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William Beckett (singer)
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William Eugene Beckett, Jr. is the lead singer of the band The Academy Is... (TAI), who are currently signed to Atlantic Records/Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance Records. While still in high school in 2002, Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden came together from rival bands in Chicago to form The Academy Is.... In addition to founding the band, Beckett and Carden are credited as the primary songwriters. In 2007, the BBC described Beckett as a mix of Adam Lazzara and Prince, labeling him "utterly captivating".
ett started writing songs for his own private pleasure because he didn't like the material that was on the radio anymore.
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Encyclopedia
William Eugene Beckett, Jr. is the lead singer of the band The Academy Is... (TAI), who are currently signed to Atlantic Records/Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance Records. While still in high school in 2002, Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden came together from rival bands in Chicago to form The Academy Is.... In addition to founding the band, Beckett and Carden are credited as the primary songwriters. In 2007, the BBC described Beckett as a mix of Adam Lazzara and Prince, labeling him "utterly captivating".
Music
Beckett started writing songs for his own private pleasure because he didn't like the material that was on the radio anymore. He said in interview that his sister found him playing his songs in the basement and started joining him. She was his first audience and gave him her honest feedback on the material he wrote.
Prior to forming The Academy Is, Beckett performed as a single-man acoustic band called Remember Maine, releasing the album The Last Place You Look when he was 17 years old.
Beckett has contributed vocals to a number of notable albums by other bands. He has contributed vocals on the track "Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year" from Fall Out Boy's 2005 album, From Under the Cork Tree. He also sang in the background of "What A Catch, Donnie" off Fall Out Boy's most recent album, Folie à Deux. Other songs he has contributed vocals to include "There's A Class For This" from Cute Is What We Aim For's 2006 album The Same Old Blood Rush with a New Touch and "7 Weeks" from Gym Class Heroes's album As Cruel as School Children also in 2006. Also that year he lent his vocals to the Cobra Starship song Snakes On A Plane (Bring It) and appeared in the subsequent music video which is shown during the credits of the popular movie Snakes On A Plane the song was released on the soundtrack of the film and later on Cobra Starship's album While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets under the title Bring It (Snakes On A Plane) sans the movie lines.
Beckett also has a songwriting credit on Hey Monday's song "Homecoming" off of their debut album Hold On Tight.
Side projects
William Beckett makes a cameo in Fall Out Boy's extremely popular music video for the song "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me" as the lead vampire and in "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" video as the same vampire.
According to Us Magazine, he is co-authoring a book with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, who had originally recommended the band to label Fueled by Ramen.
On July 15th, 2008, Beckett started his own blog on which he posted the lyrics to songs on the latest The Academy Is... album Fast Times at Barrington High as well as basic updates. Also posted is a song called "Winter Passing". The song "Crowded Room" features Gabe Saporta from Cobra Starship,and Mason Musso from Metro Station.
There is also additional piano playing from Blake Healy from Metro Station as well as Andrew McMahon of Jack's Mannequin.
Reviews
Personally, Beckett has received much praise for his exceptional vocals as The Academy Is... frontman.
On the official iTunes review of The Academy Is...'s debut, Almost Here, the critic stated, "William Beckett carries the latter's melody with his velvety, bording on histrionic, vocals ..."
Also on the review of their sophomore album, Santi, the critic stated this while describing the first track (Same Blood), "... owing much of its earnest charm (as with most of the crew's songs) to the winsome vocals of William Beckett."
Guest appearances
Further reading
- , They Will Rock You
- , Saint RocknRoll
- , Spin Magazine
External links
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