R5 is a band that features siblings Ross, Riker, Rocky, and Rydel Lynch (the only girl in the band) and their long time 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.
Ross, Riker, Rocky and Rydel have been performing together since a very young age, but Ellington wasn't added to the band until the Lynch family moved to California from Colorado when Riker wanted to move there to work on music and possibly get discovered. That's when they met Ellington Ratliff in 2009 and they finally had their drummer.
Lynch Family
R5 Logo
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. In Sometime Last Night, Ross, Rocky, and Riker have stepped up and started writing more of the songs.
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 opportunities and are now signed with Hollywood Records and have shows planned in the East Coast and in Canada in addition to those in California. Now, they are performing in many more places than just California, and have been on a few world tours.
Their fans are called the R5 Family and a large amount of the R5 family can be found on Tumblr and Twitter. Another name for their fans are R5ers, but that is used less often than the R5 family.
R5 has been recording songs for a long time and usually uses them in their videos on Youtube channel called
Then and Now
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 released a single, named Pass Me By. Their first full-length album, Louder, was released on September 24th 2013.
Their second full length album, Sometime Last Night, was released on July 10th 2015 on iTunes, though Smile, Let's Not Be Alone Tonight, F.E.E.L.G.O.O.D., and All Night were all released before that date, LNBAT was actually released in February 2015.
Members[]
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 the R5 members agreed 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 series, Glee.
Rocky[]
Rocky is som
etimes 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, playing guitar and creating most of the music for the band. Also, he and his sister Rydel were on So You Think You Can Dance.
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 Channel show, Austin & Ally, and Brady in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Teen Beach Movie.
Ross also plays rhythm guitar with R5 and has co-written several original songs with the band. He hates when people says R5 featuring Ross Lynch and Ross Lynch and R5.
Rydel[]
As the only girl in a family of five children, Rydel is a unique blend of beauty, sass and tomboy. She won't turn down make-up, for sure, but her siblings describe her as one of the guys, always playing sports with them. Her innocence and sweet heart are her trademarks, but she is also an amazing dancer and actress. She was named after Rydel High School from the movie, Grease.
Rydel competed in 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 Taylor Matthews' Music Video, "Head Over Feeling".
Rydel is also dating her bandmate, Ellington.
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.
Ellington 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 Ellington 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. He was in the first episode of Victorious as Tori's project partner (at the beginning of the episode). Ellington has often called himself the missing piece to this puzzle called R5. Ellington is also dating his bandmate, Rydel.
