The Fray

When tour buses and Grammy nominations were just distant dreams, the Fray's Joe King had aspirations to start up a real estate company. Had it not been for his chance meeting with old schoolmate Isaac Slade in a Denver music store in 2002, he may well have been writing up contracts rather than lyrics. Instead, the two began composing songs together, soon adding drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist Dave Welsh to the mix. In 2004, after turning down eight of their submitted songs, Denver radio station KTCL finally gave airplay to "Cable Car," which quickly became a local favorite. Later that year, they were signed to Epic and their debut album, How to Save a Life, was released in 2005. Their brand of sentimental piano pop quickly struck a chord, particularly among music supervisors for hit TV shows like Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, along with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences -- the album earned the band two Grammy nominations. In 2009, they followed up their double platinum-selling debut with The Fray.