Rivers Cuomo is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and musician. He was born on June 13, 1970, and is also known by his stage name, Peter Kitts. The lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary composer for the rock band Weezer, he is also a member of the band.
Aside from his work with Weezer, which has garnered him widespread critical praise as well as a sizable cult following, he has also been active as a solo artist.
New York City is where Rivers Cuomo was born, but Connecticut is where he spent his childhood. He started listening to music at an early age and picked up the guitar when he was 10 years old.
He is an accomplished guitarist. During his time at Harvard University, he was a member of an unsigned band named Avant Garde, for which he created songs.
After graduating from high school, Rivers Cuomo relocated to Los Angeles, where he met bassist Matt Sharp and established the band Weezer. Since the band’s first album was published in 1994, Rivers Cuomo has remained a member of the band and has continued to compose for and play with them.
Key TakeAway
- Full Name: Peter Kitts
- Stage Name: Rivers Cuomo
- Born: 13 June 1970 (age 52 years old)
- Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York, United States
- Nationality: American
- Height: 1.69 m
- Parents: Frank Cuomo, Beverly Cuomo
- Siblings: Leaves Cuomo
- Wife • Spouse: Kyoko Ito (m. 2006)
- Girlfriend • Partner: N/A
- Children: Mia Cuomo, Leo Cuomo
- Occupation: Singer • Musician
- Net Worth: $35 million
Rivers Cuomo Life and Education
Rivers Cuomo was born on June 13, 1970, in New York City, United States, to a German-English mother and an Italian father. Rivers Cuomo is an American politician. There is some disagreement on where his name came from.
One story claims that Rivers Cuomo’s mother, Beverly Cuomo, gave him the name Rivers for one of two reasons: either because he was born in Manhattan between the East and Hudson rivers, or because she could hear a river outside her hospital window.
Rivers Cuomo is the current governor of New York. Leaves Cuomo is the name of the man’s brother, who is also named after him.
According to his father, Frank Cuomo, a musician who played drums on jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s 1971 album Odyssey of Iska, Rivers Cuomo was named after three great soccer players: Rivellino, Luigi Riva, and Gianni Rivera, who all played in the 1970 World Cup. Rivellino, Luigi Riva, and Gianni Rivera all played in the 1970 World Cup.
Rivers Cuomo spent the first 15 years of his life at the Rochester Zen Center in Rochester, New York. His father left the family when Rivers was 15 years old.
His mother moved the family to Pomfret, Connecticut, where they now reside in Yogaville, which is a meditation facility. After his mother got married to Stephen Kitts, he decided to enroll in Pomfret Community School.
His mother relocated the family to an ashram in Yogaville, which is located in the state of Connecticut. Rivers Cuomo attended Pomfret Community School, and his mother later wed Stephen Kitts.
Stephen Kitts was a former student at Pomfret. In the year 1980, they relocated from Yogaville to Virginia. The Kitts family made the decision to remain in Connecticut and eventually settled in the Storrs/Mansfield region of the state.
During this period, Rivers Cuomo was a student at both the Mansfield Middle School and the E.O. Smith High School. He participated in the choir throughout his time at the high school and had a role in the school’s production of Grease.
In addition to this, he went by the name Peter Kitts. After he completed his education, he went back to using his previous name.
Rivers Cuomo Personal Life
Rivers Cuomo committed to abstaining from all forms of sexual activity between the years 2004 and 2006, the year of his wedding. On June 18, 2006, he tied the knot with Kyoko Ito.
In March of 1997, he first encountered her at one of his solo performances at the Middle East club in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In Tokyo, Japan, shortly before Christmas in 2005, he popped the question to her about becoming his wife. The ceremony was held on a beach in Malibu known as Paradise Cove for the reception.
With the exception of Mikey Welsh, both former and current members of Weezer, in addition to Kevin Ridel and Rick Rubin, were present at the event. Their first child, a girl named Mia Cuomo, was born in 2007, and their second child, a son named Leo Cuomo, was born in 2011.
Rivers Cuomo was born with legs that were the same length, but as he grew bigger, his left leg became about two inches shorter than his right leg. This occurred despite the fact that his legs had been the same length from birth. Following the success of The Blue Album, Rivers Cuomo resolved the issue by having the Ilizarov operation performed on him.
This necessitated him going under the knife to have surgery to break the bone in his leg. After that, he was had to wear a steel brace for many months and “stretch” his leg on his own four times a day.
This was in addition to the stretching exercises he had to perform. According to Rivers Cuomo, the ordeal felt very much like “crucifying” his leg.
Rivers Cuomo Career
Weezer was formed in 1992 by Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson on drums, Matt Sharp on bass, and Jason Cropper on guitar. Rivers Cuomo was the band’s first drummer.
Weezer was the name that his father gave to him when he was a little kid. On June 25, 1993, Weezer inked a recording contract with DGC, a division of Geffen Records. The self-titled first album of the band was released in May of 1994. It is also commonly referred to as the Blue Album.
During the process of recording the album, Rivers Cuomo requested that Jason Cropper quit the band. His position was filled by Brian Bell. The album was certified platinum on January 1, 1995, signifying that it has achieved sales of one million or more copies by that time.
Rivers Cuomo did not enjoy how monotonous and isolating touring was, despite the fact that he was so popular. In addition to this, he acquired a “huge inferiority complex” about rock music, saying things like, “I thought my songs were terribly stupid and idiotic, and I wanted to make profound, intense, beautiful music.”
Rivers Cuomo had extensive surgery in March 1995 to lengthen his left leg, which had been 44 millimeters shorter than his right leg before to the procedure.
In order to accomplish this goal, the surgeon had to break the leg bone. Following that, the patient was had to make strenuous therapy appointments and to wear a metal brace for an extended period of time.
After the album Pinkerton was released, Rivers Cuomo took a break from Weezer to establish Homie and perform what he dubbed “goofball tunes” for his “country band.” Although an album was intended to be produced, only one studio recording, a song named “American Girls,” was ever made available to the public.
In 2016, when making an appearance on the Song Exploder podcast, Rivers Cuomo discussed the creative process he went through when writing records like Weezer’s White Album (2016).
He finds new ideas by compiling Spotify playlists of songs that have “interesting” chord progressions and listening to them for inspiration.
Rivers Cuomo Social Media
Instagram handle: @Rivers_cuomo
Twitter handle: @Riverscuomo
Rivers Cuomo Net Worth
It is believed that Rivers Cuomo’s net worth is in the neighborhood of $35 million. His role as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the rock band Weezer brought him the most of his fame.
Throughout his career, Rivers Cuomo has not only published a number of albums under his own name but has also worked with a number of other musicians.
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