The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young.

[5] After Montclair-based Adam Schlesinger and Sellersville-based Chris Collingwood first met as freshmen at Williams College, they played music in various bands and eventually went their separate ways, with Collingwood forming the Mercy Buckets in Boston and Schlesinger forming Ivy in New York City.

[9] Though Collingwood and Schlesinger shared cowriter credit for all original Fountains of Wayne material, for most of their career together, they wrote their songs separately.

Schlesinger added, "We just agreed many years ago that if we were to have a band we'd just split the songwriting to avoid having a conversation every time we tried to finish a song.

That same year, Schlesinger wrote the Academy Award-nominated, RIAA gold-certified title song for the film That Thing You Do!.

Utopia Parkway was received well by critics, garnering many favorable reviews, and was album of the week in People magazine.

"[11] Schlesinger cowrote many of the songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film and soundtrack, produced albums for Verve Pipe, David Mead, and They Might Be Giants, and released a third record with his other band, Ivy.

[12] Guitarist Jody Porter worked with his band, The Astrojet, alongside famed producer Gordon Raphael and keyboardist David Zhang in New York City.

Percussionist Brian Young moved to Los Angeles and did session work for various artists such as producer Steve Fisk, Ivy, Heather Duby, and Greg Dulli.

[13] In 2003, the band released Welcome Interstate Managers, a successful album that spawned the hit single "Stacy's Mom", which Adam Schlesinger says was a tribute to the Cars.

Ultimately Stacy's Mom was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and was nominated for Best Vocal Pop Performance at the 2004 Grammys.

[14] In 2005, the band released Out-of-State Plates, a collection of B-sides and two new songs, which was supported by the single "Maureen" and a limited US tour that included some acoustic-only sets, a set on PBS Soundstage, and an appearance in the American Songbook concert series at Lincoln Center.

[18] Collingwood had less involvement during the making of the album due to his struggles with depression and alcoholism, only managing to contribute three songs.

[20] Also that year, they played a short run of full-band acoustic shows where they showcased songs from their forthcoming album.

After about a one-year layoff, they played a number of U.S. dates in September and October 2013, on a tour with Soul Asylum and Evan Dando.

The band never issued an official announcement that they had broken up, but by 2016 all the members were speaking of Fountains of Wayne in the past tense.

[5] The performance was a tribute to Schlesinger, and featured Sharon Van Etten taking his place on bass guitar.