Jaret Ray Reddick (Bowling For Soup)

With their thirty year anniversary as a band on the horizon in 2024, Texas’ favourite punk rock export Bowling For Soup continue to grow their global fanbase and expand their success year on year. Also dubbed the crown princes of pop punk, Bowling For Soup — frontman and guitarist Jaret Reddick, fellow guitarist Chris Burney, drummer Gary Wiseman, and bassist Rob Felicetti — have proved that nothing, not even a global pandemic, has slowed the demand for their unique, humour-filled live shows and upbeat, heartfelt anthems.

Songs such as High School Never Ends, Punk Rock 101, 1985 and of course the Grammy-nominated Girl All The Bad Guys Want resonate as much today as when they were written and are proving extremely popular in the modern streaming world. Their 2022 album, Pop Drunk Snot Bread (a play on the phrase "pop punk’s not dead"), was heralded by fans and critics as the band’s best release in fifteen years. Millions of streams and YouTube views for songs like Getting Old Sucks (But Everybody’s Doing It), I Wanna Be Brad Pitt, and the global smash Alexa Bliss (dedicated to WWE’s multi-time women’s champion) show that Bowling For Soup can still run rings—and riffs—around their younger contemporaries. The album also features songs like The Best We Can, Wouldn’t Change A Thing, and the positive mental health anthem Hello Anxiety, where Bowling For Soup show they can be serious and reflective while keeping their signature BFS heart.

It's a testament to the band's enduring appeal and a fanbase that continues to grow day after day—evidenced by their 100 million Spotify streams in 2020 alone. Finding their niche back in the 1990s wasn’t easy when the musical climate was constantly shifting. "We were just the stereotypical, small town guys with nothing else to do—starting a band to keep ourselves out of trouble," recalls Reddick. With no trend to follow, BFS leaned into what they loved: 80s John Hughes movies, LA hair metal, Steve Martin comedy routines (which inspired the band's name), and hook-laden punk rock. Their blueprint was simple: have a good time—and everyone else will eventually join in.

Bowling For Soup have continuously evolved through decades of industry change. From their DIY roots to a long tenure on major label Jive Records, to over a decade as successful independents on their own label, they’ve found success in every chapter. "We're in control of everything now. If we decide we wanna do something, we just do it—we don't need to ask anyone’s permission," says Reddick.

Before COVID-19, Bowling For Soup were playing to the biggest crowds of their career: a sold-out 2020 UK tour with Simple Plan, arenas with Steel Panther, and packed festival sets at Slam Dunk, Reading & Leeds, and the final Vans Warped Tour. At Reading Festival 2019, their crowd spilled out of the stage area with fans stretching to catch a glimpse of "BFS."

As live music returned post-pandemic, their popularity only grew. Fans flocked back for major tours in the UK and US, including shows with Lit, The Dollyrots, Less Than Jake, and The Aquabats, as well as a sold-out acoustic UK tour with Jaret and Rob. The band returned to mainland Europe in 2023, with major festival appearances and tours across the US, and their second greatest hits album Songs People Actually Like, Volume 2 slated for release in Summer. Reddick has also embarked on a new journey with his Red Dirt Country debut solo album, Just Woke Up.

Through it all, Bowling For Soup remain masters of connection—embracing new platforms like TikTok, evolving their sound without losing their heart, and continuing to provide a song for every moment. They’re the band that makes you smile, lifts you up when you’re down, and as their lyrics say: they wouldn’t change a thing.