversation. (On being voted worst band of 2005 by Spin magazine.)
I obsessively wanted to be in bands. I was probably fourteen when I got my first bass it was my friend's brother's, and we stole it. I was really into the idea that we could just play basement shows. The name of the first band was First Born, and it was terrible. We played this hair-metal place in Iowa they gave you 150 tickets to sell, and you give them the money. We gave the tickets away, said we lost the money, and this old Italian guy almost beat the f**k out of us. But to me it was awesome.
I can be unhappy and I can be happy, I am just one human being that thinks about my life and tries to figure myself out. When I write about feeling ****** it's not because I want to put on black nail varnish and when I write songs about being happy it's not because I sold a million records. It's because I am going through my life and figuring it out as I go along.
It's important for girls to understand that they don't need to just be coat hangers for boys. It's not all about being groupies.
