Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is 18 miles (29 km) west of the Ohio border and 50 miles (80 km) south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Indiana after Indianapolis, and the 83rd-most populous city in the United States. It is the principal city of the Fort Wayne metropolitan area, consisting of Allen and Whitley counties which had an estimated population of 423,038 as of 2021. Fort Wayne is the cultural and economic center of northeastern Indiana.
Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, and Jerome Fontamillas. Guitarist Drew Shirley was also a member of the band from 2005 to 2022. After early successes in the Christian rock scene, Switchfoot first gained mainstream recognition with the inclusion of four of their songs in the 2002 film A Walk to Remember. This recognition led to the release of their major label debut The Beautiful Letdown, which was released in 2003 and featured the hit singles "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move". Their fifth album, Nothing Is Sound peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, and included the single "Stars." Their seventh album, Hello Hurricane (2009) received a Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album. They have been noted for their energetic live shows.
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. Rooted in Southern hip-hop, he is regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, and widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. Known for his creative lyrical ability—which often uses punchlines, homonyms, word play—and braggadocio, his music often deals with the subjects of wealth, drugs, and sex. Born and raised in New Orleans, he was discovered by hometown rapper Birdman in 1993 and signed with the latter's record label, Cash Money Records, at age eleven. He emerged as the flagship artist of the label in the following years until his departure in June 2018.
OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash, Tim Nordwind, Dan Konopka, and Andy Ross, who joined them in 2005, replacing original guitarist Andy Duncan. The band is known for its quirky and complex music videos which are often elaborately choreographed to be filmed in a single long take.
Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) was a public university in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Founded in 1964, IPFW was a cooperatively managed regional campus of two state university systems: Indiana University and Purdue University. IPFW hit its highest enrollment in 2014, with 13,459 undergraduate and postgraduate students in nine colleges and schools, including a branch of the Indiana University School of Medicine. During its last academic year (2017–2018), IPFW had a total enrollment of 10,414 students. IPFW offered more than 200 graduate and undergraduate degree programs through IU or Purdue universities. The university's 14 men's and women's athletic teams competed in Division I of the NCAA Summit League.
Jared Joseph Leto is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Additionally, he is recognized for his musicianship and eccentric stage persona as frontman of the rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars.
The Hot Boys is an American hip hop group from New Orleans, Louisiana, formed in 1997 and composed of rappers B.G., Lil Wayne, Juvenile and Turk.
Lavell William Crump, better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor.
WFFT-TV is a television station in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Allen Media Group, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Hillegas Road in Fort Wayne.
Walter Paul Helmke, Jr. is an American politician, and the former president of the Washington, DC–based Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He held this position from July 2006 to July 10, 2011. He is a former mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana and a former president of The United States Conference of Mayors. As of 2023, he is the last Republican to hold the office of mayor.
¡Mayday! is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida. The group comprises rappers Bernardo "Bernz" Garcia and Ben "Wrekonize" Miller, along with producer and percussionist Andrews "NonMS" Mujica. Until 2015, the group also included keyboard player and guitarist Aaron Eckhart, drummer Terrel, and bassist Gianni Perocapi. The band was formerly signed to Tech N9ne and Travis O'Guin's Strange Music label. As of May 1, 2022, all future releases will be on their own label Mayday Music distributed by It Goes Up.
The Cool Kids are an American hip hop duo composed of rappers Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish. The Cool Kids' music had been released primarily to the independent Chocolate Industries via their own label C.A.K.E. Recordings. Reed and Ingersoll have made appearances in numerous forms of media, as well as in collaborations with other artists such as Freddie Gibbs, The Alchemist, Mac Miller, Boldy James, The Neptunes, Curren$y, Dom Kennedy, Larry June, Pac Div, Travis Barker, Lil Wayne, King Chip, Asher Roth, Ab-Soul, and Chance The Rapper. The Cool Kids are also members of the hip hop collectives All City Chess Club and P.O.C. founded in 2010–2011.
Sweetwater is an American musical instrument retailer. Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sweetwater is the largest online retailer of musical instruments and pro audio equipment in the United States.
Lisa Lavie is a Canadian singer and songwriter originally from LaSalle, Quebec, Canada.
Chuck Surack is an American entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist and musician, best known as the founder of Sweetwater Sound, one of the world's largest retailers of musical instruments and professional audio equipment.
Alex Smith is an American entrepreneur. He is the co-founder & CEO of 3BG Supply Co., an industrial distributor, and the co-founder and CEO of KloudStax, a cloud computing company.He is also a co-founder of A Better Fort and BAALS Music Festival.
BAALS is a music festival which is primarily focused on electronic dance music, dance music and jam bands. The festival takes place in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana and has been organized since 2012. Each year the festival earmarks and donates $5,000 to a local charity, cause or nonprofit. The first edition of the festival took place in 2012 as a downtown block part called House 4 a House. In 2014 the festival expanded to Headwaters Park at which point it changed its name to the BAALS Music Festival.
A Better Fort was a community organization with a mission to provide positive experiences that make a difference in the lives of individuals within Fort Wayne, Indiana. Their focus was on community empowerment and the retention of young talent.
Bartholomew Cubbins 2006–2014 is a collection of music videos by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released in the United States on April 13, 2015 by Sisyphus. It features all of the music videos directed for the band by frontman Jared Leto from 2006 to 2014 in addition to behind-the-scenes footage, covering the period from A Beautiful Lie (2005), This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013).
Love Live! School Idol Project Series is a Japanese multimedia project created by Hajime Yatate and Sakurako Kimino and co-produced by Kadokawa through ASCII Media Works; Bandai Namco Music Live through music label Lantis; and animation studio Sunrise. Each of the individual titles within the franchise revolve around teenage girls who become "school idols". Starting in June 2010 with Love Live! School Idol Project, the franchise has seen multiple anime television series, three anime films, light novels, manga, and video games. The rhythm game series Love Live! School Idol Festival features characters across multiple Love Live! titles.
