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The Presidents of the United States of America (band)

American rock band

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ176430
Source-derived summary

The Presidents of the United States of America (occasionally referred to as PUSA, PotUSA, the Presidents of the USA, or simply the Presidents) were an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1993. The three-piece group's initial lineup consisted of vocalist and bassist Chris Ballew, drummer Jason Finn, and guitarist Dave Dederer. The band became popular in the mid-1990s for their hits "Lump" and "Peaches"—released in 1995 and 1996, respectively—which helped their self-titled debut album go triple Platinum.

The group broke up for the first time in late 1997, since Ballew wanted a solo career; they performed a farewell concert early the next year. They reunited in 2002. In 2004, Dederer left the group and was replaced by Andrew McKeag. The Presidents privately disbanded in 2015, making the news public the following year.

History

Early years (1993–1994)

The band was formed in late 1993 by Chris Ballew (bass guitar and lead vocals) and Dave Dederer (guitar and backup vocals), who met at school in Seattle. Ballew had previously been in a punk-busker band called Egg, who wrote many songs that would later be turned into Presidents songs. Initially a drummerless duo, Ballew and Dederer performed a few shows in 1993 as "the Lo-Fis", "the Dynamic Duo", and "Pure Frosting".

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Presidents of the United States of America (band)” as american rock band. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Presidents, United and States.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 1995, 1996, 1997—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Presidents, United and States providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Presidents of the United States of America (band)”, the useful work is to connect “american rock band” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q176430. VIAF identifies the subject as 154956208. The Library of Congress control number is n96036072. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993, 1995, 1996 and 1997.

Critical limits

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Presidents of the United States of America (band)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.