Switchfoot is an alternative rock band from San Diego, California formed in 1996 by Jon Foreman (lead singer), Tim Foreman (bass), and Chad Butler (drums), with Jerome Fontamillas (keys) joining in 2001 and Drew Shirley (guitar) from 2005-2022.

The group started out with Charlie Peacock’s Re:Think Records, a label meant to platform Christian artists outside of the CCM sphere, releasing three albums spanning from 1997-2000. However, when Sparrow Records bought out Re:Think in 1997, it became apparent that Switchfoot would only be marketed towards Christian radio, which was not the original vision.

However, after the release of the film A Walk to Remember in 2002, which featured three Switchfoot songs plus two collaboration tracks with lead actress Mandy Moore, the band gained mainstream attention signing with Columbia Records that same year, releasing their most successful record to date, The Beautiful Letdown, which went double platinum.

In 2007, following their record Oh! Gravity, Switchfoot announced they’d be releasing music independently under lowercase people records. The following album, Hello Hurricane, marked a licensing agreement with Atlantic Records which led to the album winning the GRAMMY Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album in 2011.

The Atlantic deal lasted for the next two albums (including 2013’s Fading West with an accompanying film) until the band shifted to Concord/Vanguard in 2016, a short-lived hiatus in 2017, then Fantasy Records from 2018-2021. As of 2023, the band is fully independent distributing their music through Stem where they released a 20th anniversary re-recording of The Beautiful Letdown which allowed them to own a version of the album currently licensed to Atlantic. The deluxe edition of the re-recording featured well-known artists impacted by Switchfoot’s legacy such as Jon Bellion, Ryan Tedder, The Jonas Brothers, Dayglow, Tyler Joseph, and others covering every track.