at the Disco[a] was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004 by childhood friends Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson, and Brendon Urie.

Ross and Walker subsequently formed a new band, the Young Veins, leaving Urie and Smith as the sole remaining members of Panic!

Continuing as a duo, Urie and Smith released a new single, "New Perspective", for the movie Jennifer's Body, and recruited bassist Dallon Weekes and guitarist Ian Crawford as touring musicians for live performances.

The band's third studio album, Vices & Virtues (2011), was recorded solely by Urie and Smith in 2010, produced by John Feldmann and Butch Walker.

As a three-piece, Urie, Smith, and Weekes recorded and released the band's fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, in 2013.

Prior to the release of the album, Smith unofficially left the band due to health- and drug-related issues, leaving Urie and Weekes as the remaining members.

[9] The band, which aimed to feature a lighter and more accessible sound when in comparison to Las Vegas' heavier music scene, signed a recording contract without having performed a live show.

[6] "We were making things up in our heads that weren't there, and on top of the stress of trying to finish the record, we were living in a one-bedroom apartment with four people on bunk beds," recalled Ross.

would release the video for its first single, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", rocket up the Billboard Hot 100 as sales of Fever passed the 500,000 mark.

Smith wrote a lengthy e-mail back to James Montgomery of MTV News, stating, in part, "We made the decision based on Brent's lack of responsibility and the fact that he wasn't progressing musically with the band," and revealed that Wilson did not write nor play any bass present on Fever.

[28] During the group's performance at the 2006 Reading Festival in August, the band was greeted by excessive bottling, one of which hit Urie in the face that knocked him unconscious.

"[32] MTV News favorably likened its theme and wardrobe to "Janet Jackson's audience-dividing, hypersexual The Velvet Rope Tour.

[37][38] The band grew uninterested in the songs previously written and by August scrapped the entire new album (which Ross later revealed was "three-quarters" done)[39] and started over.

was described by the band as "more organic and mellower" than A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, as well as unintentionally and coincidentally similar to music of the Beatles, in both songwriting and scope.

[44] Those figures marked the band's biggest sales week to that date, beating a previous record held by A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (which sold 45,000 during the winter of 2006).

was, however, critically acclaimed in contrast to Fever: Barry Walters of Spin called Panic's debut album "embarrassing" while regarding the new record as "[daring] to be optimistically beautiful at a time when sadness and ugliness might have won them easier credibility.

[48] Motion City Soundtrack, the Hush Sound and Phantom Planet opened for the tour, which performed across North America from April 10 to July 14, 2008 .

[52] Each show contained "woodsy set pieces, projections of flora and fauna, and mic stands wrapped in lights and flowers," and each band member dressed in a vest.

[53] While reflecting on the theatrical nature of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out touring, Urie commented: "We did it and it was a lot of fun when we did it, but this time around I think we wanted to get back to a more intimate, personal setting, and scale it down a little bit."

Urie wanted the band to explore a more polished pop sound, while Ross – and, by extension, Walker – was interested in making retro-inspired rock.

"[58] The following day, Alternative Press broke the news that "New Perspective", the first song recorded without Ross and Walker, would debut the following month on radio and as a part of the soundtrack to the film Jennifer's Body.

[80][81] Shortly before the band began its first tour in support of the album, Smith wrote an open letter to fans regarding his abuse of alcohol and prescription medications since the recording of Pretty.

[90] On September 1, 2015, another song from the fifth studio album, "Death of a Bachelor", premiered on an Apple Music broadcast hosted by Pete Wentz.

[92] On October 22, 2015, through the band's official Facebook page, Urie announced the new album as Death of a Bachelor with a scheduled release date of January 15, 2016.

[93] It is the first album written and composed by Urie with a team of writers, as the status of Weekes was announced to have changed from an official member to that of a touring musician once again.

[119][120] On September 22, 2018, the band announced that longtime touring guitarist Kenneth Harris would be dismissed following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct involving underage fans.

[126] On May 29, it was announced that Panic would be returning with a new single called "Viva Las Vengeance" on June 1, alongside hints of future material.

[134] On November 15, 2022, it was announced that the Chicago show from the Viva Las Vengeance Tour would be streamed as a digital concert on December 7 and 8, 2022, under the name Everybody Needs a Place to Go: An Evening with Panic!

at the Disco would reunite as one of the headliners for the When We Were Young festival on October 18, 2025, set to play A Fever You Can't Sweat Out in full for the album's 20th anniversary.

[note 1] Urie has cited bands/artists such as Frank Sinatra, Queen, David Bowie, Tom DeLonge, Weezer, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance as his biggest influences.