R5

R5 is a band that features Ross Lynch, his brothers Rocky and Riker, his sister Rydel, and their friend Ellington Ratliff (he usually goes by "Ratliff"). Ross plays rhythm guitar, Rocky plays lead guitar, Riker plays bass, Rydel plays keyboard, and Ellington plays drums. Ross usually sings lead with his siblings on back-up, but in some songs, Rocky, Riker, Ratliff, or Rydel would take the lead.

History of R5
They have been performing together since a young age, but Ellington wasn't added to the band until the Lynch family moved to California from Colorado and met him in a dance class in 2009.

Rocky taught Riker and Ross how to play guitar, and also taught Riker how to play bass. Rocky writes and produces a majority of the songs, while Riker co-writes a lot of them.

R5 performs concerts mostly in California because that is where they are from. In May 2012 they went on a West Coast Tour and performed all around the western part of the United States. With Ross being on Austin and Ally, they have gotten a large amount of new fans and new oppurtunities and are now signed with Hollywood Records and have shows planned in the East Coast and in Canada in addition to those in California.

Their fans are called the R5 Family and a large amount of the R5 family can be found on Tumblr and Twitter.

R5 has been recording songs for a long time and usually uses them in their videos on Youtube channel called R5TV. (Found on Riker's Youtube account (RikerLynch) and the Official R5 account (officialr5.) Though, since they've been signed, they've been professionally recording original songs set to be released on a full length album set out for release in fall 2013. They previously released the Ready, Set, Rock EP on iTunes but they took it down. For now, they have a single on iTunes called "Say You'll Stay".

R5 also do the music for Austin and Ally on the full tracks, but are however not seen on the show. Though, they are seen in the Heard It On the Radio music video. Two of their original songs, Crazy 4 U and What Do I Have To Do, are available as bonus tracks on the Austin & Ally Soundtrack. On February 19th, 2013 they released their second EP 'LOUD'. The songs on the EP include: LOUD, Fallin' For You, I Want You Bad, and Here Comes Forever.

On August 20th, R5 will release their next single called Pass Me By. Their first full-length album, Louder, will be released on September 24th.

Riker
 This is the guy that started it all, for the Lynch kids. As the oldest of the R5 clan, Riker got the ball rolling very early, dancing and performing Michael Jackson and Grease routines when he was four years old for the adoring family members. Soon, that turned into four younger siblings, all mimicking Riker, and R5 was born. He started taking dance lessons and found small acting roles around Denver. All of R5 agree that Riker is the captain of the ship, keeping everyone in line on tour and elsewhere. However, Riker is also childish but always very sweet and a big part of R5. Riker is a full time actor/dancer/musician in LA and currently has a recurring role as "Jeff Sterling", a Dalton Academy Warbler, on the Fox Television hit, "Glee".

Rocky
Rocky is sometimes thought of as the George Harrison of R5, "the quiet one". That is, until he picks up a guitar and starts into a Fall Out Boy song. Rocky's model good looks and quiet demeanor definitely fool people, but he actually is a very calm presence and a bit of an old soul. Rocky is quite playful, and likes to joke around with his family as well. After years of following in Riker's footsteps, Rocky is now out on his own, loving his guitar and shooting several commercial projects in LA. Rocky is the key founder of R5 the band, playing guitar and creating most of the music for the band. He and Rydel were on So You Think You Can Dance.

Ross
Even when he was a very small child, Ross had that little extra something, that charisma that attracted people to him. When he was three or four years old, he could often be found in a deep conversation with an adult, usually a complete stranger, that was captivated by his smile and energy and his unique ability to communicate with anyone.

Today, that same attraction has shot him to the forefront of the entertainment industry, where Ross is starring in the Disney show, Austin & Ally, and is Brady in the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie, Teen Beach Movie.

Ross also plays rhythm guitar with R5 and has co-written several original songs with the band.

Rydel
As the only girl in a family of five childen, Rydel is a unique blend of beauty, sass and Tom-Boy. She won't turn down make up, for sure, but her siblings describe as one of the guys, always playing sports with them also. Her innocence and sweet heart are her trademarks, but she is also an amazing dancer and actress. She was named after Rydell High School from Grease.

Rydel competed a major dance/video production called AC Zone: The Musical, soon to be released. She was also featured in a Nick Cannon movie called School Gyrls. Rydel plays keyboards, tambourine, and sings with R5. She also was in the Taylor Matthews Music Video, Head Over Feeling.

Ellington
Ratliff's real first name is Ellington, but his band mates quickly nominated him to be known as "Ratliff" so he could complete the band and still have an "R" name, thus keeping the R5 name intact.The Lynch family met Ellington Ratliff at a dance studio, and the more the siblings talked to him, the closer they got. Upon finding out that he was a drummer, they asked him to be a part of their band.

Ratliff is definitely the relaxed, comic relief of the band, never getting too worked up about anything, which is a great contributing factor to the bands success. But the real benefit of having Ratliff around is his amazing drum skills. R5 was not really a band until he showed up and then it was like magic, with everything coming together with the sound of those drums. Even though he is not related like the rest of the band, he is still considered family to the Lynch's. Ellington is also an impressive SAG actor, with a long resume of TV and movie credits and has also been seen dancing. Ratliff calls himself the missing piece to this puzzle called R5.

R5 Links

 * R5 Rocks! Website
 * R5 Wikipedia Page
 * R5 Rocks! Wiki
 * R5 Twitter
 * Ross' Twitter
 * Riker's Twitter
 * Rydel's Twitter
 * Rocky's Twitter
 * Ratliff's Twitter
 * Ryland 's Twitter
 * OfficalR5 Youtube
 * RikerLynch Youtube
 * Ross' Instagram
 * Rydel's Instagram
 * Ratliff's Instagram
 * Rocky's Instagram
 * Riker's Instagram
 * Ryland's Instagram
 * R5's Wikia

R5 Music Videos

 * Say You'll Stay (Accoustic Version)
 * Can't Get Enough Of You
 * Love Me (Justin Bieber Cover)
 * Crazy 4 U Lyric Video
 * Never
 * Without You
 * Marry You (Bruno Mars Cover)
 * Loud
 * Here Comes Forever (acoustic)
 * I Want You Bad (acoustic)
 * Falling For You (acoustic)
 * Pass Me By