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Good Charlotte credits fans for fame

Nice-guy Waldorf and Annapolis punk-rockers Good Charlotte credit their fans for pushing them over the top to the big time.

By MICHAEL ZITZ

Date published: 4/10/2003

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Not long after Good Charlotte played the Warped Tour last year, something surprising happened.

Radio suddenly started paying attention to the Waldorf, Md., punk band's stuff.

Then Good Charlotte became something of an MTV darling--not only getting lots of airtime first for its poppy "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" video, then for the harder-edged "Anthem," but actually hosting shows.

Did the band sell out?

Not at all, says Billy, Good Charlotte's guitarist.

"I don't think we did anything differently," he said. "Pretty much more or less, we were seeing things happen on their own.

"It just hit so hard," Billy said. "We had gone slow and slow and than all at one time, exploded."

He attributed that big bang to the wild enthusiasm of young fans who had seen the band on the Warped Tour, then began calling radio stations and MTV.

He said he still can't believe what's transpired.

"It's really surprising that a bunch of kids from a little town in Maryland with music that's usually pretty much the opposite of what MTV plays could be embraced by MTV," Billy said.

"We got it on [MTV's] TRL and it had a lot to do with fans helping us out," he said.

But, he said, there's been a backlash over that because Good Charlotte is a punk band.

"People at first gave us a lot of [expletive] for it, like 'What are you doing? You were on the Warped Tour! Why would a punk band go on MTV?'"

Billy said the band pays no attention to that.

"Ever since I first picked up a guitar in my room, I wanted to be in the biggest band in the world," he said.

MTV helps Good Charlotte reach people, he said, and that's the band's primary goal.

"So many people who don't really know anything try to make up the rules. If a band says something in an interview, they're not cool any more. You can't please anybody. So we just do what we want to do.

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Date published: 4/10/2003