Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast 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 and the following tour, Cuomo spent time away from music. Convalescing after leg surgery, he enrolled at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, but dropped out to record Weezer's second album, ''Pinkerton'' (1996); he would later graduate from Harvard in 2006. Though ''Pinkerton'' was initially a commercial and critical failure and forced Cuomo to write more pop-based material, it is now frequently cited among the best albums of the 1990s and has been certified platinum. 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). He has collaborated with artists including B.o.B and

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

; with

Scott Murphy Matthew Scott Murphy (born January 26, 1970) is an American entrepreneur and politician. He represented parts of New York state's Capital District (excluding the city of Albany) in the United States House of Representatives for a portion of one ...

, he has released two Japanese-language albums under the name Scott & Rivers.

Early life

Rivers Cuomo was born on June 13, 1970, in New York City to a Frank Cuomo, of Italian descent, and Beverly Shoenberger, of German-English descent. Accounts differ as to the origin of his name. According to one account, Cuomo's mother named him Rivers either because he was born between the

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and Hudson rivers in Manhattan or because she could hear a river outside her hospital window. However, his father, Frank Cuomo, a musician who played drums on the 1971 album ''

Odyssey of Iska ''Odyssey of Iska'' is the fourteenth album by American jazz composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, released on Blue Note Records in 1971. Musicians include guitarist Gene Bertoncini, bassists Ron Carter and Cecil McBee and drummer Billy Hart, ...

'' by jazz saxophonist

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles D ...

, says Cuomo was named after three prominent soccer players: Rivellino, Luigi Riva, and

Gianni Rivera Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder. Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...

, all of whom were playing in the 1970 World Cup.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 3 Rivers was raised in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, at the

Rochester Zen Center The Rochester Zen Center (RZC) is a Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Buddhist sangha in the Kapleau lineage, located in Rochester, New York and established in 1966 by Philip Kapleau. It is one of the oldest Zen centers in the United States. History Since i ...

, until his father left the family in 1975. His mother relocated the family to Yogaville, an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<

Pomfret, Connecticut. Cuomo attended the Pomfret Community School, and his mother married Stephen Kitts.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 5 In 1980, Yogaville relocated to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

. The Kitts family opted to stay in Connecticut and moved to the Storrs/

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market to ...

area.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 8 During this time, Cuomo attended Mansfield Middle School and E.O. Smith High School. Rivers was a member of the high school choir and he performed in a school production of '' Grease'' as Johnny Casino.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 20 He also changed his name to Peter Kitts;Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 15 after graduating, Cuomo reverted to his original name.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 50 One of Cuomo's earliest music projects was the

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...

band Avant Garde.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 17 In 1989, after playing several shows in Connecticut, Avant Garde moved to Los Angeles and changed their name to Zoom, but broke up in 1990.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 31Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 37Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 40 During this time, Cuomo attended

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Although initially serving primarily pre-college high sc ...

. In 1990 and 1991, while Cuomo was writing material for what became Weezer's debut album, he was a roadie for the band King Size and worked at

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Recor ...

, where he listened to "basically everything that was released at that time ... I was exposed to a ton of music I otherwise never would have heard."

Weezer

Cuomo formed

in 1992 with drummer

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor and director. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma ...

, bassist

Matt Sharp Matthew Kelly Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American songwriter and musician. Until 1998, he was the bassist for the alternative rock band Weezer, which he cofounded in 1992. He appears on their first two albums, the '' Blue Album'' (199 ...

and guitarist Jason Cropper. "Weezer" was the nickname given to Cuomo by his father when he was a toddler. Weezer signed with DGC, a subsidiary of

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

, on June 25, 1993, and released their self-titled debut album, commonly known as the ''Blue Album'', in May 1994. Cropper was asked to leave the band by Cuomo during the album's recording, and was replaced by Brian Bell. The album was

certified Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

platinum on January 1, 1995, with sales of over one million. Despite his success, Cuomo tired of the monotony and loneliness of touring and developed a "huge inferiority complex" about rock music, saying: "I thought my songs were really simplistic and silly, and I wanted to write complex, intense, beautiful music." Rivers Cuomo in Thailand

In March 1995, Cuomo had extensive surgery to extend his left leg, which was 44mm shorter than the right. This involved the surgical breaking of the leg bone, followed by months of wearing a steel brace and painful

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patie ...

sessions. The procedure affected his songwriting, as he would spend long periods hospitalized under the influence of painkillers. In the fall of 1995, Cuomo enrolled in

to study classical composition. He told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'': "The only time I could write songs was when my frozen dinner was in the microwave. The rest of the time I was doing homework." He auditioned for the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum chorus, but was not selected. He became introverted and grew a beard, and wrote in his diaries how students wearing Weezer T-shirts did not recognize him. Cuomo had planned Weezer's second album to be a rock opera, ''

Songs from the Black Hole ''Songs from the Black Hole'' is an unfinished album by American rock band Weezer recorded between 1994 and 1996. Intended to follow Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut album, it was to be a rock opera that expressed songwriter Rivers Cuomo's mix ...

