Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo (/ˈkwoʊmoʊ/ KWOH-moh; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer.
Rivers Cuomo | |
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Cuomo at Audacy Beach Festival 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Peter Kitts (1985–1987) |
| Born | June 13, 1970 New York City, U.S. |
| Origin | Mansfield, Connecticut, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1985–present |
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| Formerly of | |
| Spouse(s) |
Kyoko Ito (m. 2006) |
Cuomo was born in New York City and raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeastern U.S. until the age of 10, when his family settled in Connecticut. He played in several bands in Connecticut and California before forming Weezer in 1992.
Following the success of Weezer's debut, the Blue Album (1994), Cuomo enrolled at Harvard University, but dropped out after recording Weezer's second album, Pinkerton (1996). He later re-enrolled and graduated in 2006. Though Pinkerton is now frequently cited among the best albums of the 1990s and has been certified platinum, it was initially a commercial and critical failure, pushing Cuomo's songwriting toward pop music for their next album, the Green Album (2001). Weezer have released several albums since.
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 has released thousands of home recordings on his website. He has collaborated with artists including Todd Rundgren and Panic! at the Disco. With the American songwriter Scott Murphy, Cuomo has released two Japanese-language albums under the name Scott & Rivers.