Calum Hood

Calum Thomas Hood was born on 25 January 1996 and raised in Mount Druitt, New South Wales.[5]  His father—David Hood—is a former Coca-Cola employee, while his mother—Joy Hood—worked in the superannuation industry.[6] Through his father he claims Scottish descent, and through his mother he claims Māori descent. Hood is the younger brother of singer-songwriter, Mali-Koa. Hood recalls his childhood upbringing to be "middle-class" and "not the most glamorous life".[5] Hood attended Norwest Primary School where he befriended future band-mate Michael Clifford in the third grade. For his high-school education, Hood attended Norwest Christian College where he befriended future band-mate Luke Hemmings in Year 7 after they performed a Secondhand Serenade cover at a school talent show.[5]

Throughout his childhood and early teenage years, Hood took a keen interest in sports, particularly soccer, which he had a "promising future" in and visited a Brazil training camp for, in order to pursue the sport as a career.[7] However, after the formation of the band and due to the band's move to London in late 2012, he ultimately decided to stop playing soccer to instead pursue music.[8] Hood later recalled that after quitting soccer, "there was a period of a month where my parents thought I was making the worst decision of my life. My mom threw out all the clothes in my closet. And I left [...] just being like, I made one of the biggest decisions. But now it's worked out".[9] Following his decision to quit playing soccer, he dropped out of high-school in 2012 after completing Year 11.[10][11]

In 2011, Hood, Clifford and Hemmings began posting song covers on Hemmings' Youtube channel. The trio eventually added mutual friend Ashton Irwin to their videos, forming the current 5 Seconds of Summer lineup.[12]  After months of posting song covers together, the band began attracting interest from major music labels and publishers and signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.[13] Hood has since released four studio albums with the band, each met with worldwide success: 5 Seconds of Summer (2014), Sounds Good Feels Good (2015), Youngblood (2018), and Calm (2020).[14]

Apart from the band, Hood has co-written songs for other artists, including the Black Veil Brides and Makeout.[15][16]

In 2017, it was reported that Hood bought a house, previously owned by Richie Kotzen, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.[17] As of 2020, Hood's net-worth is estimated to be $25 million (USD).[18]