The All-American Rejects began their career in the late 1990s. Tyson Ritter (vocals, bass) and Nick Wheeler (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals, drums) met at a party during high school. Mike Kennerty (guitar, backing vocals) and Chris Gaylor (drums, percussion) joined in 2002.

The band (then consisting of only Ritter and Wheeler) released their first independent album in the spring of 2000, and eventually built up a large local fanbase. They went on to open for The Flaming Lips and Caroline's Spine. Their music was also licensed for use on then-hit MTV show Undressed.

In the summer of 2001, the Rejects released the EP Same Girl, New Songs and began to tour the American Midwest. By the tour's end, the band had signed a contract with Doghouse Records — the label of such bands as River City High and The Get Up Kids.

Then, in 2002, with producer Tim O'Heir (who had, in the past, worked with bands like Superdrag, Sebadoh, and Juliana Hatfield), the Rejects recorded their international debut album. From this album came the single "Swing, Swing," for which the Rejects were best-known for several years (so much so, in fact, that some termed the band a one-hit wonder). The self-titled album hit stores on October 15 of that year.

In 2005, the group released their new album, Move Along on July 12, from which came the single "Dirty Little Secret". The music video features images from collective art project PostSecret. Later that year, the All-American Rejects saw themselves forced to cancel several concerts, including a full European tour, after their touring keyboardist Tim Jordan committed suicide. The second single "Move Along" was released in January 2006. Within the first weeks after premiering their video, it has been on the TRL countdown ever since, hitting number one for days in row, moving from place to place. The video seemed to be a tribute to Jordan. In June 2006, the third single, "Top Of The World", which appeared in the video game Burnout Revenge, was released. The song has a distinctive Spanish influence. The album also contains the track "Night Drive," which was featured in the video game Madden NFL 2006. In July 2006, the single "Move Along" was announced as the official WWE Diva Search 2006 theme song and is being used in advertisements for the Toa Inika figures of Lego's Bionicle franchise. 'Free the Band' is its motto.

The All-American Rejects are apparently part of an alternate reality game promoting Lego's Bionicle toy line. [1]

In 2006, the band toured around the US with Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, From First To Last, The Hush Sound, and October Fall in the Black Clouds and Underdogs Tour.

Nick Wheeler thought of the name, All-American, since they were all American, and Tyson thought of the name, The Rejects. So when they put it together, they got The All-American Rejects. [citation needed]

They are going on a headlining tour in the fall of 2006 called "Tournado" w/ Motion City Soundtrack, The Starting Line, The Format, and Gym Class Heroes.

The All-American Rejects premiered the "It Ends Tonight" video on TRL on Monday, August 28, 2006. The video has already been shown on many music channels before the prior date though.

The All-American Rejects were nominated for Best Editing in a Video and Best Group Video at the 2006 VMAs, the latter of which they won. In addition, the band performed "Move Along" live at the VMAs on Thursday, August 31st, 2006.

The video for "It Ends Tonight" debuted in the UK on 28th August 2006 and is available to see on Kerrang TV and Scuzz.

Both full-length albums by the band have reached the RIAA Certification Platinum.

The All-American Rejects "It Ends Tonight" debuted at number 10 on the VH1 Top 20 countdown. They debuted higher than Beyonce Knowles' "Ring The Alarm", which debuted at number 16.