Travie McCoy Reignites Gym Class Heroes with New Music and a Fresh Start
Travie McCoy has lived a few lifetimes since bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s with Gym Class Heroes. Back then, the band’s blend of rap, rock, and charm…
Travie McCoy has lived a few lifetimes since bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s with Gym Class Heroes. Back then, the band’s blend of rap, rock, and charm made hits like “Cupid’s Chokehold,” “Clothes Off!!,” and “Stereo Hearts” climb the Billboard charts and soundtrack an entire era of MySpace and Warped Tour kids.
Since those days, McCoy has faced the highs of fame, the lows of addiction, and the quiet peace of rediscovery back home in upstate New York. Now, he’s bringing it all full circle—returning to the project that started it all.
“We’ve been inactive for a while, but I’ve been making Gym Class music since the last record [The Papercut Chronicles II],” McCoy shared with PEOPLE during an interview. “But Gym Class never really went anywhere.”
This return lines up with the 20th anniversary of the band’s breakthrough album The Papercut Chronicles, and McCoy is gearing up to celebrate with new music and a tour.
Getting the Band Back Together (Kind Of)
It’s been nearly 14 years since the last Gym Class Heroes album, and McCoy admits it wasn’t easy to restart. “There’s definitely a nostalgia thing going on with the Warped Tour era,” he told PEOPLE. “But the only reason it’s taken so long is because I was trying to get out of my deal with Atlantic Records, and buy the name and likeness of Gym Class Heroes.”
The process took time—and patience. His longtime bandmate Matt McGinley stepped back from touring to focus on producing and family life, leaving McCoy to figure out the next steps. “I was just trying to figure out how to man the ship by myself after kind of relying on Matt for everything for years,” he to the outlet.
Now, Gym Class Heroes looks different but feels alive again. “Me and Tyler [Pursel] are the common denominators,” McCoy explained. “Tyler’s been playing with us since before we signed with Atlantic, so Tyler and I are the last Heroes standing.”
The new lineup includes Mike, Benj on drums, LJ on bass and keys, and Joseph Veazie on vocals. McCoy’s also added a unique element: “Trevor [Shannon] is a silent hype man. He does ASL. It’s really cool, and it’s also fun for me… it’s kind of like a rebirth.”
Healing Old Wounds
McCoy’s creative rebirth also came with emotional healing. His 2022 solo album, Never Slept Better, was shaped by reconnecting with his estranged grandfather—a man he once swore he’d never meet.
“My mother is from a small town in Georgia called Jesup. It’s a sundown town,” McCoy recalled. “When my mom got pregnant with me, my grandfather basically disowned her.”
For most of his life, McCoy carried anger toward the man who had rejected his family. But in 2020, when his grandfather turned 81, McCoy’s mother urged him to go see him. “I said, ‘F--- it,’ and booked a flight,” he said.
When he arrived, everything changed. “The minute I got to the porch and saw his face, it was like I was looking at myself. We both stared at each other for a minute, and we hugged. He hugged me, and he said, ‘I’m sorry.’”
That moment, McCoy says, helped close a wound that had followed him for decades—and opened space for forgiveness in his music and his life.
Finding Clarity and Staying Alive
McCoy’s honesty about addiction has always been part of his story, and he doesn’t shy away from it. After several attempts at rehab, his fourth try finally worked.
“I never thought I’d live past 30,” he admitted. “I think I was probably 31 or 32 when I went into this place called Caron Treatment Center in Pennsylvania.”
He stayed twice as long as planned. “After 90 days was up, I was like, ‘I can’t go home. I know for a fact I have 12 Oxycodone 30’s in my dresser drawer waiting for me. If I go home right now, I will use them.’”
The staff told him he could stay—and he did. “I ended up staying like 160 days,” he said. “I’m not trying to die.”
A Legacy That Keeps Growing
Now clean, grounded, and creatively energized, McCoy isn’t chasing the past—he’s building on it. Gym Class Heroes may look different, but their purpose still stands: to make genre-bending music that connects and gives a voice to kids who feel like they don’t fit in.
For McCoy, the journey back to Gym Class Heroes isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about survival, second chances, and staying true to the sound that made him fall in love with music in the first place.
Check out Travie McCoy's full chat with PEOPLE here.
