Emblem3 is an American rap rock band from Sequim, Washington, consisting of Wesley Stromberg (born December 6, 1993), Drew Chadwick (born October 1, 1992), and Keaton Stromberg (born July 16, 1996). In 2013, they signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records and Columbia Records after being the tenth contestant eliminated on the second season of The X Factor. Their first single, "Chloe (You're the One I Want)", was released on April 15, 2013, and their debut album, entitled Nothing to Lose, was released on July 30, 2013.
Career Formation While attending middle school in Sequim, Washington, Drew Chadwick and Wesley Stromberg began doing sessions together as American Scholars. At the time, Keaton Stromberg was only nine and was in his own band called Lucky 13 (guitar Keaton, bass Eli Fozio, drums Sara Mobley). While Wesley had moved to Huntington Beach, California with his girlfriend, Chadwick spent high school moving up and down the West Coast, eventually joining Wesley in Huntington Beach. Keaton enrolled in a nearby art school and moved to California to join them. They released an album, Bite Your Lip and Take It under the name The American Scholars, which they produced in their basement. After going through many names, the trio settled on "Emblem3" while in Huntington Beach. They performed locally along the Sunset Strip.
2012: The X Factor In 2012, Emblem3 auditioned in San Francisco for the second season of The X Factor, singing an original song called "Sunset Blvd", written by Chadwick. During bootcamp, they sang "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls and at judges' houses, they performed "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police. They were then selected to go on to live shows.
Emblem3 performed "One Day" by Matisyahu during their first live show on October 31. In addition they were selected as the first group to enter the top twelve by Simon Cowell. On the second live show on November 7, the group performed their version of "My Girl" by the Temptations and "California Gurls" by Katy Perry with "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction as the background track. After the second live show the group was ranked sixth based on the fan votes and made it to the next week's live shows. On the third live show, they performed "No One" by Alicia Keys and were ranked fourth by the fan votes moving on to week five. On the fourth live show on November 21, 2012, they performed "Secrets" by OneRepublic and were ranked again 4th by the American public. For the fifth live show, they performed "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees and were ranked third. On the sixth live show, the group performed two songs: the first one, chosen by their mentor, was "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars; the second song, chosen by the fans in the Pepsi Challenge, was "Forever Young" by Alphaville. The group was once again ranked third overall by the fans' votes. In the semi-finals, they performed "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Peter Frampton as their own choice and "Hey Jude" by The Beatles as Cowell's choice. They were eliminated on the result show.
Performances on The X Factor ShowThemeSongOriginal artistOrderResultAuditionFree choice"Sunset Blvd"Emblem3 rowspan="5" Through to bootcampBootcamp 1Solo performance"Iris"Goo Goo DollsThrough to bootcamp 2Bootcamp 2Group performanceNot AiredThrough to bootcamp 3Bootcamp 3Duet performanceThrough to judges' housesJudges' housesFree choice"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"The PoliceThrough to live shows Week 1Made in America"One Day"Matisyahu16Saved by Simon Cowell Week 2Songs from movies"My Girl/California Gurls/What Makes You Beautiful"The Temptations/Katy Perry/One Direction4Safe (6th) Week 3Divas"No One"Alicia Keys11Safe (4th) Week 4Giving Thanks"Secrets"OneRepublic3Safe (4th) Week 5Number-ones"I'm a Believer"The Monkees8Safe (3rd) Week 6 Unplugged songs"Just the Way You Are"Bruno Mars2Safe (3rd)Pepsi Challenge songs"Forever Young"Alphaville8 Semi-final Contestant's choice"Baby, I Love Your Way"Peter Frampton 3Eliminated (4th) No theme"Hey Jude"The Beatles 7
2013–2014: Nothing to Lose The trio began to record their debut album, Nothing to Lose, in December 2012. It was released on July 30, 2013. The lead single, "Chloe (You're the One I Want)", peaked at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single off the album was "3000 Miles". The band toured to promote their music in their "Goin' Back to Cali Tour" that took place in April 2013. Emblem3 later performed as the opening act for Selena Gomez on her Stars Dance Tour that began in August 2013. On December 5, 2013, Emblem3 had their homecoming performance on The X Factor, singing "Just for One Day". After their performance, they announced their first national headlining tour, "#Bandlife".
Emblem3 released their first EP titled Songs from the Couch, Vol. I on June 2, 2014, independently.
On June 20, 2014, the band announced that band member Drew Chadwick was leaving the band to pursue a solo career. Keaton and Wesley Stromberg released their first EP as a duo titled Forever Together on October 27, 2014.
