Sum 41

In 2000 Canadian band Sum 41 signed a deal with Island Records. Island were, at that time, keen to capitalize on the success of Green Day. By then, the members of the band had been playing together for some time, getting through a number of bassists on the way. They had settled on the line-up of Deryck Whibley (vocals, guitar), Jason McCaslin (bass), Steve Jocz (drums) and Dave Baksh (lead guitar).

All Killer No Filler was released in 2001 and the single "Fat Lip" became a huge hit during the summer of that year. They toured extensively in 2001, co-headlining with blink 182 for part of it.

They returned to the studio in 2002 and produced Does This Look Infected? and found themselves working with Iggy Pop on The Skull Ring sharing co-writing credits for "Little Know It All".

Chuck was released in 2004 and found them in a more somber mood, in keeping with an ill-fated trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo which had inspired the name of the album (Chuck Pelletier was the UN Peacekeeper credited with rescuing them from the country when they had visited with War Child Canada). After the 'Go Chuck Yourself Tour' they toured with Good Charlotte and then opened for Motley Crue on their tour.

In 2005, Sum 41 fell out with their producer and management company which led to them leaving their record company. After this, the band took a short touring break.

Following the departure of Baksh, the band announced no plans to replace him, saying that they preferred to employ a jobbing musician to fill in on tours only. This turned out to be Tom Thacker. They followed this announcement with a new album Underclass Hero, released in 2007.