Justin Steward Furstenfeld (born December 14, 1975) is an American musician and actor. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Blue October Blue October is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Houston, Texas, formed in 1995. It currently consists of singer/guitarist Justin Furstenfeld, drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld, multi-instrumentalist #Personnel, Ryan Delahoussaye, b ...

. He is also a member of the band Harvard of the South.

Personal life

When not touring with his band, Furstenfeld resides in

San Marcos, Texas San Marcos () is a city and the county seat of Hays County, Texas, United States. The city is a part of the Greater Austin, Greater Austin Metropolitan Area. San Marcos's limits extend into Caldwell County, Texas, Caldwell and Guadalupe County, T ...

. He is the brother of Blue October drummer Jeremy Furstenfeld. From his first marriage, he has a daughter born in 2007 to whom he dedicated the album '' Any Man in America''. The album title refers to his experience as an American man treated poorly in a divorce proceeding. Furstenfeld's relationship with his daughter and ex-wife is the subject matter of much of the album.
Furstenfeld wed a second time in Texas in 2012, marrying Sarah. Together, they have a daughter born the same year. They had a son in 2016. Furstenfeld was treated for depression at a Texas mental hospital in the late 1990s, after which Blue October recorded the album '' The Answers'' as an expression of themes surrounding depression and suicide. He was diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

following an anxiety attack in October 2009 aboard a jet airliner. The band canceled their tour while he was being treated in Minnesota and Texas hospitals. Furstenfeld said that problems associated with his first marriage caused a stress blackout, exacerbated by alcohol consumption. He said in 2021 that he has been sober since May 2012. In 2020 a documentary was released called "Get Back Up" that addresses Furstenfeld's experiences with depression, addiction, and recovery.

Music career

Growing up, Furstenfeld listened to

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

, and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

; his favorite artists included

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

Red House Painters Red House Painters were an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988, before relocating to San Francisco, California in 1989. Originally formed by singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek and drummer Anthony Koutsos, the pair were soon joine ...

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

, and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. He also counts among his influences

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

The Pixies The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). The Pi ...

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

, Blue Miller,

George Winston George Otis Winston III (February 11, 1949 – June 4, 2023) was an American pianist performing contemporary instrumental music. Best known for his solo piano recordings, Winston released his first album in 1972, and came to prominence with his ...

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

, and U2. His first musical memory was

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

's ballad "

Crying Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state or physical pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, joy, and fear. Crying can also be caused by relief from a period ...

". During his high school years at

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), he formed the band

The Last Wish ''The Last Wish'' () is the first published short story collection in Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski's '' The Witcher'' series. Published by SuperNowa in 1993, it was preceded by 1992's '' Sword of Destiny'', but is officially conside ...

, which he played in from the age of 13 until 1995. When performing solo, Furstenfeld uses the moniker 5591. In August 2008, Furstenfeld toured with

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

, author of the ''Twilight'' series, in a sold-out four-city book/concert tour.

Other interests

In April 2009, Furstenfeld published the book ''Crazy Making – The Words and Lyrics of Justin Furstenfeld'', in which he goes into explicit detail about the inspiration behind every Blue October song to date. Furstenfeld attended HSPVA on a drama scholarship, acted in several plays in high school, and appeared in the 1996 film ''Late Bloomers''. He made his true feature film debut in the 2022 Christian Sesma directed

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

'' Section Eight'' playing the character Ajax Abernathy. Furstenfeld's original song "This is What I Live For" also played during film's opening credits. In 2022 Justin acted in the film '' Lights Out'', also directed by Sesma.

Discography

Solo albums * '' Songs from an Open Book'' (2014) * '' Open Book Winter Album'' (2017) With

* '' Rooftop Sessions'' (1993) * '' The First of February'' (1995) With

* '' The Answers'' (1998) * ''

Consent to Treatment ''Consent to Treatment'' is the second album by Blue October. Pre-production sessions took place in Nashville with producer Blue Miller, and the final album recording sessions took place at Bay 7 Studios in Valley Village and Media Vortex in ...

'' (2000) * ''

History for Sale ''History for Sale'' is the third album by Blue October. The title of the album comes from a lyric in the song "Amazing". It was recorded at Sound Arts Studios in Houston, Texas, and at Stomp Box Studios in Arlington, Texas, and released in the ...

'' (2003) * ''

Foiled ''Foiled'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blue October, released on April 4, 2006, by Universal Records. The album debuted at number 29 on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200, marking the band's first entry on the chart. Th ...

'' (2006) * '' Approaching Normal'' (2009) * '' Any Man in America'' (2011) * '' Sway'' (2013) * ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

'' (2016) * '' I Hope You're Happy'' (2018) * '' This Is What I Live For'' (2020) * '' Spinning the Truth Around'' (Part I) (2022) * '' Spinning the Truth Around'' (Part II) (2023) * ''Happy Birthday'' (2024) With Harvard of the South * ''Miracle'' (2014 – EP) * ''Harvard of the South'' (2020) As a featured artist * Canvas – '' Four Days Awake'' – "All About You" *

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish Heavy metal music, heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. Turunen studied lyrical ...

– '' Colours in the Dark –'' "Medusa" * Zeale – ''FRNZ & FNGZ'' – "Invisible Prisons" * Matthew Ostrander – "Damn You" * SteroRanger – "Won’t Give It Away"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furstenfeld, Justin 1975 births American alternative rock guitarists American alternative rock singers American alternative rock musicians American male singers Record producers from Texas American rock guitarists American male guitarists Blue October members Living people Musicians from Houston Songwriters from Texas People from San Marcos, Texas People with bipolar disorder Guitarists from Texas High School for the Performing and Visual Arts alumni 21st-century American singers