Biography

A staple of the Los Angeles music scene since the early 1980s, singer/songwriter Bob Forrest was the leader of influential post-punk group Thelonious Monster, who released a string of acclaimed yet commercially unsuccessful albums for both Epitaph and Capitol. A contemporary and longtime friend of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he is credited as having discovered guitarist John Frusciante, who went on to play with the Chili Peppers during their most popular era. A noted drug abuser, Forrest struggled for years with his habit, making 24 detox attempts before finally cleaning himself up in 1996. A year later, he formed the Bicycle Thief with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (who would also go on to play with the Chili Peppers) and they released their lone studio album, You Come and Go Like a Pop Song, in 1999. He would eventually become a recovery activist working as a drug counselor at Las Encinas Hospital and co-starring on the shows Celebrity Rehab and Sober House with Dr. Drew. He launched a solo career in 2006 with the country- and folk-flavored album Modern Folk and Blues Wednesday. The following year, he contributed to the soundtrack of the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. He was the subject of a 2011 full-length feature documentary Bob & the Monster, and published a memoir called Running with Monsters. He has remained an active and very visible figure in the recovery community, working with a number of organizations to help fight addiction. Forrest returned to music again in 2015, working with Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan to record his second solo LP, the deeply personal Survival Songs. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi