As the spinning-top bassist and heart-on-sleeve lyricist for Fall Out Boy, Pete Wentz was instrumental in shaping the bracing sound and confessional style of mid-2000s emo-punk. Born in 1979, the Wilmette, IL, native has always been an ambitious, restless creative spirit. Wentz cut his teeth in hardcore-punk and metalcore bands before cofounding the pop-punk-leaning Fall Out Boy in the early 2000s. As crunchy hits such as 2005’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” ascended the charts, he started laying the groundwork for multiple business ventures. Wentz discovered Panic! At the Disco and signed them to his label imprint, Decaydance Records, and later launched a clothing company. He also satisfied his voracious appetite for new sounds outside of Fall Out Boy, forming the electronic-influenced Black Cards with a pre-pop-stardom Bebe Rexha and teaming with blink-182’s Mark Hoppus for the moody, piano-sprinkled Almost Alice soundtrack song “In Transit.” He hosts Loud and Sad Radio on Apple Music Hits.