'', but he abandoned the project as his songwriting became "darker, more visceral and exposed, less playful".''Pinkerton Deluxe'' liner notes Realizing he did not enjoy

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), modern forms of Post-tonal music theory, post-tonal music after th ...

, and missing Weezer, Cuomo dropped out of Harvard two semesters before graduation. He expressed the isolation and sexual frustration he had felt at Harvard in Weezer's second album, '' Pinkerton'', released in September 1996. With a darker, more abrasive sound than Weezer's debut, ''Pinkerton'' was a commercial and critical failure, but attained critical acclaim later. Following ''Pinkerton'', Weezer went on a three-year hiatus. Cuomo enrolled at Harvard twice more and completed semesters in 1997 and 2004. During the 1997 semester, he played with a new band, Homie, in Boston. In February 1998, Cuomo disbanded Homie and moved to Los Angeles to work on new Weezer demos with Bell and Wilson, but the sessions were unproductive. In 1998 and 1999, he lived in an apartment under a freeway in

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

. In an essay for Harvard, he wrote: "I became more and more isolated. I unplugged my phone. I painted the walls and ceiling of my bedroom black and covered the windows with fiberglass insulation." Disappointed by ''Pinkerton'''s reception, Cuomo intended to return to simpler songwriting with less personal lyrics. He stated that Weezer's subsequent albums, the '' Green Album'' (2001) and ''

Maladroit ''Maladroit'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on May 14, 2002, by Geffen Records. Produced by the band, it was their first album to feature bassist Scott Shriner, following the departure of former bassist Mikey Wel ...

'' (2002), were "very intentionally not about me. Not about what was going on in my life, at least in a conscious way." He also developed a greater appreciation for pop music, feeling that its multiple disciplines — including lyrics, improvisation, and image — produce a multifaceted art "that moves people and is important, and relevant to our culture in a way that serious classical music isn't right now". In June 2006, he graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in English from HarvardLuerssen D., John, 2004 p. 22 and was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

. On December 6, 2009, Cuomo was in his tour bus driving to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

with his family and assistant when the bus hit an icy road in

Glen, New York Glen is a town in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 2,507 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Jacob Glen, an early landowner. The Town of Glen is centrally located in the county, southwest of the City of A ...

and crashed. He suffered cracked ribs and internal bleeding. Weezer canceled the rest of the 2009 tour dates, planning to reschedule them the following year. They made their return to the stage on January 20, 2010, performing at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

Other projects

During Weezer's hiatus after the release of ''Pinkerton'', Cuomo formed Homie, and performed what he called "goofball songs" for his "country band". An album was planned, but only one studio recording, a song titled "American Girls", was released. Cuomo has contributed to recordings by various other musicians ( Crazy Town, Cold,

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...

). Cuomo managed the band AM Radio in 2002 and 2003; he and the band's frontman, Kevin Ridel, went to school together. In early 2004, Cuomo joined ex-Weezer bassist

onstage at

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU ...

. They worked on a record together in February that year, but the material remains unreleased. In March 2008, Cuomo began a YouTube video series in which he wrote a song in collaboration with YouTube viewers. The finished song, "Turning Up the Radio", was released in 2010 on the Weezer compilation album '' Death to False Metal''. Weezer eastscene-no watermark

In December 2007, Cuomo released '' Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo'', a compilation of his demos recorded from 1992 to 2007. It was followed by '' Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo'' in November 2008 and '' Alone III: The Pinkerton Years'' in November 2010; the latter album was sold exclusively with a book, ''The Pinkerton Diaries'', which collects Cuomo's writings from the preceding the release of ''Pinkerton''. Cuomo has made cameos in a number of music videos, including The Crystal Method's "Murder" and the video for

The Warlocks The Warlocks are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1998 by the guitarist/singer Bobby Hecksher. The band's music has ranged from psychedelic rock to drone music. There have been many changes in personnel since its for ...