2015–2017: Waking Up The band reunited in 2016 and released the EP Waking Up, as well as a self-titled app they used to release new music on. In April of the same year, they embarked their Waking Up world tour.
The band went on hiatus again due to problems with the office and differences in direction among the members.
2019: Pyro Drew and Wesley released a hip-hop inspired EP, Pyro, under the name Emblem3 while Keaton was working with another band, The Social.
2020–present The band reunited again in 2020, with Keaton rejoining the band and resumed work on the single Jaiden. In 2021, they released three singles: "Champagne Dreams", "Eyes Wide Open", and "So Proud".
In 2023 they released "Songs from the Couch, Vol. 2", a follow-up to their 2014 album.
In March 2025 Drew announced his departure from the band to pursue a solo career. He was replaced by Jack Mudd.
Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales US USDigital CAN NZ Nothing to Lose Released: July 30, 2013 Label: Syco, Columbia, Mr. Kanani Format: CD, digital download 7 6 8 21 US: 70,000 Songs from the Couch, Vol. 1 Released: June 2, 2014 53 22 — — Songs from the Couch, Vol. 2 Released: February 8, 2023 — — — —
Extended plays Title EP details Peak chart positions US USDigital Forever Together Released: October 27, 2014 Label: EMBLEM3 Format: Digital download 56 21 Waking Up Released: February 16, 2016 Label: EMBLEM3 Format: Digital download — — Pyro Released: October 25, 2019 Label: EMBLEM3 Format: Digital download — —
Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Sales Album US USDigital USHeat USPop CAN KOR 2013 "Chloe (You're the One I Want)" 93 67 7 25 87 93 US: 330,000 Nothing to Lose "3000 Miles" — — — — — — 2016 "Taboo Love" — — — — — — Waking Up "End of the Summer" — — — — — — 2017 "Too Pretty (For Your Own Good)" — — — — — — rowspan="10" "Homerun" — — — — — — "New Day" — — — — — — "Corona and Lime" — — — — — — 2020 "Jaiden" — — — — — — 2021 "Champagne Dreams" — — — — — — "Eyes Wide Open" — — — — — — "So Proud" — — — — — — "Walking Dead" — — — — — — 2022 "Sunset Blvd (10 Year Anniversary)" — — — — — — "Rush" — — — — — — Songs from the Couch, Vol. 2 "My Year" — — — — — — 2023 "Burning Man" — — — — — — "We Made It (King of the Belmont Shore)" — — — — — — Songs from the Couch, Vol. 2 "Nirvana" — — — — — — "Free Ride" — — — — — — rowspan="2" 2024 "Looks to Kill" — — — — — —
As featured artist Year Title Album 2014 "Cheat Codes" rowspan="10" 2023 "Supermodel Mode" "Jessie" "Won't Forget" 2024 "Dream Squad" "Miss Teen USA" "Miss USA" "Living the Dream" 2025 "Forever 25" "Stormy"
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominee/Work Outcome 2013 Teen Choice Awards Choice Music: Breakout Group Emblem3 Teen Icon Awards Icon of Tomorrowrowspan="7" Iconic Viner Wesley Stromberg Capricho Awards Gato Internacional (International Cutie) Drew Chadwick Melhor Show no Brasil (Best Show in Brazil) Emblem3 Revelação Internacional (International Development) 2014 Radio Disney Music Awards Best Crush Song - XOXO "Chloe (You're the One I Want)" Best Music Group - They're the One Emblem3
Tours West Coast Tour (2013) E3 Goes East (2013) Goin' Back to Cali (2013) Emblem3 Summer Tour (2013) Stars Dance Tour (Opening Act) (2013) #Bandlife Tour (2014) (opening acts included MKTO and Jackson Guthy) Fireside Story Sessions (2014) Forever Together Tour (late 2014) Waking Up Tour (2016) (opening acts include Megan Nicole, Dyllan Murray, and The Ready Set) Eyes Wide Open Tour (2021) (opening acts include THE SOCIAL, Tiffany Stringer) Songs from the Couch Tour (2023) The North American Tour (2023) Super Happy Story Time Tour (2024) The group also performed at multiple festivals throughout the year such as Z-Fest (Brazil), Kiss Concert (Boston, MA), various holiday concerts, Spring Break Portugal etc.
The group is also scheduled to perform at music festivals and concert series throughout the summer such as Ramapo Summer Concert Series (NY) etc.
The group also has done shows with many other artists such as Jack & Jack (Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson)
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