Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band formed in Dayton, Ohio in 2001. Originally called A Day in the Life, their lineup currently consists of JT Woodruff (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Matt Ridenour (bass guitar, backing vocals), Mark McMillon (lead guitar, unclean vocals), and Chris Popadak (drums, percussion).

The band found commercial success with their first two albums, The Silence in Black and White (2004), and If Only You Were Lonely (2006), both achieving an RIAA gold certification. Their second album additionally peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard's Independent Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. They are also well known for their 2006 single "Saying Sorry", which reached gold status and peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. On November 24, 2007, guitarist Casey Calvert died, leaving the band as a four-piece. Their third album and first without Calvert, Fragile Future, was released in August 2008, surprisingly through Victory Records again, after a lengthy legal battle between the two parties.

The band's fourth album Skeletons (2010) peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard 200. The band's former label, Victory, released their first greatest hits album, entitled Midwesterners: The Hits, in November 2010. Shortly afterward, Hawthorne Heights left Wind-up Records to begin their own record label, Cardboard Empire. Via this new label, the band released an EP trilogy, beginning with Hate released in August 2011 and followed by Hope released in June 2012. After signing with Red River Entertainment in 2013, the band postponed the release of the third EP in the trilogy, and released a full-length concept album titled Zero in June 2013. The band played on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour.

In June 2014, original drummer Eron Bucciarelli left the band. In January 2015, it was announced that Micah Carli (lead guitar, unclean backing vocals) had left as well. Later that year, the band released Hurt, the third EP of the trilogy. The band's sixth studio album, titled Bad Frequencies followed in 2018, followed by their seventh album The Rain Just Follows Me in September 2021 via Pure Noise Records.