' "Cocaine Blues." Cuomo also makes a guest appearance on Sugar Ray's "Boardwalk", the first single on the group's latest album, '' Music for Cougars''. Cuomo featured on the song " Magic", on B.o.B's debut album '' B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray'' which was released in April 2010. In a May interview with

HitQuarters HitQuarters was an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It was noted for its in-depth interviews with industry figures, as well as its A&R and manager contact directory, free artist promo pages and song ...

, producer-songwriter

Lucas Secon Lucas Secon, (born 3 November 1970) also known by the stage name Lucas, is a record producer, songwriter and rapper. He has written and produced for artists including the Pussycat Dolls, Alesso, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Kylie Minog ...

confirmed that he had recently worked with Cuomo on both a

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

single and "some Weezer stuff." In 2011, Cuomo collaborated with Japanese singer

Hitomi Hitomi may refer to:. People * Hitomi (given name), a feminine Japanese given name * Hitomi (voice actress) (born 1967), Japanese voice actress * Hitomi (singer) (born 1976, as Hitomi Furuya), Japanese singer and songwriter * Hitomi Nabatame (b ...

for her first

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

album '' Spirit'', in the duet "Rollin' with da Homies", co-written by him. He was also featured on the

Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1999. The band's lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhythm guit ...

song "

Can't Keep My Hands Off You "Can't Keep My Hands Off You" is a promotional single (and in some countries released as the first single) from Simple Plan's fourth studio album, ''Get Your Heart On!''. The song features Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo as a guest vocalist, and wa ...

" and

Miranda Cosgrove Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She was the highest-paid child actor in 2012 and was included on ''Forbes'' magazine's " 30 Under 30" list in 2022. She is known for her career on television, parti ...

's song, "High Maintenance". In 2013, Cuomo released a self-titled Japanese-language album with

under the name Scott & Rivers. The album debuted at #1 on the iTunes Japan alternative charts. The album was released physically in Japan and digitally worldwide through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

. In 2015, Cuomo appeared on the song "Snowed In" on Big Data's album '' 2.0''. In the same year, Cuomo produced a Fox pilot for a sitcom based on his life, ''DeTour'', starring Ben Aldridge as Cuomo. The pilot was not picked up. In 2017, Cuomo featured in RAC's "I Still Wanna Know", as well as Vic Mensa's "Homewrecker", which sampled Weezer's "The Good Life". The same year, he co-wrote and appeared on

AJR AJR may refer to: * AJR (motorcycle), Scotland * AJR (band), a pop band from New York City, United States *Abdominojugular test, to measure venous pressure * Academy for Jewish Religion (New York) * ''American Journal of Roentgenology'' * ''Ameri ...

's "

Sober Up "Sober Up" is the third single from AJR's second studio album ''The Click'' and features Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, although some radio stations play a version with AJR's Ryan singing Cuomo's part. "Sober Up" became the first number one song ...

". "Sober Up" reached number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' Alternative Charts, becoming Cuomo's first song as a solo artist to reach number one on Billboard's Alternative chart outside of Weezer. Cuomo also co-wrote the song "Why Won't You Love Me" on 5 Seconds of Summer's 2018 album Youngblood. In 2018, he helped write two songs, "Clock Work" and "Dancing Girl" for Asian Kung-Fu Generation's 2018 album,

Hometown Hometown, HomeTown, or Home Town may refer to: *A hometown, the town where someone lives or the town that they come from, typically their place of birth. *In developing nations particularly: native place, village of origin in newly urbanized soc ...

. Cuomo also performed a live cover of Toto's "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

" during the homecoming halftime show at Santa Monica College. In 2019, he wrote and performed "Backflip," the theme song for the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series '' Green Eggs and Ham''. In 2020, Cuomo released more than two thousand demos and home recordings on his website. In 2022, Cuomo release Indonesian-language song "Anak Sekolah", originally by Indonesian singer

Chrisye Hajji Chrismansyah Rahadi (; 16 September 1949 – 30 March 2007), born Christian Rahadi (), better known by his stage name Chrisye (), was an Indonesian progressive pop singer and songwriter. In 2011 ''Rolling Stone Indonesia'' declared ...

, before Weezer performing in Indonesia.

