Peter Lewis Kingston “Pete” Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician and songwriter, most famous for his work with the Chicago-based band Fall Out Boy. In recent years, he has also become an entrepreneur and the host of the MTV program, FNMTV.

Pete Wentz was born Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III, in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Dale Wentz, a high school admissions counselor; and Pete Wentz II, a lawyer. He attended New Trier High School and North Shore Country Day School, where he was an all-state soccer player. After graduating from high school in 1997, he attended DePaul University where he studied political science, dropping out one semester shy of graduation to focus more on music.

Wentz recalled in a Rolling Stone interview that his earliest musical memory was listening to The Foundations’ song “Build Me Up Buttercup” in the back of his dad’s car.

Career

Other projects

Wentz has written a book entitled The Boy With the Thorn In His Side, a story based on nightmares he had as a child. The title is a reference to a track on The Smiths’ album The Queen Is Dead. It was reported that he was to publish another book entitled “Rainy Day Kids”, but he recently confirmed via his Twitter account that this book will never come to fruition. In addition, Wentz is currently co-writing another book with William Beckett of The Academy Is….

Wentz’s company, Clandestine Industries, distributes books and clothing and other merchandise. On August 2, 2007, fashion company DKNY joined a partnership with Clandestine Industries.[8] Wentz himself has served as a model on the DKNY/Clandestine promo website. Wentz’s clothing line is now exclusively available in the Bp. department at Nordstrom.

Additionally, he is borrowing an imprint of Fueled by Ramen, Decaydance Records, which has signed other bands, including: And other models at Buzznet, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, October Fall, Lifetime, and The Cab. Wentz’s tattoo on his pelvis, the Bartskull, is the logo for Decaydance Records, Clandestine Industries, and Bartskull Films.

Wentz also has a film production company called Bartskull Films, which put out the DVD Release the Bats, starring Wentz, his fellow bandmates, and several of his personal friends. The sequel is currently in the works.

In April 2007, Pete came out with his own signature Squier Precision Bass. It has a black body with a red shell pickguard and special graphics that include Wentz’s own red design on the body, plus a black bat/diamond fingerboard inlay at the 12th fret. It also features Wentz’s signature on the back of the headstock.

Wentz opened a nightclub in New York with his bandmates as well as members of Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is…, and Cobra Starship; the bands’ managers are also involved in the enterprise. Called Angels & Kings, the club occupies the former space on 11th Street near Avenue A that housed the Orchid Lounge. Notable guests, including Tommy Hilfiger, arrived for the grand opening on April 20, 2007.

Wentz was in a multi-episode arc of the show One Tree Hill, appearing second at Tric (the local all-ages club in Tree Hill) with the entire band. The band first appeared in an episode “An Attempt to Tip the Scales”, where they played their single “Dance, Dance” and went on to appear on Peyton and Ellie’s (also One Tree Hill’s album) tribute album, “Friends with Benefit” to support cancer awareness. Pete made his first solo cameo in the episode “When It Isn’t Like It Should Be” as the romantic interest of Peyton Sawyer, a senior at Tree Hill who had booked the band to play at Tric. The band continued to influence the One Tree Hill musical soundtrack, but the show no longer had a role for Wentz except in name and reference only.

On February 6, 2008, it was reported that Wentz was the leading candidate for writer Diablo Cody’s follow-up film to Juno. The movie is said to be about an emo-band, with Wentz playing the role of the frontman of the band. The other two candidates are said to be Joel Madden of Good Charlotte and One Tree Hill’s Chad Michael Murray.

On February 24, 2008, Wentz appeared in comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s video “I’m F*cking Ben Affleck” as a chorus member (along with many other celebrities). The video was in response to one made by Kimmel’s then girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, “I’m F*cking Matt Damon”.

He celebrated the opening of his bar, Angels & Kings, in Chicago in April 2007.

On December 13, 2008, Wentz, along with Travis Mccoy of Gym Class Heroes, opened an art gallery in Los Angeles, CA called “Without You, I’m Just Me.”

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