Liam Lynch, the guy behind the one hit wonder “United States of Whatever”, turned 54 today.
Released in 2002, Lynch wrote the song spontaneously as part of his comedy series on MTV, The Sifl & Olly Show. The song was meant as a joke, reflecting a blasé attitude and a parody of punk rock’s rebellious spirit.
Despite its simplicity and short length (1 minute and 25 seconds), the song became a surprise hit, peaking at #10 on the UK Singles Chart and gaining considerable airplay on alternative and college radio stations in the US. “United States of Whatever” later gained a Guinness World Record for being the shortest song to peak within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. When Lynch was asked to perform the song on Top of the Pops, Lynch was on tour with No Doubt to film them with No Doubt for a live DVD. Since he could not make the show, he promised to send a performance video in his place; the video, hastily shot and edited in one day, becomes the song’s official music video.
Lynch directed two of the Queens of the Stone Age music videos, “Head Like a Haunted House” (2017) and “Emotion Sickness” (2023). His latest music video was “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Polkamania” (2024).
Happy birthday, Liam. One step closer to whatever!
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