Artistry

Appearing on the Song Exploder podcast in 2016, Cuomo explained the process he used to write albums such as Weezer's '' White Album'' (2016). He maintains

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

playlists of music with "cool" chord progressions that he uses for inspiration. He sometimes uses piano to write vocal melodies his vocal muscles would be "too lazy" to create. Conversely, he improvises vocal melodies to write guitar solos, to avoid guitar habits and create solos "you can sing along to" with "space in hembecause I have to breathe". He has a

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

vocal range. Cuomo's process of writing lyrics involves writing stream-of-consciousness thoughts in his journal, highlighting interesting lines, and adding them to a spreadsheet organized by the number of syllables they contain and strong-weak emphasis. When he comes to write a song, he finds lines that fit the melody and assembles them in a way that suggests a story. He rarely uses

profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

in his lyrics, as "Weezer came up at a time when

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...

released '' Nothing's Shocking'' — everyone was trying to be controversial. We looked back to rock and roll's pre-drug days — to the clean images of the Beach Boys — that felt, ironically, rebellious." He has experimented with various methods of "concentration", such as

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

, to aid his songwriting.

Influences

Cuomo credited the Beach Boys as a major influence on his early songwriting. He told ''Upset'': On tour with Weezer following the ''Blue Album'', Cuomo listened extensively to the operas '' Aida'' (1871) and ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lu ...

'' (1904), the rock opera ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' (1970), and the musical ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' (1980), which influenced the composition of ''Pinkerton'' and the unreleased ''

.''''Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo'' (liner notes). Rivers Cuomo. DGC, Interscope Records. 2008. B0012341-02 Cuomo's other influences include

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical styl ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

Lou Barlow Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock mu ...

the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, Pixies,

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

, Mike Smith, and

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of t ...

. In the late 90s, Cuomo created an "Encyclopedia of Pop" for himself, a three-ring binder in which he examined pop and rock songs by artists including Nirvana, Green Day, and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

.Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 270 In 2008, he said his biggest recent inspiration was rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

, praising his "creativity, passion, inventiveness, and playfulness".

Equipment

Rivers_Cuomo_Performing_in_2015_-_Photo_by_Peter_Dzubay

Cuomo recorded the ''Blue Album'' with a

Gibson Les Paul Special The Gibson Les Paul Special is a variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was introduced in 1955. It is designed to be an intermediate level instrument, at a price point and trim level between the low-cost Les Paul Junior and the standard Les ...

and a

Fender Jaguar The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to ...

borrowed from producer Ric Ocasek. His amp was a vintage Mesa Boogie Mark I. For touring, he initially used a sonic blue Warmoth

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

copy with Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio pickups alongside Marshall amps. However, the guitar was destroyed in late 1997. In recent years, he has used additional Warmoth Strat copies (in blue, seafoam green, black and blonde), as well as a

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gi ...

painted in white with a Seymour Duncan bridge pickup. During the Hella Mega Tour in 2021, Cuomo has been seen playing a

Jackson Rhoads The Jackson Rhoads is a model of electric guitar, originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads and produced by Jackson Guitars. Origin The Concorde Randy Rhoads' first Jackson prototype was the white, pinstriped, asymmetrical Flying ...

, which seems a tip of the hat to

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo al ...

, likely having a connection to the recent use of Rhoads' solo on "Crazy Train". The guitars are plugged into a Kemper Profiler amp.

Personal life

Cuomo took a vow of sexual abstinence from 2004 until his marriage in 2006. On June 18, 2006, Cuomo married Kyoko Ito, whom he met in March 1997 at one of his solo concerts at the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

club in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He proposed to her in Tokyo shortly before Christmas 2005. The wedding was held at a beach on Paradise Cove in Malibu and was attended by all past and present members of Weezer (except for

Mikey Welsh Michael Edward Welsh (April 20, 1971 – October 8, 2011) was an American artist and musician who played bass for several bands, including the rock band Weezer. During Weezer's hiatus, he played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in the band Ho ...

), as well as Kevin Ridel and

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

. The couple have two children: daughter Mia, born in 2007, and son Leo, born in 2011. Cuomo was born with equal length legs, but as he grew to his full height, his left leg grew nearly two inches shorter than his right. After the success of '' The Blue Album'', Cuomo underwent the Ilizarov procedure to correct the condition. This involved the surgical breaking of the bone in his leg, followed by several months of wearing a steel brace that required self-administered "stretching" of the leg four times daily; Cuomo likened the ordeal to "crucifying isleg."Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 148–149 Cuomo has been vegetarian since childhood. However, in 2002, he told an interviewer that he might like to start eating meat regularly and stated he had done so in the past, eating "some kind of barbecued beef in Tokyo." Cuomo practices Vipassanā

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

and was a student of

S. N. Goenka Satya Narayana Goenka (ISO 15919: ''Satyanārāyaṇ Goyankā''; ; 29 January 1924 – 29 September 2013) was an Indian teacher of Vipassanā meditation. Born in Burma to an Indian business family, he moved to India in 1969 and started t ...

