Geoff Rickly | |
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_(7005619497).jpg) Rickly performing with Thursday in 2012. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Geoffrey William Rickly |
| Born | (1979-03-08)March 8, 1979 (age 46)[1] Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Origin | Dumont, New Jersey, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
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Geoffrey William Rickly (born March 8, 1979) is an American musician and author, best known as the lead singer and songwriter ofrock bandThursday. Rickly is also a member ofhardcore punk bandUnited Nations, and thealternative rock groupNo Devotion with former members ofLostprophets, and is the founder of therecord label Collect Records.
In 2023, his debut novel,Someone Who Isn’t Me, was published by Rose Books.[2]
Rickly was born in Providence, Rhode Island and raised inDumont, New Jersey, into aCatholic family, and attendedDumont High School, where he was a member of theband and played thetenor sax.[3][4] He attendedRutgers University until 2000 before dropping out to pursue music.[5] Rickly is a diagnosedepileptic, which has affected his ability to tour.[6]
In early 2013, Rickly wasmugged inNew York City, where his cell phone,iPad, wallet,credit card, rent money, and medication were stolen.[7][8] In 2015, Rickly was poisoned and robbed inHamburg,Germany, while touring with No Devotion to play at the Reeperbahn Festival. Rickly was hospitalized, causing them to cancel their concert, but recovered for a scheduled show inParis the following day.[9]
In a 2017 interview withSpin, Rickly spoke of battling a heroin addiction that began shortly after Thursday's breakup in 2011.[10] Following Thursday's reunion in 2016, Rickly was inspired to quit using the drug.[11]
Rickly lives with his partner Liza de Guia.[12][13]
Rickly has contributed guest vocals to many songs, includingMy American Heart's "We Are the Fabrication",Murder by Death's "Killbot 2000",This Day Forward's "Sunfalls and Watershine",Circa Survive's "The Lottery", andMy Chemical Romance's "This Is the Best Day Ever". He also occasionally performs solo, most recently inAnaheim, California, at Kill Iconic Festival on March 23, 2024, performing his band,Thursday songs "Understanding in a Car Crash" and "This Side of Brightness" acoustically.
Lyrically, Rickly has been known to draw from a wide variety of influences, many of them being authors and poets. In a March 2009 interview,[14] he cited the works ofDenis Johnson,Martin Amis,Roberto Bolaño andDavid Foster Wallace as being among his influences for the lyrics ofThursday'sCommon Existence album, which was released in February 2009. A tattoo on his forearm reads "love is love", a lyric from the band Frail; Rickly adopted these lyrics into Thursday's "A Hole in the World." The band's song, "Autobiography Of A Nation" is clearly influenced by poetMichael Palmer's "Sun."[citation needed] Rickly has also written, recorded and played forUnited Nations, an experimentalpowerviolence collaboration.
In 2009, Rickly formed Collect Records, arecord label which in its early years only co-released various albums, including releases byTouché Amoré, United Nations and Midnight Masses, but in 2014, the label announced plans to be the primary label behind albums by Black Clouds, Vanishing Life, Sick Feeling andNo Devotion.[15]
During the 2015 public scandal ofhedge fund managerMartin Shkreli and his controversial monetary inflation oftoxoplasmosis-related pharmaceuticals, it was revealed that Shkreli was a silent investor in Collect Records, while still allowing Rickly to retain creative control.[16] Rickly and Shkreli met when the guitar that Rickly used to make Thursday's albumFull Collapse was purchased by Shkreli for $10,000.[17] Rickly said he was completely shocked by the scandal, stating: "I've seen the guy give away money to schools, charities, and frankly, our bands, who if anyone really knows the industry, is a hard sell. I am struggling to find how this is OK."[16] Due to the controversy, Shkreli's relationship with Collect Records angered several artists signed to the label. One of the artists, Sick Feeling, said in a public statement: "One thing is clear; as long as he has a part in the label, we, Sick Feeling, cannot. Our experience with Geoff, Norm, and Shaun has been nothing but positive, however, we cannot continue to work with Collect as long as Martin Shkreli has any part in it."[18] Dominic "Nicky" Palermo ofNothing, who had just recently signed a two-record deal with Collect Records, expressed interest in ending the contract and said: "I'm hoping that we can just get out of this with someone else and not have to go down whatever ugly road that could lead to."[18] Within two days of the controversy, Rickly put out a press release stating that the label had severed its relationship with Shkreli, and that the amount of money he currently had in the bank could not cover Collect Records' outstanding invoices, leaving its future uncertain,[17][16] without Shkreli's significant financial contributions to Collect (estimated to be "somewhere around a million dollars"[17]).
| Year | Artist | Album | Song | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | My Chemical Romance | I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | "This Is the Best Day Ever" | [22] |
| 2002 | This Day Forward | Kairos | "Sunfalls and Watershine" | [23] |
| 2003 | Murder by Death | Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? | "Killbot 2000" | [23] |
| 2003 | Stretch Arm Strong | Engage | [23] | |
| 2005 | The Blackout Pact | Hello Sailor | [23] | |
| 2005 | My American Heart | The Meaning in Makeup | "We Are the Fabrication" | |
| 2008 | Players Club | "Coextinction" | [23] | |
| 2009 | Touché Amoré | ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse | "History Reshits Itself" | [23] |
| 2012 | Circa Survive | Violent Waves | "The Lottery" | [24] |
| 2013 | Man Overboard | Heart Attack | "Open Season" | [23] |
| 2020 | Cremation Lily | "Light Gathers in the Corners of the Room, Pt. II" | "More Songs About Drowning" | |
| 2022 | Vein.fm | This World Is Going to Ruin You | "Fear In Non Fiction" | [23] |
| 2022 | Gatherers | "( mutilator. )" | "Gift Horse" | [25] |
| 2023 | The HIRS Collective | "We're Still Here" | "So, Anyway" | [26] |
| 2023 | triton. | "Sundown in Oaktown" | "alcatraz_" | [27] |
| 2023 | Sharkswimmer | "Serenity" | "Demolition Of A Childhood Home" | [28] |
| Year | Artist | Album | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | My Chemical Romance | Like Phantoms, Forever | [29] |
| 2002 | My Chemical Romance | I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | [23] |
| 2005 | The Blackout Pact | Hello Sailor | [23] |
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