Rivers Cuomo

Rivers Cuomo ( KWOH-moh; born June 13, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, songwriter, and frontman of the rock band Weezer. Born in New York City, Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeastern U.S. until the age of 10, when his family settled in Central Connecticut. He attended a number of public schools before moving to Los Angeles at age 18. Cuomo played in several bands in Connecticut and California before forming Weezer in 1992. Following the success of Weezer's self-titled debut album (informally referred to as The Blue Album) and the following tour, Cuomo spent time away from music. Convalescing after leg surgery, he enrolled at Harvard University, but dropped out to record Weezer's second album, Pinkerton (1996); he would later graduate from Harvard in 2006. Pinkerton was a commercial failure upon release, although the album would get universal retrospective praise in the years after and was certified platinum in 2016. Due to the album's initial failure, Cuomo would start writing more pop-based material, evident in Weezer's third (and second self-titled) album (informally referred to as The Green Album), fifth album Make Believe, and seventh album Raditude. Weezer would receive a varying amount of critical and commercial success, and after the 4-year hiatus after the release of their eighth album Hurley in 2010, Weezer would have a commercial comeback with their ninth album Everything Will Be Alright in the End and tenth (and fourth self-titled) album (informally referred to as The White Album), which would return to their alternative rock sound and receive critical acclaim. The next three albums by Weezer, eleventh album Pacific Daydream, twelfth (and fifth self-titled) album (a covers album informally referred to as The Teal Album), and thirteenth (and sixth self-titled) album (informally referred to as The Black Album) would feature a more commercial pop sound. Weezer was working on a 1980s heavy metal-inspired album called Van Weezer, which was put on hold after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Weezer would end up releasing the orchestra-based album OK Human in early 2021, with Van Weezer releasing on May of that year. Weezer's newest project, SZNZ, was a series of EPs based on the four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter all released throughout 2022. Cuomo has released several compilations of demos, including Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2007), Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2008) and Alone III: The Pinkerton Years (2011), and an ongoing series of digital bundles available on his website's storefront, Weezify. He has collaborated with artists including Todd Rundgren and Panic! at the Disco; with Scott Murphy, he has released two Japanese-language albums under the name Scott & Rivers. Cuomo’s work with Weezer has had a considerable effect on the evolution of the emo and pop punk genres, with artists such as Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and Ozma citing Weezer as an influence. Weezer's material has received multiple awards and nominations, and The Blue Album and Pinkerton are now regarded by some as amongst the greatest albums of the 1990s.

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