. As of mid-2009, he also teaches children's meditation as taught by S. N. Goenka. Cuomo helped acquire music rights and provided financial support to a 2007 documentary titled ''

The Dhamma Brothers ''The Dhamma Brothers'' is a documentary film released in 2007 about a prison meditation program at Donaldson Correctional Facility near Bessemer, Alabama. The film features four inmates, all convicted of murder, and includes interviews with g ...

'' about Vipassanā meditation being instituted in an Alabama state prison. Cuomo was a fan of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

at an early age. He wrote a song, "My Day Is Coming", in tribute to the U.S. men's soccer team in 2006, and in 2010, wrote "Represent", an "unofficial anthem" for the U.S. team, which was released as a Weezer single on June 11, the day before Team USA's World Cup opener against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. In early 2008, Cuomo played in the Mia and Nomar Celebrity Soccer Challenge and scored a goal in the game. The video for "Lover in the Snow", from the ''Alone'' album, deals with this game and his love of soccer growing up. In August 2009, Cuomo participated in the Athletes for Africa 5v5 Charity Soccer Tournament in Toronto, Canada alongside actor Michael Cera. Cuomo performed at a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang in

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

on November 1, 2019, though Cuomo did not explicitly endorse Yang. Cuomo's hobbies include programming, he took the CS50 course and maintains his

GitHub GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, cont ...

profile.

Discography

With Weezer * ''Weezer'' (Blue Album) (1994) * '' Pinkerton'' (1996) * ''Weezer'' (Green Album) (2001) * ''

'' (2002) * '' Make Believe'' (2005) * ''Weezer'' (Red Album) (2008) * '' Raditude'' (2009) * '' Hurley'' (2010) *'' Death to False Metal'' (2010) * '' Everything Will Be Alright in the End'' (2014) * ''Weezer'' (White Album) (2016) * '' Pacific Daydream'' (2017) * ''Weezer'' (Teal Album) (2019) * ''Weezer'' (Black Album) (2019) * '' OK Human'' (2021) * ''

Van Weezer ''Van Weezer'' is the fifteenth studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on May 7, 2021 by Crush Music and Atlantic Records. Featuring a classic rock and hard rock inspired sound, the album was announced in September 2019 with an orig ...

'' (2021) * '' SZNZ: Spring'' (2022) * ''SZNZ'': ''Summer'' (2022) * ''SZNZ'': ''Autumn'' (2022) With Scott and Rivers * ''スコットとリバース ("Scott & Rivers")'' (2013) * ''ニマイメ ("The Second One")'' (2017) Solo * '' Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo'' (2007) * '' Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo'' (2008) * ''Not Alone – Rivers Cuomo and Friends: Live at Fingerprints'' (2009) * '' Alone III: The Pinkerton Years'' (2011) * ''Alone IV: Before Weezer'' (2020) * ''Alone V: The Blue-Pinkerton Years'' (2020) * ''Alone VI: The Black Room'' (2020) * ''Alone VII: The Green Years'' (2020) * ''Alone VIII: The Maladroit Years'' (2020) * ''Alone IX: The Make Believe Years'' (2020) * ''Alone X: The Red-Raditude-Hurley Years'' (2020) * ''Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years'' (2020) * ''Alone XII: The White Year'' (2020) * ''Alone XIII: The Pacific Daydream Years'' (2021) Singles * ''Medicine For Melancholy'' (2018) * ''Anak Sekolah'' (2022)

References

External links

Interview with The Harvard Crimson about his Harvard years
* * *
Rivers Cuomo Archived MySpace Postings

Biographical article in Shambhala Sun Magazine

Scott & Rivers on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuomo, Rivers 1970 births 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American male singer-songwriters American people of English descent American people of German descent American people of Italian descent American rock guitarists American male guitarists Alternative rock guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters Berklee College of Music alumni Grammy Award winners Harvard College alumni Living people Singers from Los Angeles Weezer members Musicians Institute alumni Power pop musicians Guitarists from Los Angeles Guitarists from Connecticut Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Connecticut