From the Rochester Music Hall of Fame Website:
Gym Class Heroes is pop-punk and multi-platinum-selling band that was founded in 1997 in Geneva, N.Y. by rapper and front man Travie McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley — who met in gym class at Geneva High School when they were 14 years old.
McCoy and McGinley bonded over a common interest in music, including punk and indie rock and hip hop. When a teenager McCoy created a rap group with his father and his brother called “True Life Playas,” and he also would take buses from Geneva to New York City to participate in battle raps.
Since both McCoy and McGinley were drummers, McCoy stepped up to the mic as lead singer. Gym Class Heroes was officially born with the addition of guitarist Milo Bonacci from Geneva and bassist Ryan Geise from Clifton Springs. The four musicians immediately began recording and touring. After releasing their debut album independently, the group signed with Fueled by Ramen, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Critics have struggled with associating Gym Class Heroes with a specific genre, since the band’s music exhibits rap, rock, pop, funk, punk, hip hop, and soul elements. Of the band’s five albums, the band’s most famous songs are “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Stereo Hearts,” with each song’s official video garnering hundreds of millions of views on YouTube (“Stereo Hearts” is close to 1 billion).
“Cupid’s Chokehold” samples heavily from the Supertramp song “Breakfast in America” and reached no. 4 on the U.S. Billboard charts. “Stereo Hearts” also hit no. 4 on the charts and features Adam Levine of Maroon 5 on lead vocals alongside McCoy. Levine has joined the band to perform the song on “Ellen” and “American Music Awards” and McCoy joined Maroon 5 to perform “Stereo Hearts” on “Saturday Night Live.”
Gym Class Heroes has been recognized for music and videos, being named Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2007. A long list of nominations include Best Group and Best Video with a Message for “The Fighter” (MTV Video Music Awards), Ultimate Urban and International Video of the Year for “Stereo Hearts” (MTV European Music Awards), and Choice Single and Choice Group (Teen Choice Awards).
McCoy’s first appearance on MTV was a solo one, performing and winning a nationwide MC battle on the hip-hop show “Direct Effect” in 2002. Band members consistently dabbled in solo projects over the years. McCoy released his first solo album, “Lazarus,” in 2010, which featured the hit single “Billionaire,” which McCoy co-wrote and performed with Bruno Mars. (Of local interest: An Easter egg in the YouTube video that has 628 million views is revealed when McCoy tosses the keys to his car to a hitchhiker — who is holding a cardboard sign with the handwritten destination of “New York — Geneva.”)
McCoy is also a fine artist and for two years studied at Munson-Williams Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, where he majored in illustration. He returned home to Geneva to focus on tattoo artistry and his music, while also teaching art at the local Boys & Girls Club. His first job at age 15 was working in a Geneva tattoo shop. While Gym Class Heroes was working toward success, McCoy lived off the money he made from selling his paintings.
Today McCoy is performing solo shows internationally under his name and Gym Class Heroes. His second album, “Never Slept Better,” was released in 2022.
The four original members of Gym Class Heroes —all natives of the Greater Rochester area — being inducted are Travie McCoy, Matt McGinley Milo Bonacci, and Ryan Geise.
Travie McCoy will perform live at the April 13 concert and ceremony.
