Bert McCracken

Robert Edward McCracken (born February 25, 1982) is an American singer who is best known as the lead vocalist and songwriter of the American rock band the Used.

Bert McCracken
Background information
Birth nameRobert Edward McCracken
Born (1982-02-25) February 25, 1982
Provo, Utah, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
Labels
Associated acts

Early life

McCracken was born in Provo, Utah, and grew up in Orem, Utah, and was raised in a Mormon family. He has three sisters (Katie, Melanie, Rachel) and one younger brother (Joseph Taylor). McCracken has stated that he read quite vigorously growing up, due to the influence of his mother, who was a schoolteacher.[1] At age 12, he started playing the trumpet in a local band called "I'm With Stupid". He attended Timpanogos High School for a brief time, before dropping out at 16.

Eldest son of the household, Bert enjoyed a happy home life as a child, but as he grew into a teenager his and his parents' views conflicted. He rebelled against his parents and against their Mormon religion.[2][3][4] He dropped out of high school; soon after, he left his home at the age of 16. For some time he was homeless until he found enough money for an apartment, moving in with then-girlfriend Kate.[5]

Career

In January 2001, when the band called Dumb Luck (which later became The Used, then consisting of Quinn, Jeph and Branden) were looking for a singer, Quinn remembered Bert and he was invited to try out. After being given music that the band had written without words, Bert wrote the lyrics to what would become "Maybe Memories" and returned the next day with a newly recorded version of the song. The band welcomed him immediately, and renamed themselves "Used". They were eventually discovered by John Feldmann and signed to Reprise Records; they became "The Used" when it was discovered that a Boston band had already trademarked the name "Used". On June 25, 2002 they released their self-titled debut album.

Personal life

McCracken appeared on the MTV show The Osbournes while he was dating Kelly Osbourne, to her mother's dismay and disapproval.

In 2004, McCracken's then-pregnant ex-girlfriend Kate died of a drug overdose, as the recording of The Used's second album In Love and Death was coming to a close.[6]

In July 2008, McCracken married his Australian fiancée, Allison, at a private ceremony in Los Angeles. In July 2013, he announced that he and his wife had relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia,[7] where their first daughter, Cleo Rose McCracken, was born in January 2014. Their second child, Minerva "Minnie" Bloom McCracken, was born on March 23, 2018.[8]

McCracken has struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism in the past,[6] the former referenced in the song "Bulimic" on The Used's self-titled album.[9] However, he has since overcome his addictions, being sober since 2012.[6]

Bert McCracken has voiced his support for Palestine[10] alongside being critical of aspects of contemporary American culture and society, such as the influence of larger corporations on the music industry; which partly prompted his move to Australia in 2013. His political views were also influential in the lyrical content of The Used's 2014 album Imaginary Enemy.[11]

About a year prior to the recording of The Used's 2017 album The Canyon, McCracken's friend Tregen died via suicide which heavily influenced the album's lyrical content.[12][13]

Discography
See also: The Used discography

Singles
List of singles, showing year released and album name
Single Year Album
"Happy Christmas (War Is Over)"
(Street Drum Corps featuring Bert McCracken)[14]		 2005 Taste of Christmas

Other appearances
Title Year Artist Album Note(s)
"Spokesman" 2002 Goldfinger Open Your Eyes Additional vocals
"Open Your Eyes"
"Woodchuck"
"Anthem of Our Dying Day"[15] 2003 Story of the Year Page Avenue
"You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" 2004 My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
"Ocean Size" 2005 Goldfinger Disconnection Notice
"At Least I'm Good at Something" 2006 The Distance The Rise and Fall and Everything in Between Guest
"Handjobs for Jesus" 2008 Goldfinger Hello Destiny Additional vocals
"Days Are Numbered" 2013 Black Veil Brides Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones
"body bag" 2020 Machine Gun Kelly Tickets To My Downfall Additional vocals

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Punk Rock Holocaust Himself
2007 Punk's Not Dead Himself Documentary film
2013 Black Veil Brides in the Studio: The Making of Wretched & Divine Himself Documentary film

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2002–03 The Osbournes Himself 2 episodes

References
  1. "The Used's Bert McCracken on Time, Philosophy + More". Loudwire.
  2. "The Used's Bert McCracken on Time, Philosophy + More". Loudwire. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  3. "Now That The Used Are No Longer Using, Life Is 'Unreal'". MTV News. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  4. "The Used's Bert McCracken: "I'm brave, courageous, courteous, careful, loyal, thrifty and kind"". FasterLouder. April 24, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  5. "I'm Out Of My Head!". www.blender.com.
  6. "The Used's Bert McCracken Discusses Losing A Loved One To Drugs, Overcoming Substance Abuse - Theprp.com". September 1, 2016.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved February 24, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Imaginary Enemy Album Booklet
  9. "r/Music - We're Bert, Jeph, Quinn + Dan, AKA - The Used. Ask us anything!". reddit.
  10. Loudwire (June 19, 2015). "The Used on Quinn Allman's Hiatus + Band's Future Goals" – via YouTube.
  11. "Bert McCracken of The Used is Mad as Hell and He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore". April 21, 2014.
  12. "The Used's Bert McCracken has powerful words about life and death - Alternative Press". October 26, 2017.
  13. "The Used's Bert McCracken Talks Suicide & Loss, How It Influenced New Album 'The Canyon'".
  14. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – Single". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  15. https://anchor.fm/pageavenuecrew/episodes/Making-Page-Avenue-Part-1-eipfag
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