Bob Forrest - Robert O'Neil Forrest - (born February 15, 1961) is an American musician who is best known for his work with the Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. Forrest, a recovering drug addict, has worked for years as a recovery advocate and promoter of addiction awareness. He featured as a counselor on the television series Celebrity Rehab and Sober House. Forrest was born on February 15, 1961. He grew up in Palm Desert, California. As a child, Forrest was a top-rated amateur golfer.
At the age of 13, Forrest learned that the older sister he grew up with was his birth mother, and he was actually raised by his grandparents. When he was 15, his father figure died and the family was forced to relocate from an affluent neighborhood to a trailer park. Forrest turned to alcohol to cope.
Forrest attended Los Angeles City College before dropping out to work as a DJ. Influenced by figures such as Jack Kerouac and Lenny Bruce, he became interested in trying heroin. He dosed for the first time with blues musician Top Jimmy.
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1983–1996: Thelonious Monster and drug addiction
In 1983, Forrest was working as a DJ. He became friends with Flea, then the bass player for Fear, and the two moved into a flat alongside Anthony Kiedis. Forrest worked as a roadie for their band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis described Forrest as "a tortured musician working as a roadie", and in 1984, Forrest started his own band, Thelonious Monster.
Thelonious Monster released their debut album, Baby...You're Bummin' My Life out in a Supreme Fashion, in 1986. Their sophomore album Next Saturday Afternoon came in 1987, followed by Stormy Weather in 1989. Stormy Weather was a commercial failure, but Forrest was still seeing moderate success in the Los Angeles punk scene. In 1990, he signed a major solo recording contract with RCA Records. Although the company reportedly invested over $400,000 into Forrest, he was frivolous with the money and spent much of it to fuel his drug habits. His productivity stalled following the death of Thelonious Monster bassist Rob Graves in March of that year, and Forrest checked into his first rehab program. Over the next six years, Forrest would spend 23 more stints in formal rehab facilities.
Forrest reformed Thelonious Monster and resumed recording, but he was dropped by the label. The band released Beautiful Mess in 1992 on Signal-Capitol Records. By 1993, Forrest had reentered a deep drug addiction, and he was reportedly spending hundreds of dollars a day on the habit. His relationship with he band suffered. Forrest had a mental break and attempted suicide at Pinkpop Festival that year, planning to jump off of a speaker tower. Instead, fear took hold, and he climbed down to finish the set.
In 1996, Forrest was arrested. He described his tormented mental state during the arrest, considering suicide by cop following an extended car chase. He spent 5 weeks in jail, and later credited the experience as starting his journey towards sobriety. 1997–present: The Bicycle Thief, solo career, and sobriety
A newly sober Forrest resumed writing music in 1997. He met the 17-year-old guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, and the two began to collaborate on songs that Forrest had penned. They formed the band The Bicycle Thief, and their work culminated in the album You Come and Go Like a Pop Song in 1999.
Thelonious Monster reunited with Forrest at the helm, releasing California Clam Chowder in 2004. The band would continue to play shows intermittently. In 2006, Forrest released his first solo album, Modern Folk and Blues Wednesday. In 2008, Forrest began releasing a series of live digital EPs on his official website.
Forrest released a new album, Survival Songs, on October 9, 2015, which was produced by Ian Brennan. It is a stripped-down folk album with new material and folk versions of existing Thelonious Monster and Bicycle Thief songs, and features Zander Schloss on unplugged acoustic guitar. It was released on Six Degrees Records. In 2018, he released the live album Bob Forrest + Friends Live 2016 on Greenway Records.
In 2020, Thelonious Monster released Oh That Monster, their first album in 16 years.
Bob Forrest - Robert O'Neil Forrest - (born February 15, 1961) is an American musician who is best known for his work with the Los Angeles bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief. Forrest, a recovering drug addict, has worked for years as a recovery advocate and promoter of addiction awareness. He featured as a counselor on the television series Celebrity Rehab and Sober House.