Since the summer of 2006, One Republic has consistently been ranked as one of the top musical acts on MySpace, due to heavy promotion within the online community. The band was formed by songwriter and Grammy-nominated record producer, Ryan Tedder and his high school friend, Zach Filkins, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Even at a young age, the band's frontman, Tedder wanted to make music for a living. He shared this interest with Zach Filkins when he transferred to Colorado Springs Christian High School in his senior year. Together with a small group of friends they put together a band known as This Beautiful Mess and even played a few small gigs in local bars supported by friends and family. After senior year, Tedder and Filkins went their separate ways, attending different colleges.

Tedder also caught the attention of super-producer, Timbalandduring the show. Timbalandmade a few calls and offered Tedder a record deal. When Tedder's contract with FreeLance Entertainment fell through, Tedder accepted and was signed as a producer, learning from Timbalandhimself as his protege. After two years under Timbalands tutelage, the two parted ways, and with Timbalands approval, Tedder moved on to become an artist. For a while, he worked under the nom de plume 'Alias', earning a name for himself by producing and writing songs for various artists, even getting a Grammy nomination for his work on Paul Oakenfold's "A Lively Mind".

In 2002, Tedder managed to get back in contact with Filkins and convinced him to move to Los Angeles to put together a band. After 9 months, they were quickly signed to Columbia Records. After a few line-up changes, they finally solidified with Tedder on vocals, Filkins on guitar and backing vocals, Eddie Fisher on drums, Brent Kutzle on bass and cello, and Drew Brown on guitar. Known initially as Republic, they later changed the name to One Republic.

They worked in the studio for two and a half years and recorded a full album. Two months before their album was due to release (with Sleep as their debut single) they were dropped by Columbia Records , though, just as quickly, the band was beginning to get exposure on MySpace, becoming the number one unsigned act on the site. The band caught the attention of a number of labels, including Timbalands. The band signed to the Mosley Music group, becoming the first rock band signed to the label.

One Republic's song "Apologize", written by Ryan Tedder, was released in its original version on the band's debut album Dreaming Out Loud. The song was also prominently featured as a remix on Timbalands 2007 release of Shock Value. The single, as featured on Shock Value, has gone 3x Platinum (marking three million copies sold in the U.S) and 5 million copies worldwide. It peaked at number three on the U.K. Official Top 40 Week on November 11, 2007. The week of November 10, 2007, "Apologize" was the biggest radio airplay hit in the history of Top 40 radio in North America, racking up an astounding 10,331 spins in one week. The song held this #1 position for 5 months before the record was broken by "Bleeding Love", a song co-written and produced by Tedder.

The band is widely known for their collaboration with producer Timbaland specifically for his remix of their song, "Apologize." The follow-up single to "Apologize" is "Stop and Stare". Their 4th single and follow up to "Say (All I Need)" is "Mercy" and will be released in the autumn of 2008.

On August 2, 2008, One Republic won the Best Hook-up awards in "MTV Asia Awards 2008", Genting, Malaysia.