Ryan Key

William Ryan Key (born December 17, 1979) is an American musician.

He is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Yellowcard.

He is the owner/operator of a recording studio in Jacksonville, Florida, called The Lone Tree Recordings.

He is currently writing music under his full name, William Ryan Key, as a solo acoustic act and electronic act.

He is also one half of JEDHA, an electronic duo consisting of himself and lead guitarist of Yellowcard, Ryan Mendez.

He has recently toured as guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist for New Found Glory.

Key was born William Ryan Key on December 17, 1979, in Jacksonville, Florida.

He first used a piano at the age of 7 and a guitar at age 13.

He attended Episcopal High School of Jacksonville before transferring to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts from which he graduated.

Ryan then attended Florida State University together with fellow musician Dan McLintock from the local pop punk band Inspection 12, inviting Ryan to perform guest vocals on their 1999 album Step into the Fire for the song "Nothing to Lose".

They majored in theater for a short while before dropping out to go to Santa Cruz, California and audition together for the Tooth & Nail punk rock band Craig's Brother, which was looking for two guitarists and backup vocalists.

They were successful, but after touring for a while, at one time representing the band as an acoustic duo at the Cornerstone Festival, the band's van broke down and with the tour abruptly cancelled, Ryan moved back to Jacksonville and took a shift at Chili's with bandmate and friend Sean Mackin.

Key contributed to Yellowcard, although he was not yet a member at the time due to performing with Craig's Brother, by providing backing vocals for their first album.

Key came back and replaced Ben Dobson as Yellowcard's lead singer in 2000 after being asked by guitarist Ben Harper.

The band then released the Still Standing EP in early 2000.

Shortly after the release of their EP, Todd Clary left the band.

Key then became rhythm guitarist as well.

The band then moved to Camarillo, CA after being signed to Lobster Records.

They then began working on their next album.

The group released their third album, One for the Kids, in 2001 and followed up with The Underdog EP in 2002.

After the release of The Underdog EP, Warren Cooke left the band due to personal reasons.

The band later asked close friend Peter Mosely from Inspection 12 to become the band's new bass guitarist.

After Yellowcard released The Underdog EP the band signed with Capitol Records, who were looking to sign pop punk bands at the time.

Yellowcard then began the recording of their major-label debut album Ocean Avenue in late 2002, gaining the band major success.

Mosely left during recording of the album due to personal problems.

The band then asked Alex Lewis to join as the bass guitarist.

Yellowcard released their album Ocean Avenue on July 22, 2003, reached No. 23 on U.S. Billboard 200, the album was a commercial success in the United States with the hit singles Way Away, Ocean Avenue, and Only One.

In late 2004, Lewis left the band after Peter Mosely rejoined as the band's bassist.

In 2005, Parsons went with the other band members to Los Angeles while Key and Mosely moved to New York City to create new material for their next album.

Lead guitarist Ben Harper left the band in April after finishing guitar tracks for the album.

The band then asked Ryan Mendez from the band Staring Back to become the new lead guitarist.

The album Lights and Sounds was released in January 2006, unlike their last album Ocean Avenue, Lights and Sounds broke away from the band's pop punk sound to a more alternative rock album.

The album peaked at No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200.

The title track, "Lights and Sounds", was the first single, released a week before the album.

It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks.

Lights and Sounds did well on the charts and reviews, but failed to match the 2 million sales of the band's previous album.

On October 16, 2006, the band re-entered the studio to begin pre-production on their next album.

Paper Walls was released in the U.S. on July 17, 2007, the album debuted at No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling about 40,000 copies in its first week.

In late 2018, he played as a supporting act on Mayday Parade's Sunnyland tour along with This Wild Life.

During 2021, he live-streamed his songwriting process on Twitch full-time.