Breakthrough with Ocean Avenue

In late 2003, Yellowcard finally broke through with a hit single, ” Ocean Avenue “, in part due to the song premiering on MTV ‘s Total Request Live . Radio eventually picked up on the single, with it peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 2004. The band experienced its peak popularity during the second half of 2004. They were cover features on Alternative Press magazine, a headliner of the 2004 Warped Tour , performed “Ocean Avenue” and won the MTV2 award at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards , and were featured in the season 2 premiere of One Tree Hill with their song “Empty Apartment”. The band was featured episode 3 in season 8 of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge (later abridged to “The Challenge”), performing “Way Away” while cast members trashed a mock hotel room for a “rock star redecoration” challenge. The album’s first track, “Way Away”, appeared on the soundtracks of SSX 3 and Madden NFL 2004 . The album’s second track, “Breathing”, also appeared in EA ‘s Burnout 3: Takedown and FlatOut 2 . Following the success of “Ocean Avenue”, the band released the single ” Only One “, a rock ballad which also did fairly well on TRL and radio. Ocean Avenue sold close to two million copies in the U.S. alone.