Lead vocalist, Tom Higgenson, originally set out to be a drummer in Willowbrook high school and was a member of various local bands. Plain White T's first came together after high school, in the late-90s, with Higgenson's high school friends: Bassist Ken Fletcher, and drummer Dave Tirio. After about a year of playing together, Steve Mast was added as a second guitarist. They soon began performing to increasingly more enthusiastic crowds in their hometown of Downers Grove, Illinois as well as around the Chicago area.

Soon PWT began cultivating an audience. They self-released a few tapes and an LP called Come on Over in the late nineties. After several months of gathering a larger fan-base with 'Come On Over,' they decided to record their debut LP, Stop.

Stop was originally self-released, until at the end of 2001, the band signed to Fearless who subsequently re-released the record in 2002. Stop was recorded in their friend Wes' basement and, despite having recorded other albums, the band has called it their real debut album. Prior to the release on August 20, 2002, the album was promoted around their hometown.

In October, the band went on their first extensive US tour. The tour resulted in tensions starting within the band, with Dave switching from drums to guitar, Steve being replaced by Tim Lopez, Ken being replaced by Mike Retondo and De'Mar Hamilton, previously the drummer for local Chicago band and brief Fearless label-mate Knockout, taking up drums.

The band, despite the line-up changes, went into the studio to record their third album in May 2004. They recorded in Hard Drive Studio, California. The album titled, All That We Needed, was released on 25 January 2005 under Fearless Records. The first single to be released off the record was the title song, All That We Needed. They did a promotional tour in the United States, and also promoted internationally, gathering a growing fanbase, before heading back for the 2005 Take Action Tour.

During the Take Action Tour, they recorded their first music video, along with a new single, which they hoped would get international recognition.

In 2006, they joined up with Motion City Soundtrack for a Winter/Spring tour. On May 9, 2006, "Hey There Delilah" was released for the first time. This was only released on the Hey There Delilah EP - a compilation of b-sides, a live recording, plus music videos. In addition, Hollywood also signed the band in 2006 and they began recording the album, Every Second Counts. The album was released in September, and was preceded by the first single, "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)", and was their first single to chart on the US Billboard charts.

Hollywood re-released "Hey There Delilah" on Every Second Counts in late spring 2007. On July 28, 2007, "Hey There Delilah" became the group's first #1 in the US for two weeks running. After re-releases, the group also claim the #1 in Canada and Germany, followed soon after with a top 5 in Austria, Ireland, Belgium, United Kingdom and Australia and hitting the top 10 in Sweden, World singles, Dutch singles, New Zealand and Swiss singles.

Shortly after their commercial break-through, the band released a third single off Every Second Counts, "Our Time Now" on November 6, 2007 in US and Canada. The band appeared in the third episode of the first season of ABC Family's GREEK performing the songs "Our Time Now" and "Hey There Delilah". They also appeared on the 11th episode of the first season of Nickelodeon's iCarly, performing "Our Time Now". They appeared on 'The Young Wild Things' tour, along with Fall Out Boy, Cute Is What We Aim For and Gym Class Heroes, to promote their new single. "Making A Memory" was played for the departing scenes of Katy Fox (Hannah Tointon) in Hollyoaks, soon leading to lots of request for the name of the song on the Official Hollyoaks Forum.

On December 10th the Plain White T's released Hate in the UK. Higgenson stated in an interview that he thought they were bigger in the UK than in the US. They released "Our Time Now" in the UK in early April 2008, this was followed with promotion via Television appearances.

According to Billboard, the band is writing new songs. They will be recording in between festivals and shows in April - July 2008. They will be taking part in the 'Give it a Name Festival' in the UK in May. The new album is expected to be released in October - November 2008, however a single will be released before hand, to promote the album, this is expected to be released in September - October 2008. Directcurrentmusic.com reports that the new, as yet untitled new album has an official (though tentative) release date of September 19, 2008.

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