On Friday, July 19, OneRepublic fulfilled a lyrical prophecy to their early-rising crowd as frontman Ryan Tedder leaned into the mic on TODAY’s Citi Concert Series stage and sang: “Let’s make tonight the weekend/ I don’t want to wait/ I don’t want to wait/ I don’t want to wait/ Got no reason not to celebrate/ Baby, I just don’t want to wait.” As Tedder made his way down the catwalk on the TODAY plaza, a sea of fans started making waves as they hopped up and down, giving weekend energy right back to the band. The singer worked the plaza while his five bandmates — Zach Filkins, Brent Kutzle, Brian Willett, Drew Brown and Eddie Fisher — created the instrumental magic, easily recognized as their hit song “I Don’t Wanna Wait,” which they worked on with DJ David Guetta.
The bop, arguably an anthem of the summer, is part of OneRepublic’s latest album, “Artificial Paradise,” that dropped one week earlier. That morning, the band played another new song on the album titled “Sink or Swim,” and then two fan-favorites: “I Ain’t Worried,” famously featured in the 2022 film “Top Gun: Maverick,” and “Counting Stars” from their 2014 album, “Native.” OneRepublic hasn’t kept to one era, to say the least: They’ve had six studio albums, starting with their 2007 record “Dreaming Out Loud,” featuring “Apologize” with Timbaland, that put them on the map.
Other hits from the band include “Good Life,” “Rescue Me,” “Love Runs O.