Wilco released the 2002 album 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. The album is Wilco's fourth studio record and became the band's defining breakthrough, combining alternative rock songwriting with atmospheric, experimental production.
The album was completed in 2001, but Reprise Records declined to release it after disagreements over its sound and commercial prospects. Wilco then obtained the album's rights and streamed it on the band's website in September 2001, an unusually direct distribution move at the time.
Nonesuch Records issued the official retail version on April 23, 2002. The release reached number 13 on the Billboard 200 and became Wilco's best-selling album. Its creation was also documented in the film 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart'.
A common mix-up is the album's date: it was first streamed in 2001, but its standard retail release came in 2002. The title comes from the phonetic alphabet phrase “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” heard in a shortwave numbers-station recording.