Thirty years after three Rockville, Maryland, eighth-graders started jamming together, O.A.R. is bringing its anniversary tour to Sterling Heights on Saturday, with a 6:30 p.m. show at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre that also features Gavin DeGraw and KT Tunstall. Frontman Marc Roberge, now 47, says the band is still riding a wave rather than coasting on nostalgia.
“It's a pinch-yourself moment for sure,” Roberge said, according to The Oakland Press, which reported that O.A.R. formed 30 years ago in Rockville. The band's current lineup includes Roberge alongside Chris Culos and Richard On, with Benj Gershman serving as a part-time member, per the same report. According to the outlet, Roberge said the band has built its longevity by saying yes to interesting opportunities as they arise.
That willingness to chase new ideas traces back to O.A.R.'s earliest days. The band, whose members first performed together as eighth graders at a Rockville talent show, formed in high school and self-funded its 1997 debut album, The Wanderer, according to Robert Irvine Magazine. The Oakland Press notes the group has released 10 more albums since then. That original scrappy approach extended to distribution: the band leaned on physical CDs and peer-to-peer file sharing on services like Napster to sell more than 175,000 copies of The Wanderer, as reported by American Songwriter.
A New Album and a Milestone Chart Run
O.A.R. will release its new album, Three Tinted Windows, on September 18, following several previously released singles, per The Oakland Press. Rock 104.5 reports the 11-track project includes the collaborations “Legacy” with Citizen Cope and G. Love, and “Gonna Be Me” with DJ Premier and Brady Watt, marking the band's first full-length release since 2022's The Arcade.
The band's commercial peak arrived with its 2008 single “Shattered (Turn the Car Around),” which topped Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart, reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and earned RIAA Platinum certification, according to Wikipedia. Venue promoter 313 Presents notes that O.A.R. has notched three Top 15 Billboard 200 debuts and sold out venues nationwide, including Madison Square Garden and Red Rocks Amphitheatre a dozen times over.
From Ohio State to the Nationals' Clubhouse
O.A.R. met saxophonist Jerry DePizzo at Ohio State University, an alliance that became central to the band's sound and, more recently, to a business venture back in the region — DePizzo is now a local investor in the group reviving Ohio's historic Worthington Inn, as Hoodline reported in its Worthington Inn revival coverage.
The band's collaborative streak runs well beyond music-industry names. O.A.R. worked with rapper B.o.B. to record “Champions,” which supported the 2012 U.S. Summer Olympics team, per The Oakland Press. The band also teamed with the Washington Nationals, recording “Our Diamond, Our District” with the team and supporting a new Nationals uniform reveal in 2025. O.A.R. performed at the opening ceremony of the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games as well, the outlet reported.
Building an Empire Beyond the Stage
Beyond music, O.A.R. has become a principal partner in the Oceans Calling Festival in Ocean City, Maryland, which launched in 2023. This year's edition runs September 25-27. The beachside festival has grown fast: an estimated 162,000 total fans attended across its three-day run in 2025, according to figures shared on Reddit.
The band has also kept a philanthropic arm running for two decades. O.A.R. founded the nonprofit Heard The World Fund in 2006, which has raised more than $1 million for youth education, pediatric cancer research and veterans' causes, according to U-GO University. Roberge has said the band feels it has accomplished what only one percent of bands get to do, per The Oakland Press.
What to Expect at the Sterling Heights Show
Saturday's bill pairs O.A.R. with two familiar radio names. Opener Gavin DeGraw rose to fame with his 2003 platinum hit “I Don't Want to Be,” the theme song for One Tree Hill, and later earned a Grammy nomination for his 2013 duet “We Both Know” with Colbie Caillat, according to Ruth Eckerd Hall. Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall rounds out the bill, having achieved multi-platinum international success with her 2004 debut album Eye to the Telescope, which produced the global hits “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See,” per the same promotional materials.
The Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, located at 14900 Metro Parkway in Sterling Heights, holds roughly 7,200 patrons and generates an estimated $25 million in annual economic activity for Macomb County, according to a public update presented to the Sterling Heights City Council. Concert information is available by calling 313-471-7000 or visiting 313presents.com, per The Oakland Press.
The Sterling Heights stop comes as O.A.R. continues a run of high-profile regional appearances — the band previously joined Twenty One Pilots for the Columbus Blue Jackets' outdoor NHL game, as Hoodline reported in its Blue Jackets outdoor game recap, and was also part of the 2026 lineup at Colorado Springs' Ford Amphitheater, a venue Hoodline covered amid outdoor noise litigation.
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