From the Boy with the Thorn in His Side to a Catcher in the Rye

Wearing clashing outfits, eyeliner, or even girls' jeans, and having taken the role of being the spokesman of their band are some of the reasons why Fall Out Boy's bassist and lyricist, Pete Wentz, is one of the most abhorred and idolized people in the music scene. But if you look close enough, maybe you will simply see a messed up kid that would probably turn out okay in the end—someone like Holden Caulfield from JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III was born to a law professor and a private school admissions dean in Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. He delved into the world of music by the time he was fourteen and became very much involved that he decided to drop out college and pursue the music instead.

Though he is considered to be one of the successful musician he is today (with his own record label, clothing line, and film company), he has gotten through some rough times that most of us would literally raise our eyebrows on and ask ourselves why he did that. He willingly admits that he has done some things where he did not actually consider the magnitude of the outcome if he did this or he did that.

An example of this is when he nearly killed himself in the year 2005 at a Best Buy parking lot in the Chicago area. They had finished their major label record, From Under the Cork Tree, that time. He felt completely lost and out of control and just wanted to stop thinking about anything, so he took a bunch of Ativan and overdosed himself. While he was out of his head with Ativan, he called his manager and his manager called his mom and then his mom called him. His mom came to fetch him and took him to the hospital where he was confined for a whole week. Because of that he missed their European Tour and the band was forced to hire a substitute bassist.

He explains in an mtvU interview that he always had this underlying depression ever since he was a teenager to the point where he "could only navigate between being so anxious with this generalized anxiety." He always felt like nothing he did mattered and it just made him feel like nothing would turn out okay; hence, the reason behind the overdosing incident.

He used to hide this from his parents thinking they did not want to admit that he had a mental problem. And with the band, he also kept it as a secret since he did not want to let them down. But the incident actually led him to being honest with everyone about his condition. He realized that if he could find someone that he can openly talk to, then they could actually piece things together and feel like everything is in tact.

On another controversial issue, nude pictures of Pete Wentz were posted on the internet in March 2006. Pete Wentz himself claims at the band's official website that the pictures were hacked from his T-Mobile Sidekick and that "After feeling badly about this for 24 hours, I am now ready to get back laughing." He even added that the moral of this story is, "If you really don't want pictures of yourself to end up on the internet, don't take the pictures."

He was also interviewed by Jason Tate of AbsolutePunk.Net about the issue and he reveals that his mom sent him an email telling him to "be more careful and that I'm handling it really good (no pun intended)." He says he has done so many stupid things in the past that he thinks that nothing really shocks his parents anymore.

Their music video for This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arm's Race satirizes the whole issue where there was a scene where he was being photographed by a famous photographer with a Sidekick cell phone. The scene was played in a wall papered set, similar to the ones in the actual photo. He is then instructed by the photographer to unzip his hoody then remove his belt. The scene is cut just when he was about to unzip his pants and is followed by a shot of three girls looking at the photo in the internet looking shocked at the display.

But behind all of the wrong choices and stupid mistakes he has made, he has grown into someone who struggles to be the best man he can be. If you look a bit deeper into the lyrics he has written for the band, from the very first ones to the current ones, you will see the growth from singularity to maturity. In Take This to Your Grave, the songs were "full of spite and the need to get away from a small town and from the people who have made them feel they didn't belong." From Under the Cork Tree took a deeper look inside everything else that was going on inside his head and expressed the thought, "If you keep ending up in the same situation over and over, you should probably look inside yourself for a reason you are there." Infinity on High, on the other hand, became an anthem for their fans. Infinity on High actually gives you the feeling of wanting to explore something beyond the music expected of them.

And with that I leave you with the very treasure I have kept in my heart, a secret I am very much happy to share to everyone of you. Pete Wentz definitely is no longer The Boy with the Thorn in His Side who always thought he was a meaningless forgettable boy, because as far as I can see it, he is growing up to be a Catcher in the Rye who wants to catch people from falling off a cliff when they are too occupied to see what kind of peril lies in front of them. Because we all need a little help sometimes, a little light in the darkness to make it all okay, and Pete Wentz showed me that. As I have learned from him, "The best way to make it through with hearts and wrists in tact is to realize that two out of three ain't bad..." I have come to keep that belief in my heart and I hope you will, too.

"I fell in love with the world. This is out of character for me. The always whining, overdramatic player of the world's smallest violin. But I truly love the world we have created—us and you. It is a refuge and I think we sometimes take that for granted. But I can tell you I wouldn't have this smile across my face if it wasn't for you, because this is the greatest story ever. Thanks for letting us be a part of this. This is my Rushmore."

— Pete Wentz