Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Brian Pittman, and Matt Hoopes during the band's junior year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after guitarist Hoopes' automobile, a Plymouth Reliant K car, with the spelling intentionally altered to avoid trademark infringement over the
Reliant name.
Relient K is best known commercially for their two studio albums which peaked in the top 15 of the U.S.
Billboard 200 chart. After signing with Capitol Records, they broke into the mainstream in 2004 with the release of
Mmhmm, which debuted at No. 15 on the
Billboard 200. In 2007, their fifth album,
Five Score and Seven Years Ago, brought the most success for Relient K, debuting at No. 6 on the
Billboard 200 and selling 60,000 records in its first week. The band has sold over 2 million records, with three albums being given gold certification by the RIAA. The band is also highly successful throughout the Christian albums and contemporary Christian music charts. On October 4, 2011 they released a cover album
Is for Karaoke. On July 2, 2013, their seventh full-length album,
Collapsible Lung was released.