BOYS LIKE GIRLS

“The Great Escape,” the breakthrough single from Boys Like Girls’ 2006 debut album, has appeared in five different video games, including Rock Band. ∙ The group invited Taylor Swift to cowrite and sing on their 2009 hit single “Two Is Better Than One” after discovering that their song “Hero/Heroine” is one of her favorites. ∙ Moving away from their pop-punk roots, the band tapped such Nashville songwriters as Sugarland’s Kristian Bush to bring a country-pop sound to 2012’s Crazy World. ∙ Vocalist Martin Johnson, who moonlights as a songwriter, has written hits for Christina Perri (“Human”), Jason Derulo (“The Other Side”), and Avril Lavigne (“Here’s to Never Growing Up”). ∙ John Mayer was so impressed with “The Outfield,” the debut from Johnson’s side-project The Night Game, that he invited the band to open for him on tour. ∙ Guitarist Paul DiGiovanni has performed on albums for Blake Shelton and other country stars, and he cowrote Dan + Shay’s chart-topping “How Not To.”